Theories of Therapeutic Alliance

Theories of Therapeutic Alliance QUOTE:- The therapeutic alliance is a key concept and quintessential variable whose importance is commonly accepted. It is seen as a multi-dimensional concept, emerging trends indicate four dimensions, namely: the patients affective relationship to the therapist; the patients capacity to purposefully work in therapy; the therapists empathic understanding and involvement; the client/therapist agreement on the goals and tasks of treatment. B. JUST 1997 Essay The concept of the Therapeutic Alliance has its roots in the seminal works of Freud when he began formulating his theories in respect of the various concepts relating to the phenomenon and dynamics of transference. (Freud S 1912). Freud began to refer to the concept in his early writings in different terms as a the therapeutic, working, or helping alliance which encapsulated the idea that a relationship between therapist and patient was important for therapeutic success. We note, in the context of this essay, that Freud’s opinion was that such a working arrangement was important but not essential for a therapeutic outcome. His early comments tended to refer to the â€Å"positive feelings that develop between doctor and patient â€Å" although, as his theories evolved, these concepts developed into more concrete forms. As is the case with most evolving concepts it was developed and expanded by a number of other notable figures. Zetzel looked at a number of different types of alliance formation (Zetzel E R 1956) and Greenson conceptualised this in a fuller form drawing a distinction between the real and adaptive forms of this type of relationship and drawing attention to the transferential properties and the possibility of the transference of fantasy in the adaptive elements of the alliance. (Greenson R R 1967) Working at about the same time as Greenson in the USA, Rogers characterised the Therapeutic Alliance in the terminology of â€Å"Client-centered therapy† and, for the first time in the literature, we find a reference to such an alliance being considered â€Å"essential† rather than â€Å"desirable† for the possibility of a positive outcome. (Rogers C R 1965). Rodgers referred to the Therapeutic Alliance as an â€Å"empathetic bond† which had to be actively developed by both doctor and patient and was an essential precursor to any form of exploration of the patient’s problems. Bordin expanded and generalised this concept further still and sought to increase its usefulness by adapting it to psychotherapy in all of its various forms. (Bordin E S 1979) and, in a seminal move towards Just’s analysis, proposed three elemental components of the Therapeutic Alliance, namely the identification of the goal, the identification of the task in hand and the formation of the doctor / patient bond of trust and empathy. In consideration of the title of this essay we should consider this analysis more fully. Bordin conceived of the Therapeutic Alliance as a totally bipartisan construction which required an equal (but different) input from both therapist and patient. This construction required the mutual identification and recognition of the shared goals that were going to be achieved together with an agreed and accepted delineation and acknowledgement of the various tasks necessary to achieve these goals and the bond which he saw as and â€Å"attachment bond generated primarily from mutual respect and empathyâ€Å". (Bordin E S 1979). It follows from this analysis, that Bordin conceived the Therapeutic Alliance not as something which arose spontaneously form the efforts and interaction of therapist and patient, but as the actual vehicle and mechanism by which psychotherapy worked. His attempts to apply this concept to the various contemporary forms of psychotherapy culminated with the realisation a nd articulation that the different forms of psychotherapy focussed in on, and exploited different aspects of the Therapeutic Alliance at different stages of the treatment. This finding is echoed in other writings. As we have outlined, the concept of the Therapeutic Alliance has its origins in the psychodynamic traditions of psychotherapy but has been embraced by the other traditions as well. Those theorists who are grounded in the cognitive school also acknowledge the establishment of a collaborative relationship between therapist and patient as an essential prerequisite to effective therapy. (Beck A T et al. 1979) More recent work as sought to quantify the nature and depth of the Therapeutic Alliance in the various disciplines. Martin’s tour de force on the subject is an impressive meta-analysis which sought to quantify the relationship between the strength of the Therapeutic Alliance and the eventual outcome of treatment. (Martin D J et al. 2000).His findings suggest that it depends how one quantifies the Therapeutic Alliance as to how strong the relationship is found to be. This is an