A problem is what the client EXPERIENCES as a problem. It is the emotional involvement, the emotional response of a person, his inner discomfort that indicates that there really is a problem: irritation, aggression, anger, sadness, grief, stress, despondency, anxiety, anxiety, depression, anger and other frustration.
Hence the limitation: a psychotherapist will not work with a problem that does not exist. Because the client doesn’t.
What does this mean in real practice? If a girl (of the hysterical type) reports that she was raped and waits with interest for our reaction, assuming that we will immediately appreciate the full scale of SUCH a problem and give her maximum attention, we probably will not do this. At least not right away. Because in this version, rape is not a psychological problem for her. Not worried.
If a young man (for roughly the same reasons) enthusiastically says that he «even had thoughts of suicide» — this is not a reason for us to worry. We don’t see the experience. But we see the drawing.
Many of us have met such demonstrative «suicides». Nothing, they are still alive and well.
We are not interested in the traditional emotional load of the stated topic. We don’t care how «it» is supposed to be experienced. We look at how the client really experiences what he talks about. And if this is “just” an unsuccessful teenage love or a lost brooch (a keepsake), but we see that a person is feeling bad, then we have something to work with.
Because it is for this person that this brooch and this first love are really Events. At least for now. These are his values. This is his main thing. And this is what he is experiencing. Because the problem is what they experience. And not what is considered to be a problem.
Unless, again, we want to earn some extra money. Because when working with a problem that does not exist, you can achieve a “result” at almost any time. How long can this «result» be delayed. With good imagination.