Script Cure? — A Diagnostic Pentagon of Types of Therapeutic Change

Abstract

Although there are scattered references to different psychotherapy outcomes throughout Berne's work, nowhere does he bring them together for comparison, contrast, and confirmation; nor does he show how possible psychotherapy outcomes can be systematically identified and described. This article presents five possible outcomes: Script Cure, Making Progress, Disintegration, Disillusionment, and Counterscript Cure. These “faces of change” are discussed as five separate systems with their own frames of reference, including idiosyncratic motivations for seeking/avoiding future changes, characteristic response patterns, and differing capacities in managing stress. Each is associated with an archetypal or mythological image which may aid the psychotherapist in distinguishing, defining, and recognizing the five types of outcome so that he or she can facilitate life script changes that are genuine, stable under stress, and provide a fertile and resilient ground for future growth. A pentagon diagram summarizes these major points.

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