area that we shall return to shortly. Horvath takes this point further with a similar meta-analysis across various forms of psychotherapy and comes to the conclusion that the impact of the Therapeutic Alliance is roughly similar in the different forms and the efficacy of outcome is directly related to the strength of the Therapeutic Alliance bond, irrespective of which particular mode of measurement is used. (Horvath A O et al. 1991). These issues, and indeed the thrust behind Just’s terminology of the Therapeutic Alliance as being the â€Å"quintessential variable are all totally dependent on just how one defines or measures the concept. It is clear from the discussions presented already that it is a â€Å"multidimensional concept†. One is certainly tempted to observe, from a brief overview of the literature, that it has at least as many dimensions as there are authorities writing on the issue. Although such a comment is superficially clearly bordering on the flippant, is can be taken at a much deeper level as a reflection of the fact that the Therapeutic Alliance is defined and measured by different authors in different ways. Historically the evolution of the ability to measure the strength of the alliance has evolved in much the same was (and to some extent in parallel) as the actual formulation of the concepts of the Therapeutic Alliance itself. (Luborsky L et al. 1983). In essence, a judgement of the extent to which one considers the Therapeutic Alliance essential rather than simply desirable, is dependent on the way that one either quantifies or measures it. If we consider the implications of this statement further we can cite comments by two authorities that we have quoted earlier in a different context. In their critical analysis of the role of the Therapeutic Alliance in the field of general psychotherapy, Horvath and Luborsky suggest that research is unlikely to provide guidance to clinical practice unless the relations between clearly defined therapist actions in specific contexts and the effect of these interventions on process or outcome can be demonstrated (Horvath A O, Luborsky L 1993 Pg. 568 ) The effectiveness of the Therapeutic Alliance is also demonstrably effected by other factors. In his book the Heart and Soul of Change, Miller (et al. 1999) puts forward the suggestion that what is of fundamental importance in establishing the alliance is not the persuasion, or theoretical background of the therapist, nor even how empathetic the therapist actually is to the problems of the patient (even if the criteria that one uses is how empathetic the therapist believes that they are being) but is actually the degree to which the patient believe that the therapist understands their own perceptions of reality. To quote Miller â€Å"It the client’s theory of change not the therapist’s that is important.† This thread of argument is taken further with Gabbard’s analysis (Gabbard G O et al. 1994) that the efficacy of the eventual therapeutic intervention, if measured in terms of transference interpretations, defence interpretations, and supportive interventions is ultimately dependent on factors that are therapist independent such as the strength of the patient’s ego, the state of readiness that the patient has reached in terms of their own self-exploration or elaboration, the current phase of the therapeutic process and even the timing within any particular session. Which implies that it is both dynamic and variable. If we consider the third of Just’s four dimensions, that being that the therapists empathic understanding and involvement is an essential prerequisite for the formation of the Therapeutic Alliance, then we can see that Gabbard’s analysis is clearly at odds with Just’s. It is fair to observe that Gabbard is not alone in his assertions as Sexton’s slightly later and incredibly detailed assessment of the status of the Therapeutic Alliance, came to essentially the same conclusions. (Sexton H C et al. 1996). A rather more controversial view is expressed by Kernberg who was admittedly considering the phenomenon of Therapeutic Alliance in the specific context of severe personality disorder (Kernberg O F 1994) and came to the conclusion that the Therapeutic Alliance has to be initially very strong to allow the possibility of negative transference in order for the therapist to sometimes avoid the possibility of either premature termination of therapeutic stalemates. To an extent, he vicariously supports Miller’s contentions by pointing out that the practical strength of the Therapeutic Alliance is largely independent of the therapist’s wishes if one is dealing with a patient who is angrily attacking or even overtly manipulating the frame and goals of treatment. He adds the comment that in these circumstances the strength of the Therapeutic Alliance is largely determined by the level of the patient’s intrinsic anxiety state. Perhaps this can be interpreted as an extension