Re.: Mary Powers (990914)
Mary: The fundamental hypothesis about MOL is that it is the essence of
successful therapy, and of all therapies when they are successful. So
research should be directed towards finding out if that is so.
David: If this is so, and we divided a therapists' cases into more
successful and less successful cases, we should find that more MOL-like
activity happened in the more successful cases. If there were no
differences, or if the reverse happened, then the fundamental hypothesis
would be disconfirmed.
We would have to have some way of identifying instances of MOL-like
activity.
Mary: I am puzzled as to why you think this is MOL: "I asked him to apply
the MOL
to the topic: what I want in a relationship". It seems to me that you've
got the thing backwards - you, instead of the client, chose the topic, and
you expected the client, not you, to use the method of levels - on himself.
David: OK. Let us call it MOL-like activity. In that I am more inclined to
use MOL as a technique, one tool among many, I will sometimes select a "hot"
topic for a person. By this, I mean one which therapy discussion suggests is
important to the case. From the little that I have told you about the case,
I think you can appreciate that the topic of "relationships with woman" is
important to this man. I know that the MOL can start on almost any topic. I
have contributed transcipts to this list in which I did this to people on a
chat list. Remember? I simply go into the MOL mode once the topic is
suggested and the person accepts it.
···
From: David M. Goldstein, Ph.D.
Subject: Re: MOL research
Date: 9/15/99