Beyond Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis : Expanding Dialectics to a Trans-Theoretical Process in Psychotherapy

Dialectics are a form of thinking that emphasizes contradiction and change. Across theoretical approaches, dialectics have been incorporated to varying degrees. However, thus far, psychotherapists have been limited to the thesis-antithesis-synthesis approach to dialectical processes. While effective, expanding psychotherapists’ awareness of dialectics may provide a new avenue for conceptualization and intervention. This paper aims to describe a new trans-theoretical dialectical process in psychotherapy. This process is based on three primary critiques of current dialectics in psychotherapy: (1) a limitation of complexity, (2) an idealist focus, and (3) an overemphasis on positive dialectical processes. The present paper offers dialectical materialism and negative dialectics as potential avenues to address these critiques. Building on these new additions, psychotherapists are given four tasks: (1) historicizing presenting problems and dialectical contradictions, (2) embracing complexity beyond thesis-antithesis-synthesis , (3) incorporating materialist considerations, and (4) de-emphasizing synthesis or sublation.