Do We Need Insight?

The following was originally posted to Shrink Rap.

In the comment section of my post How Do You Switch Docs? readers Moviedoc and Kate have been having their own discussion ( perhaps to be called The Blog Within The Blog?) about the virtues, or lack thereof, of psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy. I've been staying out of it. I'm not a psychoanalyst and I've never been in psychoanalysis. My sense is that since psychoanalysis is so specialized and done by so few, and takes so much time and money, that in today's world, the contribution is more one of technique and assumptions that flavor most psychotherapies. Things like that the idea that there exists an unconscious mind, or that feelings that were part of past important relationships might surface in current relationships, including the one the patient has with the doctor. What role all this has in the treatment of mental illness seems to depend on the patient and the doctor. Some people find it very helpful to look at their lives and their illness and their problems as part of a continuum, and even those that don't, often find great solace in the therapeutic relationship. There is something so lonely about being mentally sick, and something so comforting about having someone to talk to about the pain without the judgments or fears that go into ordinary conversations.

That said, psychiatrist Richard Friedman was kind enough to talk about the role of insight in treatment today in the New York Times. I feel like he really meant to chime in with Moviedoc and Kate in our comment section, but I guess he lost his way and ended up in New York instead.

In Does Insight in Therapy Equal Happiness? Dr. Friedman writes:

Psychoanalysts and other therapists have argued for years about this question, which gets to the heart of how therapy works (when it does) to relieve psychological distress.

Theoretical debates have not settled the question, but one interesting clue about the possible relevance of insight comes from comparative studies of different types of psychotherapy — only some of which emphasize insight.

In fact, when two different types of psychotherapies have been directly compared — and there are more than 100 such studies — it has often been hard to find any differences between them.

See what else Dr. Friedman had to say.