{"id":3637,"date":"2020-04-24T17:13:21","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T09:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/darylchow.com\/frontiers\/?p=3637"},"modified":"2020-04-25T16:32:21","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T08:32:21","slug":"focus-on-whats-not-going-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darylchow.com\/frontiers\/focus-on-whats-not-going-to-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on What’s Not Going to Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, on the importance of what\u2019s not going to change<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n


I very frequently get the question: \u2018What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one…<\/em><\/p>

I almost never get the question: \u2018What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two \u2014 because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time\u2026<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While Jeff Bezos [1] is talking about business in his example, let’s extrapolate the principle and make it relevant to our field of psychotherapy. In this article, I’m going to talk about

1. What is Changing<\/strong>,
2. What is Not Changing<\/strong>, and
3. A Crisis Requires Us to Be Reliable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is Changing.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A crisis doesn’t necessarily change everything<\/em>; A crisis accelerates the future and highlight humanity’s pre-existing needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of us in the helping profession and other professionals are doing our best to adapt to this new COVID-19 era. We figure how to use Zoom, how to engage with clients on the phone without visual feedback, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we adapt to the sea-change, we need to keep our eyes on the long view. We must figure out a way to support people through these precarious times, but we must also begin this contemplative process of reinventing our roles\u2014without losing our souls\u2014that is called for in this accelerated future brought forth by this crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will we simply continue only see people in the comforts of our office because you can’t do play therapy over Zoom, or you can’t do EMDR over on teleconference? Will we now only see clients via video conference? The real question is, will we be willing to redefine our role and contribution to the larger society, and not just for the ones who show up for individual therapy? Where is our place in this world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is Not Changing.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we are bombarded with ads on social networks by on what’s new and changing in psychotherapy land\u2014what’s the latest and greatest\u2014therapists are more likely to attend workshops and training about the latest neuroscience, trauma-focused or mindfulness approach, and less likely to attend a workshop on say, improving engagement, even though piles of evidence show factors like goal consensus, feeling understood and tapping into client’s existing resources are more potent in reaping better outcomes with our clients than the typical stuff we spend our money on. Now, we might be wrong about some of the theories we have today [2]. But let us not lose our gaze on the perennial matters<\/a>, the stuff that will stand the test of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, we are seeing more and more therapists paying attention to their own intuition\u2014and their own clinical data\u2014 of what they need to work on. These minority of therapists are going to lead the majority of us to a better place, a place with better yield of our efforts translating into better outcomes for our clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do’s:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n