The Coronavirus in Context: Guidance for Psychotherapists During a Pandemic. (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Raskin, Jonathan D.; Efran, Jay S.
• Other Names: Morrill Zenobia guest-editor.; Hoffman Louis guest-editor.; Yang Mark guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of humanistic psychology. Volume 61:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 160
• Page End: 172
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: coronavirus -- psychotherapy -- constructivist therapy -- context; Humanistic psychology -- Periodicals; 150.192
• DOI: 10.1177/0022167820937509
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1678

Abstract

We outline a context-centered therapy approach to helping clients cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Context-centered therapy is a constructivist approach that emphasizes shifts in an individual's contexts as the best way to generate therapeutic change. Contexts are defined as sets of presuppositions that shape a person's experiences. We examine how two very common contexts, mind and self, can inform therapists' understanding of how their clients are responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The mind consists of a person's defensive and protective postures in the face of perceived threat, whereas the self takes a broader perspective and emphasizes human connections and interrelatedness. Therapists can use several mind/self contrasts—blame versus responsibility, insufficiency versus sufficiency, being at effect versus being at cause, and avoidance versus mastery—to assist people who are struggling in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.