I’m giving up!! :-)

I think the placebo is (one manifestation of) the strength of relationships (past and present).

Hope this makes sense.

Hope this makes sense.

I am not convinced that the placebo effect can be likened to expectations in “psychological/emotional/spiritual” counselling. When dealing with the non-physical sphere it is obvious that expectations are active factors in recovery – e.g. if you suffer from problems based on low self esteem but you believe that counselling is going to help you then you are already better off than someone who thinks “I’m so useless that it will never work for me”, and the little bit of faith that client has in themselves will work actively to improve the outcome.

I suppose I mean that clients heal themselves anyway, so someone who has a belief in their ability to heal themselves with some help, is going to do that more efficiently and those beliefs are actively working, not passively producing some effect as the placebo does???

I now have the feeling I am not making the distinction clear, although I am quite certain it exists. Maybe it will clarify in further discussion!

About talk therapy and placebo. We could look at expectations before meeting the therapist and outcomes (do those who expect it to work get better outcomes?). We could compare one group who just got together to chat with another group who did psychotherapy for the same amount of time. It would be especially interesting I think to study on line counselling where so much of the face to face is left out.

All these would be a way of getting a handle on the role of placebo (expectations) in counselling.

Hope this makes sense.

Yes, Luna and Evan, from my understanding of the research and certainly from my experience, the therapeutic relationship is a, if not the vital factor in the success of therapy. Evan, what exactly did you mean by how this might relate to placebo?