JOHN HAFFENDEN
573
Sta tion . As soon as the acute phase seemed past, he was ass igned
to
his
counselor, Jim
lose!.
He also began to a ttend the lectures that made up
the mental management phase of his treatmen t. T heir purpose was to
bring him
to
an intell ectual understanding of the prima ry na ture of the
chemical dependency syndrome. Pa tients would a ttend approxima tely
sixty lectures on a ll aspects of the di sease, including the effects on the
brain , the opera tion s of p sycho logical defense systems, the dynamics of
interpersona l rela tionships, and the emotional effects o f desocia liza–
tion . Clergymen and social workers lectured on value systems and
sp iritual impoverishment.
Jim Zosel' s group met every day for two hours in a therapy session .
T he goals o f the group are sta ted in the
Patients' H andbook:
T o di scover ourselves and others as feeling person s, and
lO
identify
the defenses that prevent thi s di scovery.
Pa tients lea rn to confront and level with one ano ther. T hey also
learn
to
recogni ze repress ion s and o ther defenses, whi ch a re ca ll ed
to
their attention and named whil e they are actuall y empl oy ing them.
Jim Zosel' s method as counselor (and himself a recovering alco–
ho lic) fell:
loosely within the format of what we now call reality therapy. In this
approach relati vely little attention is paid to
why
the condition has
come about, though in man y cases that information mi ght be useful.
But lack of time prohibits it. The approach stays zeroed in on the
present existence o f the condition . The coun selor's goal is for the
patient
lO
accept the truth that the disorder is- and that he
has
it.
The patient has
lO
understand all the implication s of the d isease and
how it affects his life
now.
Berryman jo ined the group sh aking, smoking, and coughing.
Soon , awa re of Jim 's intention s and methods, he felt threa tened. ("The
pa tient's chi ef fea r is tha t hi s presenta tion o f himself will be destroyed.
T ha t is, he feels the counselo r is out
to
change or correct him. ") He
accused Jim o f being sophomoric in some of the things he sa id. His
hos tility would take the characteri stic form of ba rking and roaring a t
Jim whom he thought was hi s antagoni st. Jim would a ttemp t to bring
him to hi s own awa reness o f the discrepancy between hi s behavior and
hi s professed ideals and va lues . The counselor is no t concerned with
any supposed root p robl em. He takes alcoho l as p rimary, with the
emo tional probl ems unresolvable until the a lcoholic himself comes
to
terms with the pa thologica l rela tionship
to
which he is subj ect.
