ABSTRACT
Catherine, in her late 30s, entered therapy because her relationship with her live-in partner had "gone stale," and she was on the verge of having an affair with a man at work. Through her adolescence and early adult life, Catherine had a series of relatively long-term sexual relationships that always ended when she became bored and didn't "see the point to it anymore." She tended to characterize these relationships as sexual relations more than love relations, because the sex was very good and satisfying. Gradually, Catherine has been more and more able to keep an open mind toward herself and her struggles. A successful therapy moves beyond problem solving to a process of helping a person have a different relationship to their own mind. Psychotherapy fosters a particular kind of thinking, which is the capacity to observe and reflect on how one thinks.
