The study of values in psychotherapy: A critique and call for an alternative method

Journal/Book: Psychother Res. 1995; 5: 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012. Guilford Press. 313-326.

Abstract: The indelible role of values in the process of psychotherapy has been noted by many psychotherapy researchers and clinicians. Unfortunately, attempts to examine such values systematically have produced conflicting results, with little to advance our understanding of the interplay of values and psychotherapy. The present author argues that this state of affairs results from a dualist distinction between value and action, as well as an atomist conceptualization of values. Following a brief critical review of extant research, an alternative approach to the study of values is introduced. This hermeneutic approach, grounded in the philosophical writings of Heidegger and Wittgenstein, views values as relational and engaged orientations rather than as static, independent entities. The implications of this view for psychotherapy research are discussed, and an alternative method based in decision research and hermeneutics is proposed. An example of psychotherapy research along these lines is presented.

Note: Article RA Walsh, Duquesne Univ, 546 Coll Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15282 USA

Keyword(s): ROKEACH VALUE SURVEY; GOOD MOMENTS; PSYCHOLOGY; EVENTS; SIMILARITY

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