best of the century*

Various ideas involving psychotherapy have expanded universally and are now extensively available to people worldwide through media and publicity. Each type of therapy was modified to suit different people from different cultural backgrounds, and more materials supporting psychotherapy have emerged. Activities such as demonstrations, meetings, and group therapy were encouraged, and, also, more support groups for many areas of addiction were constructed. The creation and further development of new types of behavior therapy, including the cognitive approach was popularized, and neurological and biological research regarding emotional disorders advanced. Furthermore, therapists have uncovered more information on influences of religious and spiritual issues on mental disturbances and, in turn, discovered how to aid more people in psychotherapy.

I have selected five of various psychotherapeutic breakthroughs that I believe are to be the most significant and contribute the most to the study of behavior:

Breakthrough 1: Harry Harlow discovered a significant relationship between a mother’s care and love towards a child undergoing early development and the amount of the child’s emotional and intellectual development afterwards. I believe this is very important since it indicates how childhood experiences influence one’s growth in personality, and also supports psychodynamic therapeutic and behavioral studies—if one grows up with a contented heart fulfilled with parental love, one has a greater potential to develop and excel in life. With this breakthrough, it is now easier to understand situations involving patients with disturbing pasts or those who had undergone child abuse and neglect.

Breakthrough 2: Also supportive in the idea of psychodynamic therapy, Martin Seligman put forward that constant unconditional punishment causes severely devastating mental problems that can later develop into depression. I believe this is true because it can take away our morals and confidence, resulting in “learned helplessness”. This significantly confirms the fact that one’s treatment by other people or events helps shape up who we become in the future, and is important because it may aid patients with traumatic childhood experiences.

Breakthrough 3: Ellen Langer showed that to achieve an extended, productive life, one should merely “think”, and keep the mind working all the time. I believe this is very important as it influences people to be more involved in active decision making skills and moves younger people to be occupied with hobbies and activities that could trigger the brain to work harder. Furthermore, I believe that being mindful about the world could benefit ourselves as we challenge our brains more, set ourselves more goals, and become more involved in critical thinking—it gives us something our minds could work for, and we could lead more productive lives. Since our brain processes power our behaviors, this breakthrough may help psychotherapists study how this happens.

Breakthrough 4: The first to recognize psychological stress, Hans Selye, showed that each person have different reactions to stress, resulting in varied moods, illnesses, and actions; some push themselves to work even harder to “deal” with stress, and others sit back and relax peacefully as another way to handle these situations. I see this as a significant breakthrough in psychotherapy because it develops the understanding of issues related to the various possible ways in which a human being responds to surrounding pressures and worries. Also, it influences people not to avoid stress completely, but to live with it—a better way to live a fulfilled life.

Breakthrough 5: The humanistic approach to psychotherapy originated from Carl Rogers, who stressed that the therapist’s willingness, sincerity, and potential for optimism when communicating with a client are crucial to achieving a strong and understanding relationship between the client and the therapist. As I believe that close relationships bring honesty and openness, I think this humanistic approach is a significant step to achieving the maximum results from psychotherapy.stress completely, but to live with it—a better way to live a fulfilled life.

-- yuki