Future-oriented therapy
Future-oriented therapy (FOT) and future-directed therapy (FDT) are approaches to psychotherapy that place greater emphasis on the future than on the past or present.
History
The term future-oriented therapy was first used in an article by psychologist Walter O'Connell in 1964,[1] and then the term was used as the title of an article by psychiatrist Stanley Lesse in 1971.[2] Psychiatrist Frederick T. Melges also used the term in his writings in the 1970s and 1980s.[3][4][5] In the 2000s, psychiatrist Bernard Beitman, inspired in part by Melges,[6] wrote about future-oriented formulation and about how emphasis on the future is a common factor among different approaches to psychotherapy and is a basis for integrating psychotherapies.[6][7][8] Future-directed therapy, an intervention with a similar emphasis on the future (developed independently of the previous future-oriented therapies), was first tested by psychologist Jennice Vilhauer and colleagues in 2011,[9][10] and in 2014 was the subject of a self-help book that aimed to help readers "overcome negative emotions, identify what you want in life, transform limiting beliefs, take action, live ready for success".[11]
Lesse's approach
Stanley Lesse's approach, published in 1971, stressed the need for all future psychiatrists, psychologists, social scientists, and political scientists to understand the relationships between
Melges's approach
In 1972,
The general thesis is that time distortions disrupt anticipatory control and lead to psychopathological spirals. That is, problems with time, such as distortions of sequence, rate, and temporal perspective, disrupt the normal interplay between future images, plans of action, and emotions, thereby leading to lack of anticipatory control and vicious cycles (spirals).[4]: 43
Melges proposed that the harmonization of future images, plans of action, and emotions restore a person's sense of hope and control over the future: "Thus, with hope, the personal future is not certain and fixed, but is viewed as being open, unfrozen, and full of opportunities."[4]: 178 There were five stages to Melges's FOT treatment:
- Assessment and selection of patients[4]: 246
- Interpretation of vicious cycles
- Redecisions[4]: 250
- Self-futuring[4]: 258
- Temporal organization[4]: 259, 261–263
In a 1983 review of Melges's book, psychiatrist Lenore Terr said that "the author must be commended for his very ambitious attempt to characterize broadly what happens to time sense in the major mental disorders", but she also noted: "Some of the author's theoretical proposals are clear and seem to be right, but unfortunately some go too far."[13]
Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd have described how "psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema extended Melges's work on time and depression in studying the ways in which preoccupation with the past reinforces depression."[14]: 200 Zimbardo and Boyd explained that an obsession with the past makes people less able to think about the future, according to Nolen-Hoeksema and her colleagues. "The key to relieving depression lies not in untangling the Gordian knot of the past but in accepting and planning for the uncertain future."[14]: 202
Other approaches
A wide range of approaches, such as future-oriented group training,[15] future-oriented writing therapy,[16][17] future-directed therapy,[10][18] and others, have been developed to help people to confront the future and the uncertainties, complexities, and discontinuities implied by the future.
Zimbardo and Boyd's time perspective theory, which differentiates between several future time perspectives (general or basic, future transcendental, future negative, and future positive),[19] has been applied in time perspective coaching[20] and time perspective therapy.[21][22]
See also
References
- S2CID 145212137.
A measure of harmony might be introduced into the relationship between the social sciences and religion by emphasizing a future oriented psychotherapy based on outsight.
- ^ PMID 5553254.
- ^ PMID 5060589.
- ^ OCLC 8410226.
- OCLC 39787890. "Melges (1982) has developed the most comprehensive psychopathology to date based on time and the perceived future" (p. 165).
- ^ OCLC 53940457.
- OCLC 54803644.
- ISBN 1591474051.
- S2CID 23852381.
- ^ PMID 21615882.
- OCLC 869266658.
- )
- doi:10.1037/h0098814.
- ^ PMID 1757671.
- PMID 19811638.
- S2CID 144193625.
- .
- PMID 23630646.
- OCLC 896817191.
- OCLC 896817191.
- OCLC 896817191.
- OCLC 896817191.
Further reading
- Ford, Martin E.; Smith, Peyton R. (July 2007). "Thriving with social purpose: an integrative approach to the development of optimal human functioning". S2CID 144159426.
- Heppner, P. Paul; Lee, Dong-Gwi; Tian, Lu (2009). "Problem-solving appraisal and psychological adjustment". In Snyder, C. R.; Lopez, Shane J. (eds.). Oxford handbook of positive psychology. Oxford library of psychology (Revised ed.). Oxford; New York: OCLC 263497908.
- Hoyle, Rick H.; Sherrill, Michelle R. (December 2006). "Future orientation in the self-system: possible selves, self-regulation, and behavior". PMID 17083662.
- Hoyt, Michael F. (1990). "On Time in Brief Therapy". In Wells, Richard A.; Giannetti, Vincent J. (eds.). Handbook of the Brief Psychotherapies. Applied clinical psychology. New York: OCLC 20491430.
- Hoyt, Michael F. (1994). "Competency-based future-oriented therapy". In Hoyt, Michael F. (ed.). Constructive therapies. Vol. 1. New York: OCLC 39443345.
- Lang, Frieder R.; Heckhausen, Jutta (2006). "Motivation and interpersonal regulation across adulthood: managing the challenges and constraints of social contexts". In Hoare, Carol Hren (ed.). Handbook of adult development and learning. Oxford; New York: OCLC 60543390.
- Little, Brian R.; Philips, Susan D.; Salmela-Aro, Katariina, eds. (2007). Personal project pursuit: goals, action, and human flourishing. Mahwah, NJ: OCLC 76065953.
- MacLeod, Andrew (2017). Prospection, well-being, and mental health. Oxford; New York: OCLC 979566767.
- PMID 5141368.
- PMID 4890814.
- S2CID 31037074.
- Neimeyer, Robert A. (June 1983). "Toward a personal construct conceptualization of depression and suicide". Death Education. 7 (2–3): 127–173. .
- Roepke, Ann Marie; PMID 26096347.
- OCLC 936685033.
- Smith, Jacqui (1999). "Life planning: anticipating future life goals and managing personal development". In Brandtstädter, Jochen; OCLC 41184957.
- Torem, Moshe S. (2006). "Treating depression: a remedy from the future". In OCLC 62324972.
- PMID 24826907.
- OCLC 34190221.