Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!-Chapter 181 - 179 [Rational Emotive Therapy]

Nan Zhubin sighed, not because this student’s problem was particularly serious.

From the perspective of psychological consultation grading, the other party’s state might not even count as a [psychological problem].

At most, it could be considered a [psychological abnormality], or even just [psychological sub-health].

And the latter is the state of most people in society.

Or rather—a norm.

That is why the problem is also the most stubborn type.

From Nan Zhubin’s perspective, it is indeed a relatively mild [cognitive dissonance] issue. freёnovelkiss-com

Although Li Minglu’s [depression] was also caused by [cognitive dissonance], there is no comparison between this student and Li Minglu.

The harm caused by [cognitive dissonance] is determined by the importance of the dissonant [cognition] itself.

But this extends to any problem; although the degree of Zhuang Junzhe’s [cognitive dissonance] is light, it’s not easy to solve.

To draw an analogy with medicine, it’s somewhat similar to "physical weakness," "chronic gastroenteritis," "spleen and stomach weakness," etc. These conditions are not as severely harmful as a "fracture," but there are almost no good ways to eradicate them.

Li Minglu’s dissonant cognition lies in his family. If this situation had been detected and actively intervened with as soon as possible, there might have been a chance for proper resolution.

As for this Zhuang Junzhe’s trouble with family background issues... it’s understood by anyone familiar.

Nan Zhubin pressed his lips together.

He sighed because he has seen many similar problems and thus feels particularly touched, making it very easy to [empathize].

However, there is one point unique to this visitor.

...

"Actually, I’ve always had this problem. But it has only recently become severe and started to particularly trouble me."

"On one hand, I wonder whether the girl’s situation has interfered with my emotions too much, causing me to overthink."

"On the other hand, I also wonder if it’s because I couldn’t face the problem before and instead avoided or suppressed it, causing it to erupt more violently now, affecting me."

Zhuang Junzhe looked into Nan Zhubin’s eyes, his gaze helpless, yet with a kind of strength.

"I can’t sort this out myself, so I wanted to seek help from you to clarify things."

His thoughts are clear, he has sufficient awareness, and he actively seeks help.

Among the visitors, this Zhuang Junzhe is the most "healthy."

This is a point that is very much worth [positive attention].

So Nan Zhubin directly pointed it out: "It seems that before coming to me, you’ve already adequately analyzed your situation and conducted profound self-reflection."

"Your thought process is very clear, and you speak with a logical structure. This is rare even among graduate students."

Upon hearing this compliment, Zhuang Junzhe smiled: "Maybe because... my major leans towards the sciences, I always want to dissect problems."

Saying this, he leaned back slightly.

[Relaxed a little.]

This signifies the deepening of the counseling relationship.

Nan Zhubin sincerely said: "Honestly, I can understand you very well now. I was also troubled by this problem before. I too was a student from a small town, and when I first arrived at Jiang University, I was very unaccustomed to it."

After [positive attention], add a touch of [self-exposure] with [empathy].

Zhuang Junzhe looked at Nan Zhubin’s face, his features and lines, his gaze a little surprised: "But you don’t seem like someone from..."

He suddenly stopped, remembering what he said earlier about "friends thinking he looks like he has a good family background," leading to a moment of silence.

After all, in terms of looks, Nan Zhubin appears much more distinguished; thus, if Nan Zhubin’s family situation is indeed similar, his distress would surely surpass his own.

A sense of shared struggle welled up spontaneously.

At the same time, Zhuang Junzhe also felt a slight boomerang of embarrassment.

When people feel embarrassed, they subconsciously adjust their posture—which might also be due to the fatigue of maintaining one posture for a long time—hence the visitor shifted into a posture pressed against the back of the sofa chair. His hands were not crossed over his arms but instead clasped together below his abdomen.

After two breaths, the visitor asked: "How did you handle it back then, sir?"

Nan Zhubin pointed to his head: "You used a correct term earlier, [cognition]. And my approach was—adjusting my [cognition]."

According to [cognitive dissonance theory], in a situation of cognitive dissonance, if you want cognitive adjustment, you must adjust [cognition] or [behavior].

In Zhuang Junzhe’s case, adjusting so-called [behavior] isn’t very feasible—after all, for problems caused by "family background," the best behavior is to "change the family background," a problem spanning a long time, beyond the scope of psychological consultation.

So it can only focus on [cognition], to "increase [cognition]," or "alter [cognition]."

Nan Zhubin smiled: "You’ve always done well, striving to maintain cognitive balance; but one’s cognition always changes with the surrounding environment and happenings. You rapidly transitioned from a secondary city to Jiangdu, rendering your cognitive adjustment speed insufficient to keep up with environmental changes, resulting in dissonance."

This indicates that the visitor themselves has a strong foundation for cognitive adjustment, and what Nan Zhubin needs to do is to give a little push, helping him clear his thoughts.

All these are methodological things.

For the present Zhuang Junzhe, it is relatively easy.

Nan Zhubin tore off a piece of paper, picked up a pen, and pushed them towards the visitor.

"What we are going to do next, in psychology, is called [Rational Emotive Therapy], also known as the [ABC Therapy]."

Zhuang Junzhe followed Nan Zhubin’s lead, unconsciously repeating: "[ABC Therapy]?"

Nan Zhubin gestured for Zhuang Junzhe to take the paper and pen himself.

"First, at the top of the paper, write the letters [A], [B], [C] horizontally."

Zhuang Junzhe complied.

Nan Zhubin explained: "The reason you’re troubled and came for consultation is that an [event] triggered your [emotion], making it difficult for you to digest independently, so you sought help."

Zhuang Junzhe nodded.

"The way an [event] triggers a person’s [emotion] is, in essence, due to different [beliefs] about the [event]."

"Next, we’ll deconstruct your recent troubles, recording them sequentially as [event], [belief], [emotion]; where [event] is [A], [belief] is [B], [emotion] is [C]."

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