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A Homeopathic Model of Psychotherapy

Saybrook Institute, 1772 Vallejo Street, San Francisco, CA 94123.

This article sets forth a theoretical model for psychotherapy. Distinction is made between allopathic techniques, which oppose the problem, and homeopathic techniques, which prescribe the problem as a means of treatment. Five techniques are reviewed: psychoanalysis, catharsis, Gestalt awareness techniques, Rogerian acceptance, and paradoxical intention strategies. The literature of each is briefly reviewed and concepts that support the thesis of this article are discussed. The hypothesis is advanced that these techniques constitute a homeopathic approach to psychotherapy, in that (in different ways) each calls on the client to continue to have or to intensify experience already present. Contrasting techniques (psychosurgery, drugs, ECT, certain behavior modification techniques, exhortation, and confrontation) are characterized as allopathic. Differences between the two models are delineated and the rationales and advantages of the homeopathic model are discussed. Parallels between the homeopathic model and the humanistic tradition are drawn.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 24, No. 1, 9-48 (1984)
DOI: 10.1177/0022167884241003


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