The Essence of Langs--------I hope!

• A Wish to Share by D.William, Ph.D., 3/11/98
  • Some Other Concerns...Then onto more Constructive Comments!! by Doug William, Ph.D., 3/14/98
    • More on Langs, please by Don Nathanson, 3/16/98
      
      

Robert Langs, M,D. was originally trained as a psychoanalyst, but became increasingly concerned about the 'listening process' used in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Langs looked upon the interaction between patient and therapist as the real place to talk about 'unconscious' communicative influence- not as some mysterious mind puzzle to be deciphered. That every time the patient said something and the therapist responded in turn (or vice versa) there were unconsious messages embedded within that manifest exchange. It was the understanding of that unfolding unconscious process that was the essence of psychotherapy. The emphasis is not simply on " human mentation but on human expression". What made this approach esp interesting was that Langs had to come up with a system that allowed the therapist to attempt a process of validation in the course of every therapy session as it unfolded. The therapist needs to maintain a dual awareness of the possible unconscious meanings of both his interventions and the Pt's response. Langs defines unconscious communication as a "form of expression that takes place outside the awareness of the sender and, sometimes of the receiver. The primary vehicle of uncon. commun. is encoded messages- disguised expressions that contain displaced and symbolized meanings (Langs takes a number of concepts from dream analysis and places them squarely in the context of human conversation). Uncon communication occurs by way of disguised messages, usually in the form of narratives and images" The implications can be disquieting since the therapist errors, personal difficulties and other failings (as well as personal assets) are part of the active encoding process the Pt presents to the therapist in disguised form.

• A Bit More on Langs by Doug William, 3/17/98