Form and Structure and Their Function in Psychotherapy

Findings from a long-term research project on the creative process in the arts and sciences are applied to the practice of psychotherapy as a collaborative creative enterprise. The primacy of form and structure in psychotherapy and other creative processes is described and a theory of the structural basis of psychotherapeutic practices and effects is presented. Both patient and therapist come to understand the patient’s behavior because of the setting up and focusing upon a structured trial domain of interpersonal interaction. Both individual therapy sessions and the overall course of treatment are organized according to structural principles. Specific research material regarding the primacy of form in artistic and scientific creative processes is presented.