or perhaps a paraphrasing of Miller’s later suggestion. It therefore follows that if we are to agree or to disagree with Just’s original statement, we need to consider just how we can quantify the strength of the various parameters of the Therapeutic Alliance. This is no easy topic and the literature on the subject is vast. One of the first significant and serious attempts to produce some form of measuring tool came in the form of the Luborskys Penn Helping Alliance scales (Luborsky L et al. 1983). This had a number of serious shortcomings and was modified many times in the years immediately after its publication. The Penn Helping Alliance questionnaire was an offshoot of this collaboration and this evolved further into a 19 item scale. Many difficulties arose in the original tools because, to a degree they were dependent on the degree of benefit that the patient had already received from any previous attempts at therapy. A number of commentators made the suggestion that the tools, in order to maximise their applicability and usefulness, should be as independent as possible from the degree of benefit that the patient had already received. (Marmar C R et al. 1989). If we return to our consideration of Bordin’s tripartite assessment of the Therapeutic Alliance which can be considered a fundamental progenitor of Just’s model, then we can cite Horvath and Greenbergs Working Alliance Inventory (Horvath H O et al. 1989) as a useful tool to measure the Therapeutic Alliance in terms of the three subsections of the Bordin definition mentioned earlier. This is perhaps the best direct justification and support of Just’s hypothesis that we can find as Bordin’s threefold thrust of assessment is essentially the same as three of the four elements of Just’s and the fourth element that Just included of the therapist’s empathetic understanding and involvement as being an â€Å"essential prerequisite† of the Therapeutic Alliance, is largely dismissed by authorities such as Gabbard and Sexton who we have cited earlier. Clearly we do not presume to make a judgement as to which authority is essentially correct as we have to observe that the evidence base to support either view is not particularly strong. To return to the original thrust of the concept of measurement, we can state that authorities have regarded Horvath and Greenbergs Working Alliance Inventory as being highly reproducible and as having high levels of interrater reliability in both the 36 item and the shorter 12 item version. (Horvath H O et al. 1989) A degree of vindication for Just’s analysis of the Therapeutic Alliance can be found in the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scales (CALPAS) , which essentially measures the strength of the therapist / patient alliance as a multidimensional construct. It uses four subscales to assess the strength of the bond namely: (i) the patients capacity to work purposefully in therapy, (ii) the affective bond with the therapist, (iii) the therapists empathic understanding and involvement (iv) the agreement between patient and therapist on the goals and tasks of treatment. Which, in essence, cover the four basic premises of Just’s hypothesis. Like the other scales already referred to, the CALPAS scale utilises a 6 point Likert scale for each item. This particular scale has achieved wide acceptance in research literature with a good predictive ability which appears to be valid across the majority of psychotherapeutic disciplines including cognitive behavioural therapy (Fenton L R et al. 2001), psychodynamic psychotherapy (Barber J P et al. 2000) and across several other different treatment areas (Gaston L et al. 1991). It has been found to be especially useful among neurotic patients, but it does appear to be only a weak predictor of outcome with cocaine-dependent patients (Barber J P et al. 1999). In terms of the arguments set out earlier, we note that all of the scales that we have already cited have both a therapist rated and patient rated version as well as an independent observer version. If one considers the literature we can see that the patient self-reported versions tend to give better predictions of outcome than those reports that are therapist based (particularly when assessed early in treatment trajectory). This gives credence to Miller’s view that it is the patient ‘s perception of the Therapeutic Alliance which is the single most important prediction measure of outcome in the psychotherapeutic field. Thus far in this essay we have largely considered the presence of the Therapeutic Alliance as being a comparatively static modality which is either present or not. Although we have acknowledged some views that refer to its dynamic state, we should perhaps examine this in more detail. We have referred to the evolution of the strength of the Therapeutic Alliance as therapy progresses, but we should point to the fact that a number of authorities refer to the relationship of