Spitting in the soup, continued...

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Click on the below article link to obtain background information to this blog post:

Examiner article

As I’ve posted previously I am learning more and more techniques as I move forward in my Mental Health Counseling Master’s program. I love to learn this stuff and I think there is real merit with value to even those who are outside of the therapeutic field in order to understand behavior and what motivates change.

The technique, Spitting in the soup, seems a bit complex or perhaps difficult in reality but it has been around for years and some therapists have had success utilizing it. 

Let’s look at it in context. For example, perhaps someone lives by his or herself and this person is constantly in the center of drama in the family. And, maybe through this commotion this person is getting attention (even if it isn’t positive) and the attention actually helps the individual cope through his or her loneliness.  If this individual was in counseling, a therapist might directly ask, “How does this conflict help you?” It is likely if it is always surrounding you (the drama), there is something in it that entices you. At first the client might be taken back by the question this is why a good relationship is necessary before the Spit in the Soup method is used otherwise the client maybe offended and not return to counseling. But if the relationship is sound, a bit of direct probing might get a person to admit that maybe to a lonely person, bad attention is better than not having any attention.

At this point the therapist is not demanding change but he or she is staying apprised of the client’s continued behavior. It is likely the client’s admission will cause change. The therapist can help the client manifest ways to gain positive attention or friendly visits to create a healthy support system to validate the positive behavioral change.

As a student in Mental Health Counseling this all seems really interesting but I think implementation of this method would be pretty tricky!

What do you think, might the Spit in the Soup method bring about positive change?

Leave me your opinion. I’m interested.