Richard Zwolinski - Therapy Revolution » guilt http://www.richardzwolinski.com/zwolinskisite Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:53:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Victim or Positive Thinker? http://www.richardzwolinski.com/zwolinskisite/2010/03/09/victim-or-positive-thinker/ http://www.richardzwolinski.com/zwolinskisite/2010/03/09/victim-or-positive-thinker/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:07:32 +0000 richard http://www.richardzwolinski.com/zwolinskisite/?p=452 Rarely do opposing viewpoints divide people so dramatically, or influence people’s lives in so many areas than the two main opposing outlooks on the subject of victimhood. The question of one’s status as victim—specifically as it pertains to emotional problems and psychotherapy—is something we write about in Therapy Revolution. On the one hand some people might need to affirm that they were at one point innocent victims in order to get rid of crippling shame/blame/guilt. On the other, some may have to give up their status as victims, in order to learn to take responsibility for their thoughts, speech, and actions.

 

This divide also plays out culturally, and can profoundly impact our views on society, and the roles of and government. For those who hold that we are totally responsible for our conditions in life, whatever they might be (except perhaps in specific circumstances such as the occurrence of natural disaster or genetic disabilities or illnesses), then when we aren’t  successful, well, it’s simply our own fault. For those who never met a weakness or failure that they couldn’t pathologize or otherwise explain away (think Tiger Woods), those they choose to align with, are permanent victims of those they don’t.
Read more, here: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/therapy-soup/2010/03/positive-thinking-vs-victim-identity/

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