either the variability of the fundamental stability of the Therapeutic Alliance to a number of both clinical and empirical implications. (Hatcher R L et al. 1996). As long as three decades ago Luborsky wrote about the dynamic nature of the Therapeutic Alliance which was actively responsive to the dynamic and changing demands of the evolution of the various phases of therapy. (Luborsky L 1976). A further aspect of this dynamism is to be found in the writings of Bordin who, while acknowledging that the role of the therapist is generally one of support, noted that the role of the therapist tends to be the dominant factor at the beginning of the therapeutic relationship and this evolves into a more shared responsibility as goals and treatment plans are both articulated and defined. He writes that it is the inevitable cycle of the Therapeutic Alliance bond being strained, ruptured and then repaired that is central to the therapeutic process. (Bordin E 1980) Writers such as Gelso and Carter (Gelso C J et al. 1994) formalised (some would say stylised) the evolution of the alliance over the therapeutic interaction as involving â€Å"a weakening after an initial development, followed in successful therapy by an increase to earlier, high levels.† Other authorities have taken a more idiosyncratic view, which may reflect their own personal experience rather than necessarily an informed overview. Horvath characterises the typical trajectory as â€Å"an initial phase of development for the alliance, held to occur within the first five therapy sessions (and probably peaking during the third session), followed by a second, more critical phase, during which the therapist challenges maladaptive patterns, the effect of which is a weakening or rupturing of the alliance that must be repaired if therapy is to continue successfully†. (Horvath A O et al. 1994). In order to provide a balanced picture of the literature, one could also cite the opinion of Greenberg who appears to have a more philanthropic outlook when he describes the process of evolution of the Therapeutic Alliance in successful therapies as â€Å"either rising or holding a steady value over time†. (Greenberg L S 1994) In consideration of the evidence that we have assembled thus far we can state that the Therapeutic Alliance, in Just’s words, is clearly a key concept. We would suggest that the evidence points to the fact that not only is it a key concept but that it is both crucial and fundamental to the whole discipline of psychotherapeutic intervention. References Barber J P, Luborsky L, Crits-Christoph P, Thase M, Weiss R, Frank A, Onken L, Gallop R: 1999 Therapeutic alliance as a predictor of outcome in treatment of cocaine dependence. Psychotherapy Research, 1999 ; 9 (1) : 54 – 73 Barber J P, Connolly M B, Crits-Christoph P, Gladis L, Siqueland L: 2000  Alliance predicts patients outcome beyond in-treatment change in symptoms.  J Consul Clin Psychol 2000 ; 68 (6) : 1027 – 1032 Beck A T, Rush A J, Shaw B F, Emery G: 1979  Cognitive Therapy of Depression.  New York : Guilford Press, 1979 Bordin E S: 1979  The generalizability of the psychoanalytic concept of the working alliance.  Psychotherapy : Theory, Research and Practice 1979 ; 16 (3) : 252 – 260 Bordin E: 1980  A psychodynamic view of counseling psychology.  The Counseling Psychologist 1980 ; 9 : 62 – 66 Fenton L R, Cecero J J, Nich C, Fankforter T L, Carroll K M: 2001  Perspective is everything: the predictive validity working alliance instruments.  Journal of Psychotherapy Practice Research 2001 ; 10 (4) : 262 – 268 Freud S: 1912  The dynamics of transference.  Standard Edition 1912 ; 12 : 97 – 108 Gabbard G O, Horwitz L, Allen J G, et al: 1994  Transference interpretation in the psychotherapy of borderline patients: a high-risk, high-gain phenomenon.  Harv Rev Psychiatry 1994 ; 4 : 59 – 69 Gaston L, Marmar C R, Gallagher D, Thompson L W: 1991  Alliance prediction of outcome beyond in-treatment symptomatic change as psychotherapy processes.  Psychotherapy Research, 1991 ; 1 (2) : 104 – 113 Gelso C J, Carter J A: 1994 Components of the psychotherapy relationship: their interaction and unfolding during treatment.  Journal of Counseling Psychology 1994 ; 41 : 296 – 306 Greenberg L S: 1994  What is real in the relationship? Comment on Gelso and Carter (1994).  Journal of Counselling Psychology 1994 ; 41 : 307 – 310 Greenson R R: 1967  The Technique and Practice of Psychoanalysis.  New York : International Universities Press, 1967 Hatcher R L, Barends A W: 1996  Patients view of the alliance in psychotherapy: exploratory factor analysis of three alliance measures.  J Consult Clin Psychol 1996 ; 64 : 1326 – 1336 Horvath H O, Greenberg L S: 1989  Development and validation of the Working Alliance Inventory.  J Couns Psychol 1989 ; 36 (2) : 223 – 233 Horvath A O, Symonds B D: 1991  Relation between working alliance and outcome in psychotherapy: a meta-analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology 1991 ; 38 : 139 – 149 Horvath A O, Luborsky L: 1993  The role of the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy.  