ASSIMILATION OF PROBLEMATIC EXPERIENCES BY CLIENTS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

In successful psychotherapy, problematic experiences (threatening or painful thoughts, feelings, memories, etc.) are gradually assimilated into schemata that are introduced by the therapist or developed in the therapist-client interaction by modification of old schemata. As it is assimilated, a problematic experience passes through predictable stages. The client moves from being oblivious, to experiencing the content as acutely painful, then as less distressing, merely puzzling, then understood, and finally as confidently mastered.