Jonathan Shedler
@jonathanshedler.bsky.social
Professor, psychologist, author. Tweets about psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy.
I say the quiet part out loud.
I say the quiet part out loud.
2/ I also knew from first-hand experience that 'evidence-based' therapy—typically a code word for brief, manualized CBT—fails enormous nos. of patients. I was supervising in a university-based psychiatry clinic & saw them every day. Someone had to set the record straight"
jonathanshedler.com
August 8, 2023 at 5:02 PM
2/ I also knew from first-hand experience that 'evidence-based' therapy—typically a code word for brief, manualized CBT—fails enormous nos. of patients. I was supervising in a university-based psychiatry clinic & saw them every day. Someone had to set the record straight"
3/3 Note how such arguments—made routinely in psych literature & social media—create hermetically-sealed logic system
All possible corrective input is already discredited
Profoundly flawed arguments are made from position of smug superiority / high horse of "science"
No wonder they have bad sex
All possible corrective input is already discredited
Profoundly flawed arguments are made from position of smug superiority / high horse of "science"
No wonder they have bad sex
August 8, 2023 at 4:07 AM
3/3 Note how such arguments—made routinely in psych literature & social media—create hermetically-sealed logic system
All possible corrective input is already discredited
Profoundly flawed arguments are made from position of smug superiority / high horse of "science"
No wonder they have bad sex
All possible corrective input is already discredited
Profoundly flawed arguments are made from position of smug superiority / high horse of "science"
No wonder they have bad sex
2/3 If someone says it's bad sex, responses will be:
1️⃣ Evidence-based sex has strongest evidence, nothing proven better
2️⃣ Without evidence, it’s unethical to have sex any other way
3️⃣ If you have something better, show the data
4️⃣ Ad hominem accusations of bias & allegiance to unscientific theory
1️⃣ Evidence-based sex has strongest evidence, nothing proven better
2️⃣ Without evidence, it’s unethical to have sex any other way
3️⃣ If you have something better, show the data
4️⃣ Ad hominem accusations of bias & allegiance to unscientific theory
August 8, 2023 at 4:02 AM
2/3 If someone says it's bad sex, responses will be:
1️⃣ Evidence-based sex has strongest evidence, nothing proven better
2️⃣ Without evidence, it’s unethical to have sex any other way
3️⃣ If you have something better, show the data
4️⃣ Ad hominem accusations of bias & allegiance to unscientific theory
1️⃣ Evidence-based sex has strongest evidence, nothing proven better
2️⃣ Without evidence, it’s unethical to have sex any other way
3️⃣ If you have something better, show the data
4️⃣ Ad hominem accusations of bias & allegiance to unscientific theory
Yes, but... now people want to play word games with the term "conversion therapy," attaching it to any approach that doesn't conform to a specific ideology... including regular insight-oriented psychotherapy aimed at self-knowledge
Truth ends when words cease to be connected to consensual reality
Truth ends when words cease to be connected to consensual reality
July 28, 2023 at 10:08 PM
Yes, but... now people want to play word games with the term "conversion therapy," attaching it to any approach that doesn't conform to a specific ideology... including regular insight-oriented psychotherapy aimed at self-knowledge
Truth ends when words cease to be connected to consensual reality
Truth ends when words cease to be connected to consensual reality
7/7 indeed hateful & destructive. This is called "projective identification."
The end result is that the person can deny their own sadism, cruelty, and hate—and simultaneously act it out without restraint.
And feel themselves to be 100% on the side of truth and right as they do it.
The end result is that the person can deny their own sadism, cruelty, and hate—and simultaneously act it out without restraint.
And feel themselves to be 100% on the side of truth and right as they do it.
July 26, 2023 at 5:44 PM
7/7 indeed hateful & destructive. This is called "projective identification."
The end result is that the person can deny their own sadism, cruelty, and hate—and simultaneously act it out without restraint.
And feel themselves to be 100% on the side of truth and right as they do it.
The end result is that the person can deny their own sadism, cruelty, and hate—and simultaneously act it out without restraint.
And feel themselves to be 100% on the side of truth and right as they do it.
6/7 The person now feels fully justified in unleashing their hate on the other—who is seen (via the defense of projection) as someone monstrous, who must be destroyed
If the person who is the target of the projection responds to the provocation with anger/aggression, this is taken as proof they are
If the person who is the target of the projection responds to the provocation with anger/aggression, this is taken as proof they are
July 26, 2023 at 5:43 PM
6/7 The person now feels fully justified in unleashing their hate on the other—who is seen (via the defense of projection) as someone monstrous, who must be destroyed
If the person who is the target of the projection responds to the provocation with anger/aggression, this is taken as proof they are
If the person who is the target of the projection responds to the provocation with anger/aggression, this is taken as proof they are
5/7 Instead, they project the badness onto some designated other. And this other person, via the defense of projection, is now seen as the repository of all that is bad and evil. That is the projection.
July 26, 2023 at 5:40 PM
5/7 Instead, they project the badness onto some designated other. And this other person, via the defense of projection, is now seen as the repository of all that is bad and evil. That is the projection.
4/7 For professional colleagues looking for a more theoretical explanation, the psychological processes are splitting, projection, and projective identification.
Splitting means not recognizing one's own capacity for hate, cruelty & destructiveness. The person is blind to the bad in themselves.
Splitting means not recognizing one's own capacity for hate, cruelty & destructiveness. The person is blind to the bad in themselves.
July 26, 2023 at 5:39 PM
4/7 For professional colleagues looking for a more theoretical explanation, the psychological processes are splitting, projection, and projective identification.
Splitting means not recognizing one's own capacity for hate, cruelty & destructiveness. The person is blind to the bad in themselves.
Splitting means not recognizing one's own capacity for hate, cruelty & destructiveness. The person is blind to the bad in themselves.
3/7 They find a way to give free rein to their cruelty, to attack, to treat others cruelly and viciously.
And they find *allies to cheer them on* who also believe they are on the side of all that is good and right.
And they find *allies to cheer them on* who also believe they are on the side of all that is good and right.
July 26, 2023 at 5:38 PM
3/7 They find a way to give free rein to their cruelty, to attack, to treat others cruelly and viciously.
And they find *allies to cheer them on* who also believe they are on the side of all that is good and right.
And they find *allies to cheer them on* who also believe they are on the side of all that is good and right.
2/7 The most toxic and hateful people in the world are 100% convinced they fight on the side of all that is good and right.
July 26, 2023 at 5:38 PM
2/7 The most toxic and hateful people in the world are 100% convinced they fight on the side of all that is good and right.