J Consult Clin Psychol 1993 ; 61 : 561 – 573 Horvath A O, Gaston L, Luborsky L: 1994  The therapeutic alliance and its measures, in Psychodynamic Treatment and Research, edited by Miller L, Luborsky L, Barber J et al.  New York, Basic Books, 1994, pp 247 – 273 Kernberg O F: 1994  Severe Personality Disorders: Psychotherapeutic Strategies.  New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1994 Luborsky L, Crits-Christoph P, Alexander L, Margolis M, Cohen M: T 1983  Two helping alliance methods for predicting outcomes of psychotherapy: a counting signs versus a global rating method.  Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 1983 ; 171 : 480 – 492 Luborsky L: 1976  Helping alliance in psychotherapy, in Successful Psychotherapy, edited by Cleghhorn JL. New York; Brunner / Mazel, 1976, pp 92–116 Marmar C R, Gaston L, Gallagher D, Thompson L W: 1989  Towards the validation of the California Therapeutic Alliance Rating System. Psychological Assessment:  J Consul Clin Psychol 1989 ; 1 : 46 – 52 Martin D J, Garske J P, Davis M K: 2000  Relation of the therapeutic alliance with outcome and other variables: a meta-analytic review.  J Consulting and Clin Psych 2000 ; 68 : 438 – 450 Miller E A et al. 1999  The Heart and Soul of Change  APA : Detroit 1999 Rogers C R: 1965  Client-Centered Therapy.  Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1965 Sexton H C, Hembrek K, Kvarme G: 1996  The interaction of the alliance and therapy microprocess: a sequential analysis.  J Consult Clin Psychol 1996 ; 64 : 471 – 480 Zetzel E R: 1956  Current concepts of transference.  Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 1956 ; 53 : 16 – 18 ################################################################ 11/01/07 Word count 3,493 PDG

Experimentation in Literature in the 1920s Essay -- essays papers

Experimentation in Literature in the 1920s The year 1920 opened a decade that proved to be like none other before it, a decade that was to shake the world. The 1920's changed the way the world worked, for it was a time of discovery and achievement through improvisation and experimentation, when in the past everything had been carefully labored over, and thought out thoroughly. A few of these discoveries and achievements, and the men who accomplished them, stand out from the rest. With James Joyce and the publication of his massive masterpiece Ulysses, T.S. Eliot, and the publication of his brilliant and stunning poem The Waste Land, and F. Scott Fitzgerald and the publication of his complex and tragic The Great Gatsby, the 1920's were indeed a time of amazing discovery and achievement through experimentation and improvisation. T.S. Eliot published The Waste Land in 1922, and the world of poetry changed forever. Yet his experiments in form and style began long before The Waste Land was ever published. Eliot was developing his unique style, as demonstrated in several of his early poems. Noticeable among these poems is the powerful work The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, which received much critical acclaim after being published in America. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, or just Prufrock, as many critics called it demonstrated his combination of blatant pessimism and withering hopes and desires with the sterility of modern life. Another shocking feature in the poem was the juxtaposition of the brilliantly original verse with the cliched, something that made his style very unique; never before had anyone so daringly put the common language and the esoteric together in such a fashion. Prufrock effectively presen... ...ng Company, 1996 Anderson, Chester, James Joyce. New York, Thames/ Hudson, 1967. Brownstone, David and Irene Frank, Timeline of the Twentieth Century. Canada, Little-Brown and Company, 1996. Daniel, Clifton, editor, Chronicle of the Twentieth Century. United States, Harper and Row, 1990. Daniels, Jonathan, The Time Between the Wars. United States, Doubleday, 1966. Day, Martin, A Handbook of American Literature. New York, Crane, Russak, and Company, Inc., 1975. Ellman, Richard, James Joyce. United States, Oxford Press, 1959. "F. Scott Fitzgerald", Gale's Discovering Authors, 1995. "James Joyce", Gale's Discovering Authors, 1995. Severn, William, The End of the Roaring Twenties. United States, Simon and Shuster, 1969. Tate, Allen, editor, T.S. Eliot and His Work. United States, University of the South, 1966. "T.S. Eliot", Gale's Discovering Authors, 1995. Experimentation in Literature in the 1920s Essay -- essays papers Experimentation in Literature in the 1920s The year 1920 opened a decade that proved to be like none other before it, a decade that was to shake the world. The 1920's changed the way the world worked, for it was a time of discovery and achievement