In Treatment: April, Week 3

April tests her parents by falling out of a window.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• In
• Treatment
• April
• Paul
• neglect

[MondoBeno]

I've seen articles about the backstory topic. A person has a younger sibling with special needs, and the younger child takes up all of the parents' time. The older sibling then feels guilty whenever he needs emotional attention.

[ControlMastery]

@MondoBeno What you describe is natural, normal guilt, which April undoubtedly feels, but she also feels crushing guilt because she somehow came to believe that she is preventing her mother from having a life.

[ControlMastery]

Pathogenic beliefs arise because of early experiences in relationships. Those beliefs contain predictions about how other people will treat the person. These predictions cause a person to adopt defensive maneuvers. What a person needs to do is show that those predictions are false, and the only way to do that is by experiences in relating to other people when subjectively vulnerable because of a courageous refusal to put the defenses up. Most people don't see pathogenic beliefs as irrational.

[thesparitan]

I understand your explanation but I still dont feel like I am complete in my understanding yet. So what your saying is that it is too difficult, scary, weird, what have you, to actually follow the more rational belief. So it is not possible to think your way out, you must act on your reason as well.

Two questions, is it possible to not know that a belief is irrational and harmful. The second is, does knowing that it is a pathogenic belief more helpful for the overcoming one.

[thesparitan]

ahh ok i can totally see that now. thank you. yea i would have to say that i dont have that problem so thats good. lucky for me lol. but i can complete understand how someone like paul would have a problem. i wonder if this show has help men in there relationships with there wives

[daedalus71]

Kate's growing independence was an opportunity for Paul, as well as a loss. They could have entered an exciting new chapter in their relationship.

[daedalus71]

I think this happens in many relationships. To 'be a man' is to be dominant, but often in ways that are not recognized as dominance. So when women become more equal (more independent, more self-assertive), men sometimes feel inadequate - they start to feel inferior, when in many ways they are still the more dominant partner. This can prompt them to do destructive things. I think that if more men were more aware of this dynamic, they could adapt more successfully.

[daedalus71]

Yes, that's how I see it. As you say, in part, because there were other factors as well as that one.

[ControlMastery]

Excellent question. The problem is that the person may know that the feelings are irrational but hasn't mustered the courage to ACT as if they were irrational in his life. Pathogenic beliefs create a host of defensive postures. A person must courageously ACT in the face of these postures time and time again for the irrational feelings to go away. Realizing that they are irrational is only the first step. The crucial step is ACTING AS IF THEY WERE IRRATIONAL.

[thesparitan]

for me that is hard to follow in a viceral way. so she, in part, caused the relationship to break up because she became independent. and he becuase he could not adapt, he was left behind. he must of them tried looking for the emotional need from somewhere else and pick laura.