ABSTRACT
We will close this section by providing an example of what one CBASP therapist did during her final session. Here is the Prescription for Life that the clinician presented to Stephen, one of her patients. Stephen began psychotherapy with a peak score on the hostile-submission octant (interpersonally withdrawn and detached) on the IMI (Kiesler and Schmidt, 1993). During the early sessions he whined or became enraged whenever someone did something he didn’t like. In general, Stephen maintained a pervasive fear-avoidant lifestyle and dealt with problems at work in two ways: (1) he would become angry when someone did something that was not to his liking and then behave like a “spoiled child” or (2) he would assume a helpless role saying he couldn’t handle the problem. The second coping strategy was accompanied with a smile that was disarming to others as well as to the practitioner. His clinician labeled his styles the Jerk Stephen and the Nice-Guy Stephen. Stephen became more assertive over the course of treatment and learned to define himself with others in an honest manner. The new learning
was presented in a “Prescription” format at the final session. It summarized the behaviors that Stephen must practice daily during the post-treatment period. The prescription summarized an SA that had been completed earlier and the patient framed the prescription and hung it in his hall.
