ABSTRACT

The concept of ‘paradoxical outcome’ refers to instances of differences in evaluation of the outcome of psychotherapy when taken from different sources and/or by different modes of evaluation. Paradoxical outcome has become a central issue in psychotherapy practice and research because of its prevalence as well as its implications for the aims and process of therapy. The concept of paradoxical outcome treats discrepancies in the evaluation of psychotherapy as problematic, indicating that the underlying expectation is that the outcome of psychotherapy should be consistent. In this commentary to the special issue, I propose that this assumption that the outcome of psychotherapy is a unified construct that is agreed among interested parties, that underlies the concept of paradoxical outcome, is a fundamental fallacy. Moreover, I argue that it is important to recognize that the outcome of psychotherapy is a complex notion that has different meanings for the various agents implicated in it. This recognition may in turn open the way to exploring the function and goal of psychotherapy for each of the different agents involved in it, and this will highlight its central role as a social and institutional practice that regulates contemporary subjectivities and practices.

摘要

“矛盾结果”的概念是指从不同来源和/或通过不同评估模式获取的心理治疗结果评估差异的实例。矛盾的结果已经成为心理治疗实践和研究中的一个核心问题，因为它的普遍性及其对治疗目标和过程的影响。矛盾结果的概念将心理治疗评估中的差异视为有问题，表明潜在的期望是心理治疗的结果应该是一致的。在本期特刊的评论中，我提出这种假设，即心理治疗的结果是一个在利益相关方之间达成一致的统一结构，是矛盾结果概念的基础，这是一个基本谬误。而且，我认为重要的是要认识到心理治疗的结果是一个复杂的概念，对于其中涉及的各种代理具有不同的含义。这种认识可能反过来为探索心理治疗的功能和目标开辟了道路，涉及其中的每个不同的代理人，这将突出其作为调节当代主体性和实践的社会和制度实践的核心作用。