Today I relaunched my website and blog, at drkaplan.co.uk.
This blog will no longer be updated.
Looking forward to your visit.
Dr. Brian Kaplan
London
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Provocative Therapy used on 'Heroes'
Provocative Therapy was brilliantly (if inadvertently) illustrated in last night’s episode of the popular series, Heroes. The Japanese character (Hero by name and position) who can time travel and who is on a mission to ‘save the world’ has teleported himself from Japan to the US to fulfill his destiny.
In last night’s episode, Hero is sought out and found by his sister and father, the head of a large Japanese corporation, from which he has absconded. His father wants him to come back and be vice president with a view to eventually becoming president. The conversation between brother and sister that follows is a perfect example of the provocative tool Make an Absurd Suggestion.
Instead of embarking on the futile process of explaining why he cannot return to Japan to exploit this massive opportunity, Hero uses Provocative Therapy. The conversation went something like this:
Hero: Okay I’ve decided that I will come to Japan and become vice-president.
Sister: That’s good news!
Hero: And when I come back the first thing I will do is consolidate management in Tokyo.
Sister: Consolidate management! That will be catastrophic! You can’t do that!
Hero: Smiling. I can do anything. I’m executive vice president. The company is in trouble. What else can be done?
Sister: Angrily, confidently and in a style most inappropriate for Japanese women gives a host of useful suggestions for the company, leaving the father astonished and surprised.
Hero: (continuing to provoke) Ah, what do you know of these things?
Sister: Even angrier. I’ve worked for this company… I’ve seen…. If anybody knows what is to be done it’s me!
Point made. Father and new female executive vice president depart for Japan. Just a little ‘distraction’ (title of the episode was ‘Distractions’) that Hero needed to solve with Provocative Therapy in order to get on with his mission of saving the world.
This is a superb illustration of Make an Absurd Suggestion, an important tool of Provocative Therapy whether or not the makers of the programme have ever heard of it or not. Hero’s absurd suggestion of ‘consolidating management’ kindly provoked his sister into having the confidence to verbalise her own highly sensible opinion and obvious candidacy for taking over. This is exactly what provocative therapists see day in and day out in their practices.
You can catch a repeat of this episode on BBC 2, tonight 11th October at 11.20 pm.
In last night’s episode, Hero is sought out and found by his sister and father, the head of a large Japanese corporation, from which he has absconded. His father wants him to come back and be vice president with a view to eventually becoming president. The conversation between brother and sister that follows is a perfect example of the provocative tool Make an Absurd Suggestion.
Instead of embarking on the futile process of explaining why he cannot return to Japan to exploit this massive opportunity, Hero uses Provocative Therapy. The conversation went something like this:
Hero: Okay I’ve decided that I will come to Japan and become vice-president.
Sister: That’s good news!
Hero: And when I come back the first thing I will do is consolidate management in Tokyo.
Sister: Consolidate management! That will be catastrophic! You can’t do that!
Hero: Smiling. I can do anything. I’m executive vice president. The company is in trouble. What else can be done?
Sister: Angrily, confidently and in a style most inappropriate for Japanese women gives a host of useful suggestions for the company, leaving the father astonished and surprised.
Hero: (continuing to provoke) Ah, what do you know of these things?
Sister: Even angrier. I’ve worked for this company… I’ve seen…. If anybody knows what is to be done it’s me!
Point made. Father and new female executive vice president depart for Japan. Just a little ‘distraction’ (title of the episode was ‘Distractions’) that Hero needed to solve with Provocative Therapy in order to get on with his mission of saving the world.
This is a superb illustration of Make an Absurd Suggestion, an important tool of Provocative Therapy whether or not the makers of the programme have ever heard of it or not. Hero’s absurd suggestion of ‘consolidating management’ kindly provoked his sister into having the confidence to verbalise her own highly sensible opinion and obvious candidacy for taking over. This is exactly what provocative therapists see day in and day out in their practices.
You can catch a repeat of this episode on BBC 2, tonight 11th October at 11.20 pm.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
The Provocative Therapist welcomes you, but read the warning first
Warning: This blog is not for everyone. Do not read any further if you fall into any of the following categories:
1. You do not have a sense of humor.
2. You do not believe that a sense of humor can be a useful tool to deal with your problems and the problems of the world.
3. You are perfect and you think the world is perfect too.
Still with me. Okay, Let me begin by saying what Provocative Therapy is and how I intend to 'therap' the world from here.
What the %&%)*^*)^*)% is Provocative Therapy?
Okay then, Provocative Therapy is the use of Reverse Psychology and Humor in medicine and psychotherapy.
We all know that laughter is good for you. In fact I composed a mnemonic
(Kaplan's Mnemonic) to help me remember the physiological benefits of laughter.
Kaplan's Mnemonic
S tress release
M uscular relaxation
I mmunity increased
L lungs emptied fully of old air
E xercise and Endorphins and Encephalins released making you feel good.
and more and more benefits of laughter are being found. The world expert on this is Bill Fry. Google him to find more on how laughter helps us physically. Also Dr. Patch Adams is pretty well known for extolling the beneficial effects of laughter.
BUT Provocative Therapy is much more than getting people to laugh to feel better. It's about pressing your internal buttons to get you to laugh at the inner joke of your life.
What 'Inner Joke' ? The inner joke of your life is the funny side of how you are preventing yourself from finding fulfulment in life. Laugh at that and you open a window of opportunity for immediate change in your life. That's what provocative therapists aim to provoke.
Provocative Therapy is a fast-acting form of brief psychotherapy that produces durable results thus making it highly cost effective. But here the world can be therapeutically provoked FOR FREE!
Watch this space for more, but if you have to know more about Provocative Therapy right now, check out: www.provocativetherapy.co.uk
Brian Kaplan, MD
The Provocative Therapist
Warning: This blog is not for everyone. Do not read any further if you fall into any of the following categories:
1. You do not have a sense of humor.
2. You do not believe that a sense of humor can be a useful tool to deal with your problems and the problems of the world.
3. You are perfect and you think the world is perfect too.
Still with me. Okay, Let me begin by saying what Provocative Therapy is and how I intend to 'therap' the world from here.
What the %&%)*^*)^*)% is Provocative Therapy?
Okay then, Provocative Therapy is the use of Reverse Psychology and Humor in medicine and psychotherapy.
We all know that laughter is good for you. In fact I composed a mnemonic
(Kaplan's Mnemonic) to help me remember the physiological benefits of laughter.
Kaplan's Mnemonic
S tress release
M uscular relaxation
I mmunity increased
L lungs emptied fully of old air
E xercise and Endorphins and Encephalins released making you feel good.
and more and more benefits of laughter are being found. The world expert on this is Bill Fry. Google him to find more on how laughter helps us physically. Also Dr. Patch Adams is pretty well known for extolling the beneficial effects of laughter.
BUT Provocative Therapy is much more than getting people to laugh to feel better. It's about pressing your internal buttons to get you to laugh at the inner joke of your life.
What 'Inner Joke' ? The inner joke of your life is the funny side of how you are preventing yourself from finding fulfulment in life. Laugh at that and you open a window of opportunity for immediate change in your life. That's what provocative therapists aim to provoke.
Provocative Therapy is a fast-acting form of brief psychotherapy that produces durable results thus making it highly cost effective. But here the world can be therapeutically provoked FOR FREE!
Watch this space for more, but if you have to know more about Provocative Therapy right now, check out: www.provocativetherapy.co.uk
Brian Kaplan, MD
The Provocative Therapist
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