The Blame Game

by Stephen B.Chadwick, MA Counselling Psychology.
www.cowichancounselling.ca

A Follow up from the Identified Patient

So dear friends, in my last post I talked about the "identified patient" or "I.P." and how the identified patient is the one member of a family who usually comes in or is sometimes dragged in to therapy. This is because, rightly or wrongly, the "I.P" is the "one with the problem", who has, or is causing, or even IS the problem (in the opinion/estimation of the family).
This sets up the fiction that the rest of the family HAS no problems..... other than of course the identified patient.

Now the other piece that comes out of this story and follows naturally from it is that if and/or when the I.P. goes into therapy and starts to get better it presents other unique problems for both the IP and the family.