ABSTRACT
People medicate themselves with ideas, some of which are more potent than the actual pills they ingest. The chapter describes the employment of an actual prescription—a powerful symbol for the achievement of health—to reinforce important ideas that have evolved in the treatment. By creatively validating ideas and their power, these prescriptions, called Concept-Laden Prescriptions (CLRxs), serve many functions in the therapy. They replace passivity with the opportunity for more active collaboration in, and responsibility for, the therapeutic process. They relocate therapy to a different space that allows for greater spontaneity, playfulness, and creativity and less risk of judgment and disapproval. They facilitate receptivity to an authentic exploration of the value of medication, be it molecular or ideational, in the therapeutic process. The CLRxs increase trust in a therapist who puts unbiased exploration ahead of self-interest. They also increase the effectiveness of therapy by adding a behavioral dimension to a psychodynamic approach. Guidance is provided for the frequency, patient population, and phase of therapy for which CLRxs are employed.
