19/07/2026
Psychotherapy may not be the transactional monetized mental health industry model that we see in Australia. It may just be more about intention, philosophy and love and human connection, more than anything else.
From What is Psychotherapy (Mary Duhig, 2005):
When I consider the question ‘What is Psychotherapy’, at least fifty more questions flood into my mind, each of which deserves a consideration in its own right!
What is psychotherapy for? Who does it? Why? How is it done? What are the expectations on the part of the psychotherapist? On the part of the client? Is it for making people happy or less unhappy? For adjusting us so that we can cope with society as it is: teaching us to be realistic? Is it for solving problems; for sorting out our motives; for making ourselves comprehensible to ourselves: to others too, perhaps; for removing blocks to our energy, chips on our shoulders so that we can live and act in a more enjoyable way, or live and act in the world more effectively? Is it out of interest, natural curiosity? Is it voyeuristic, navel regarding? Is it to explore the dynamics of our psyche? Is it to make sense of good and evil; to go beyond good and evil; to find a meaning in this strange world we inhabit? And what if the world seems a terrible place? So terrifying that you hardly dare move.
What if you think that everyone out there is out to get you? What if people tell you that you are deluded and you don’t believe them? What if you know you are utterly bad, a stinking hulk of rotting flesh? What if you can not believe anyone who tells you that you are loved or lovable?