Evil Deeds

A Forensic Psychologist on Anger, Madness and Destructive Behavior

Dr. Stephen Diamond is a clinical and forensic psychologist in LA and the author of Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity. See full bio

June 26, 2008, Therapy

Comments on "Secrets of Psychotherapy (Part 4) : Change or Acceptance?"

Secrets of Psychotherapy (Part 4) : Change or Acceptance?

By Dr. Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D. on June 26, 2008 in Evil Deeds

Let's start with a simple word association experiment: When you think about psychotherapy, what is the first word that comes to mind to describe what therapy is all about? Take a few seconds. Got it? For many of you, my guess is that one, if not the very first, of those words was change. But what if I were to tell you that psychotherapy is really at least as much about acceptance as change? Read More

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Submitted by sarah on June 27, 2008 - 8:10am.

This article reminds me of when i myself was involved in therapy. I did not want to accept that i was going through this abnormal phase. But the more i tried to accept the fact that i am like this, the more i felt desperate. I wanted to accept as who i am, but accepting was not an easy thing to do as a patient for I lacked courage at that time. However, my mind being so desperate to change kept reminding me of the Christ who can make the process of "accepting" much more quickly and finally helping me to change.