ABSTRACT
In a medical or biological model, mental health professionals have some reasonable ways of talking about cause and effect. A virus or a bacterium causes certain effects like fever and nausea. As complicated as the concept of cause and effect is and as mysterious as the operations of cause and effect are in human affairs, this route of simple inquiry is bound to produce some useful dividends. The therapist is guessing about an unseen chain of causes and effects. This is a cornerstone interaction and technique of therapy. A human experience specialist would likewise sometimes guess but would use language to make it apparent. Then the relationship may in fact be harmed, as his client or patient is now less likely to credit the therapist with insight. As a society, mental health professionals desperately need a large-scale, focused inquiry into the mechanics of cause and effect in human affairs.
