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Rhetoric and psychotherapy: Making the connection
Abstract
This dissertation articulates the theoretical and pragmatic foundations of a rhetorical approach to psychotherapy; an approach, that is, which is informed by the worldview, concerns, and methodologies of the discipline of rhetoric. Rhetoric—which originated in ancient Greece—long predates psychotherapy in aiming to understand the workings of influence or persuasion, both as it occurs between persons and within persons (i.e., self-persuasion). Persuasion is of critical importance to psychotherapy not only because it is instrumental in producing change in clients, but because it is an ongoing facet of everyday life, accounting for a substantial portion of why persons behave as they do. Despite the apparent commonalities between rhetoric and psychotherapy, the literature on psychotherapy contains few references to—and fewer substantive explorations of—rhetorical works, concepts, and strategies. Moreover, the majority of works on psychotherapy which do refer to rhetoric neglect to root their claims in a rhetorical understanding of the psychology of the individual. Integrating concepts drawn from rhetoric with contemporary psychological theories of emotion, cognition, and psychopathology, this dissertation offers, first of all, a construction of the individual as a rhetorical subject, or as a being whose psychological capacities are organized to facilitate the sending and delivery of messages, and the exertion and reception of influence. Secondly, this dissertation demonstrates how rhetorical insights and procedures can help psychotherapists meet the daily, pragmatic demands of doing psychotherapy. Accordingly, this dissertation culminates in a structured, clinically-oriented description of how psychotherapy may be carried out according to rhetorical principles. The model for psychotherapy proposed here is intended to enable clinicians to envision a rhetorical framework or logic for psychotherapy cases, as well as to engage clients in (a) symptom-relieving rhetorical exchanges and (b) the work of developing greater rhetorical (self)understanding and proficiency. In articulating a model for psychotherapy, emphasis is placed on the role of argumentation, both as it is practiced by clients and by therapists. It is suggested that the fundamental mechanism of healing—that is, the essential occurrence to which therapeutic effects are due—is carefully constructed, psycho-socially apt, symptom-targeted argumentation.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy|Rhetoric|Composition
Recommended Citation
Rodis, Peter Themistocles, "Rhetoric and psychotherapy: Making the connection" (2000). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9978544.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9978544