through improvisation and experimentation, when in the past everything had been carefully labored over, and thought out thoroughly. A few of these discoveries and achievements, and the men who accomplished them, stand out from the rest. With James Joyce and the publication of his massive masterpiece Ulysses, T.S. Eliot, and the publication of his brilliant and stunning poem The Waste Land, and F. Scott Fitzgerald and the publication of his complex and tragic The Great Gatsby, the 1920's were indeed a time of amazing discovery and achievement through experimentation and improvisation. T.S. Eliot published The Waste Land in 1922, and the world of poetry changed forever. Yet his experiments in form and style began long before The Waste Land was ever published. Eliot was developing his unique style, as demonstrated in several of his early poems. Noticeable among these poems is the powerful work The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, which received much critical acclaim after being published in America. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, or just Prufrock, as many critics called it demonstrated his combination of blatant pessimism and withering hopes and desires with the sterility of modern life. Another shocking feature in the poem was the juxtaposition of the brilliantly original verse with the cliched, something that made his style very unique; never before had anyone so daringly put the common language and the esoteric together in such a fashion. Prufrock effectively presen... ...ng Company, 1996 Anderson, Chester, James Joyce. New York, Thames/ Hudson, 1967. Brownstone, David and Irene Frank, Timeline of the Twentieth Century. Canada, Little-Brown and Company, 1996. Daniel, Clifton, editor, Chronicle of the Twentieth Century. United States, Harper and Row, 1990. Daniels, Jonathan, The Time Between the Wars. United States, Doubleday, 1966. Day, Martin, A Handbook of American Literature. New York, Crane, Russak, and Company, Inc., 1975. Ellman, Richard, James Joyce. United States, Oxford Press, 1959. "F. Scott Fitzgerald", Gale's Discovering Authors, 1995. "James Joyce", Gale's Discovering Authors, 1995. Severn, William, The End of the Roaring Twenties. United States, Simon and Shuster, 1969. Tate, Allen, editor, T.S. Eliot and His Work. United States, University of the South, 1966. "T.S. Eliot", Gale's Discovering Authors, 1995.

Esther: From Rags to Riches Essay

It is the dream of every little girl and the theme of at least half of all box office movies. It is the story of an ordinary girl who grows up to marry a king and live in a castle. In this case Esther was raised by a cousin, because her own parents had died. She was not a child of wealth or status, but a simple Jewish girl, who had the gift of beauty. She not only became a queen, but had the rare opportunity to save many of her people from certain death. The story of Esther plays out like an exciting and at times frightening fairy tale, in which the poor little orphan grows up to marry the king and live in a fabulous castle. The story would make an excellent Disney movie because it follows the fairy tale formula exactly, complete with an evil villain and the required happy ending. Anyone who hears or reads the story might be tempted to think it sounds like a common story and lose interest. What people will discover when they dig a little more deeply into the story find that it is far from ordinary. Esther was a very unique individual as was her story. The most unique aspect of the story is that it is a true story. Although virtually all young girls grow up dreaming about the handsome prince or king that will arrive and take them away from their boring or humble life, those same little girls grow up to discover that fairy tales do not happen in real life. The exception is the case of Esther. It is a fascinating story to read and even better when people realize the impact Esther had in the lives of her people. Through her faith in God and her quiet courage, the Jewish people in the country of Persia were saved from certain death. Besides the story itself, Esther showed uniqueness through her unyielding faith in God, her obedience to both God and her cousin Mordecai, her natural beauty and quiet disposition. Her actions in the face of fear demonstrated her uniqueness as did her well timed actions. She became a heroine in a time in which women were rarely considered significant for anything other than procreation simply by having faith and following through on it. Some of the most unique aspects of Esther’s story happen at the beginning of it. She was the daughter of a man named Abihail, of the tribe of Benjamin. He and Esther’s mother both died when Esther was very young. She was taken in by her cousin Mordecai, who was the son of Abihail’s brother (Konig, 2008). There was no mention of a woman or wife of Mordecai being involved in raising Esther. In modern society Esther would have