“[Our] approach can be conceptualized as having four parts. The first asks the question, ‘What is right with this person? What is his or her best ways of living relating and creating?’ … The second asks the question, ‘What can be changed or added in the person’s life (within the realm of the present reality) so that his life can be the fullest, richest and most fulfilling possible?’...Here we look at every relevant aspects of the person’s life..and also consider his goals and dreams…Sooner or later we get to the question, ‘What in you has stopped you from finding and expressing your best ways of living?’ That is the third part: to identify psychological blocks and work at removing them. …We look at what is wrong with the person only in terms of what impedes him from creating the kind of life that reflects who he is. …The fourth part, which in actual practice begins early, is to help and encourage the person to plan a course of action most likely to reflect who he really is, and what he would find most meaningful and fulfilling. It is necessary to plan goals to plan a future. The steps might be small, but must be real. Any total plan must address the person’s total being. …Talk is not enough. Actions are also necessary.”
Ruth Bolletino
“The Patient as a Person”
Part 2: “Research summary”
in Integrative Cancer Therapies
Vol. 3, No. 2, June 2004
