Reading Program
The Privilege of Being a Therapist*
A Fresh Perspective from Intrapsychic Humanism on Caregiving Intimacy
and the Development of the Professional Self
Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D.
Member Rates: Regular: $20 | Early Career Professional: $15 | Student: $10
Non-Member Rates: Regular: $25 | Early Career Professional: $20 | Student: $15
1 CE for Psychologists, Social Workers, and Professional Counselors
Description
The internal world of the clinical social worker [mental health professional] looks very different when seen from the perspective of intrapsychic humanism, a comprehensive psychodynamic psychology (Pieper & Pieper, 1990). Adopting this view of development and treatment can remedy one of the most perplexing and pressing dilemmas facing even the most conscientious and dedicated mental health professional – the vulnerability to what Hiratsuku termed “compassion fatigue” (1991) — to feeling stuck with an unrewarding daily clinical experience. The following discussion offers social workers three guidelines that will transform their clinical experience and make it exciting and fulfilling: how to recognize clients’ aversive reactions to pleasure; how to hear both the process and content meanings of a client’s communications; and how to distinguish between the social worker’s personal and caregiving motives. These principles will help all social workers, including those doing brief treatment, long-term treatment, school counseling, and traditional casework.
*Pieper, Martha Heineman (1999). The privilege of being a therapist: A fresh perspective from intrapsychic humanism on caregiving intimacy and the development of the professional self. Families in Society, 80, 479-487. This article was adapted from a keynote address to the National Federation of Clinical Social Workers. Chicago, Sept. 29, 1991. The content is not only applicable to social workers but is equally applicable to clinicians in all fields of mental health.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the reading program, participants will be able to:
- Describe the process of therapeutic change in Intrapsychic Humanism
- Define aversive reactions to pleasure, explain why clients experience them, and give examples of how they impact the treatment process
- Describe why it is important for therapists to develop the capacity to distinguish between their personal and therapeutic caregiving motives, and also to develop a stable capacity to privilege their therapeutic caregiving motives
- Describe how attending to the process meaning of what a client says can help therapists understand the significance of seemingly impenetrable client communications
- Describe how the above concepts from Intrapsychic Humanism can help therapists reduce compassion fatigue
Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D.
Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D. is an author and psychotherapist who works with children and parents and serves as a consultant to agencies and other mental health professionals. She graduated from Radcliffe College and received her Ph.D. in clinical social work from the University of Chicago. She is a founding Board member of Smart Love Family Services, for which she provides ongoing consultation and insight to the clinical and early childhood education staff. She also serves on the Board of the Intrapsychic Humanism Society. Both of these non-profit agencies are based on Intrapsychic Humanism, the comprehensive psychology of child development, psychopathology and treatment developed by Dr. Pieper and her late husband, William J. Pieper, MD. in Intrapsychic Humanism: An Introduction to a Comprehensive Psychology and Philosophy of Mind (Falcon II Press, 1990), the best-selling parenting book, Smart Love: The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Regulating, and Enjoying Your Child (Smart Love Press, LLC, 2011), and the popular adult self-help book, Addicted to Unhappiness: How Hidden Motives for Unhappiness Keep You From Creating the Life You Truly Want, And What You Can Do (2nd Edition, Smart Love Press, LLC, 2019). Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D. also authored two best-selling, award winning children’s books, Mommy, Daddy, I Had a Bad Dream! (Smart Love Press, LLC, 2012) and Jilly’s Terrible Temper Tantrums: And How She Outgrew Them (Smart Love Press, LLC, 2017), as well as The Happiest Preschool: A Manual for Teachers with Kelly Perez (Smart Love Press, LLC, 2024). She has written and presented on Inner Humanism® psychotherapy, and also on applications of the theory of Intrapsychic Humanism to teaching, parenting, foster care, the question of free will, and children’s dreams and fantasy life, among other topics. Many of her presentations and articles are available as On Demand webinars for continuing education credit here.