ABSTRACT
The therapist sees psychotherapy as a process which helps the patient to understand himself, to come to peace with himself, to realign his thinking, to modify his attitudes and levels of aspiration, to accept himself, to learn new values, and new ways of behaving. Speaking very generally, therapists may take a supportive position or they may take an uncovering or analytic position. In the first case, they want to comfort and reassure the patient; in the second case they tend to dig deeply into history and motivations. Another important distinction depends on the role that psychotherapists tend to assume in the relationship. Roleplaying can be used as a major technique or it can be used as an auxiliary procedure, supplementing other methods. Essentially, roleplaying is a "make believe" process. In therapy, the patient will act for a limited time "as if" the acted-out situation were real.
