According to Rapoport (1960) reality confrontation is one of the guiding principles of the Therapeutic Community (TC) approach to recovery: clients are confronted with their own image (and the consequent impact of that) as perceived by other clients and staff members.
Confronting someone can disrupt or compromise our relationship with them. At the same time, it can be very important to confront clients about their perspectives and behaviours. How do TC staff members navigate this practical problem?
aaa
Anecdotes
We have found that experienced TC staff members use a very subtle strategy: rather than confronting clients directly, they tell and anecdote. This is a story told for educational purposes, which is not directly about an individual client’s behaviour, however it has implications for it. With anecdotes, TC staff members manage to confront their clients in a less direct and more subtle way. Anecdotes can me effective in terms of getting across a teaching point without causing clients to react defensively.
Read more by downloading the report.
aaa
I-challenges
In another study, we have found that TC clients do ‘reality confrontation’ by talking about their personal experiences. They use this communication practice—which we call and I-challenge—as an alternative to challenge their peers’ perspectives directly.
Read more by downloading the report.
a
