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Professional - Layman
Limited - Unlimited
Defined - Undefined
Solid - Liquid
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Unlike the professional nature of counsellor/client relationships
typical of Western cultures, Aboriginal people prefer to "just to have a
relationship," he says.
"There is no professional/personal dichotomy, which means they are
quite happy to come and have a yarn to you in the shops, or catch you on
a Saturday to talk things through.
"If you expect to see people pouring in your door at the office, it
won't happen. You have to work more flexibly and actually meet people
where they feel comfortable, like in a park, or going for a drive or a
walk."
[Sarah Ford]
Bridging cultures: psychologists working with Aboriginal clients
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Sean breaches a couple of ethical rules that could get him into serious
trouble were he not in a Hollywood movie: he physically assaults his
patient in the first session, and he regularly discloses information on
the progress of the therapy to Lambeau.
His therapy is highly unorthodox
in other ways too. He holds the second session in a park; he ends the
fifth session early and angrily sends away his patient because he is
frustrated by his ‘bullshitting’ (this would be highly unusual even if
he were a Lacanian); he also talks freely and abundantly about his own
private life and suffering.
One wonders if these sessions should be
viewed as serendipity rather than therapy – an encounter in a special
situation between two men with similar roots [...] The treatment takes on the character of true horizontality, and gains an existential quality for both parties.
[Tamás Szabados]
'Good Will Hunting'
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