1. Once more unto the breach dear friends…A reconsideration of the literature on symptom substitution
- Author
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Melvin Zax and Kerry Scott Cordon
- Subjects
Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,Intervention (counseling) ,Behavioral study ,Phenomenon ,Substitution (logic) ,Relevance (law) ,Impossibility ,Psychodynamics ,Psychology ,Social psychology ,Epistemology - Abstract
For over 25 years the question of symptom substitution has been the most heatedly contested theoretical point between the behavioral and psychodynamic schools. The behaviorists have claimed to show empirically that symptom substitution is at worst a negligible phenomenon, while the psychodynamicists have argued that this is a theoretical impossibility. This paper reviews the basic behavioral and psychodynamic positions on this issue. It subsequently argues that the behavioral studies in this area are methodologically and conceptually flawed to the point of neutralizing the claim of “empirical” resolution. Finally, current behavioral and psychodynamic positions on this issue are viewed, as well as their relevance to future research and therapeutic intervention.
- Published
- 1981
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