Abstract

Since the 1960's, there has been a growing consensus among health professionals and philosophers that psychotherapy involves a question of values. During that time, most contemporary work has been directed at two questions: What are the values that therapist's make use of when treating a client? and What is the justification for the presence of and reliance on these values? Current debate in this arena has been fueled by differing responses to these questions. As a result, little agreement exists regarding the number, nature, ordering and grounding of these values. ;The aim of this dissertation is to encourage some consensus in this arena by clarifying a proper locus for a discussion of values in therapy. In contrast to authors that establish a basis for values in various philosophical or religious ideologies, I argue that scholars need to look to the school of thought to which a therapist adheres. I believe that if scholars analyze the philosophical assumptions implicit in paradigms of psychotherapy, including notions of mental illness, view of reality, etc., they may begin to see the normative force that these assumptions create both within the therapeutic context and as the goal of therapy. It could be agreed, then, that while values in therapy are relative to a school of thought, universal prescriptions and prohibitions are made use of by the therapist and transmitted to the patient. In this way, psychotherapists and clinical ethicists could generate a consistent, rational plan of action for the benefit of the client. ;Three historically significant paradigms of psychotherapy are analyzed in this dissertation, namely Freud's psychoanalysis, Sullivan's interpersonal theory of psychiatry and Frankl's logotherapy. Their implicit philosophical assumptions are explored along with considerations of their normative force for the client who seeks this kind of treatment. A final concluding chapter considers the contemporary state of psychotherapy and a modern school of thought, short-term dynamic therapy