Unresponsiveness: the demon artefact of psychotherapy

Unresponsiveness in psychotherapy has arisen out of the original advice of Freud for the psychoanalyst to be objective and neutral. This advice was carried too far, so that therapists too often do not respond in natural and human ways. Unresponsiveness has thus become an artefact in psychotherapy. The natural history of the development of this artefact in a given therapist includes certain periods when it shows marked increase, and a few times when it might decrease. Unresponsiveness on the part of therapists spreads to patients, affects relations with colleagues, and has a deleterious influence upon the families of both therapists and patients. In order to prevent the perpetuation of this artefact, changes have to be made in the teaching of psychotherapy, so that these matters are discussed openly. Teachers, with whom student psychotherapists identify, should be responsive and spontaneous, both in their own work with patients and in their work with their supervisees.