Therapy vs Friendship: Differences in Problem Resolution

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Many people seek therapy for a variety of reasons. Comer (2014) states “that people who seek therapy compared to those who don’t experience greater improvement than seventy five percent of people who don’t get treatment” (pg. 91). This statistic shows there a clear correlation between therapy and problem resolution. What’s the difference between a professional helping relationship that is established in therapy and a having a friend who you have social relationship with hear your problem, aren’t they essentially the same thing? I’ll discuss how a professional helping relationship differs in structure and content from a social friendship and its value in problem resolution.
Friendship
First of all what is a friendship? A friendship …show more content…

a Social Friendship A professional helping relationship doesn’t stem from a social relationship. This type of relationship is “formed for a specific purpose and for a finite amount of time” (Mandell & Schram, pg. 107). There are “five qualities that are distinct about a professional helping relationship” (Mandell & Schram, pg. 107). The helping relationship between client and therapist is formed as a necessary component of the therapeutic process (Mandell & Schram, pg. 107). A friendship is formed only because two people are interested in spending time together, like each other and want to be in each other’s …show more content…

108). Saul Alinsky said “the human service worker who built a strong neighborhood action group will eventually be thrown out by the indigenous leadership” (Mandell & Schram, pg. 108). As terrible as that sounds on the surface how accomplished that worker must feel to see a group of people he helped become empowered and self-sufficient. The second quality of a Helping Relationship is that “there is a specific purpose and focus for the professional helping relationship” The therapist and client would “discuss clear goals and what they want therapy to accomplish” (Mandell & Schram, pg. 108).
A friendship isn’t a “task or goal to complete, it’s a need that people have for companionship and can last a life time” (Mandell & Schram, pg. 107). As seen in the table below the therapist and client would “negotiate a contract in which the tasks and goals are spelled out” (Mandell & Schram, pg. 108). Table 2 is an example of a dialog of a

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