been considered an under priviliged child with minimal hope of future success. She would have been labeled as one of the children at risk of â€Å"slipping through the cracks and being forgotten†. Esther was a quiet, unassuming young lady, who did not ask for special treatment or privileges. She accepted her position in life and did what her uncle asked her to do. The exciting changes in her life began in the palace of King Ahasuerus, who at the time was the ruler of 127 provinces (Henry,). He was having a feast for all of the princes and officials in the kingdom. During this time his queen, Vashti held a banquet of her own for the women. After drinking wine, the king decided to summon Queen Vashti to show her beauty to the other men (Bible, New American Standard). The queen refused to go to the banquet when requested. The king asked the advice of his advisors on how to deal with her disobedience. They told him that if she was allowed to get away with being disobedient to him, other men’s wives would rebel against them as well. For this reason, they encouraged him to banish her. The king took their advice in order to send a message to the wives of the kingdom to obey their husbands. Once Queen Vashti was banished, the king needed to find a new queen. At this point he sent messengers out around the kingdom in search of virgins to be brought to the palace. These virgins were to be in the care of the king’s eunich Hegai. This is the point in the story where Esther and King Ahasuerus’ lives meet. Esther was one of the virgins who was sent to the palace from which the new queen would be selected. Esther did not go by her choice, but because she was told to go. Since Esther was a young woman of faith, she went as she was told. Esther would spend the next twelve months among many other young women at the palace, where she would undergo beauty treatments and preparation to be sent before the king. Most of the young women were there because they chose to be. They all hoped to be the next queen. Esther had no expectations along these lines, because the only reason she had gone was obedience. Many of the other girls whom Esther spent the year with had probably come from wealthy homes in which beauty treatments were normal rituals during growing up. Esther had undergone none of these things as a child. She still somehow with her quiet obedient manner and natural beauty, managed to capture the attention of everyone she met. Hegai favored her to the extent that he provided her with seven of her own maids and moved her to a place at the head of the harom (Bible, New American Standard Version). The competition was like the ultimate beauty contest or one of the new reality television shows in which the best girl wins the heart of the king. Since Kings usually chose their brides from one of the seven most important families in Persia, it was unique that in this case the king chose to select his new bride from the available virgins in the country (Bryce, 2006). When the time came for the girls to be presented to the King, each girl could take whatever she wanted with her. Esther chose to take only what was recommended for her to take by Hegai (Bible, New American Standard version). Each girl would be presented to the king for one night. The next morning she would be taken to a second harem for the concubines (Bible, New American Standard Version). The only way a girl would return to the king again was if he asked for her by name. When Esther was presented, the king was taken by her physical beauty and her quiet obedient nature. He chose her as his new queen. ). By winning the beauty contest that all the other girls dreamed of, she was placed in the perfect position at exactly the right time to have the opportunity to spare the lives of the Jewish people. She did this in the same calm obedient manner in which she had conducted her entire life, making her a true heroine. Her cousin Mordechai worked outside of the palace gates in a lowly position. At one time he heard two of the palace guards plotting to assassinate the king. Out of concern for the king, he passed this information on to Esther. Esther notified the king with the information in Mordecai’s name and it was documented that Mordecai was the person who was responsible for saving the king. The report was investigated resulting in the death of the conspirators and the appreciation of the king towards Esther and Mordechai. Later in the story, the King appoints a man named Hamon as his chief advisor and second in the country. He was a man who was very proud of himself and wanted a great deal of attention paid to him (Stewart, 2007). Hamon treated the king as a â€Å"person stroking a cat† (Kajer, 2007) which means he knew the one way to boost his ego and make sure the king would listen to him. He would make suggestions that would often appear to be the kings ideas. Because of this, Haman had a great deal of power and influence in the king’s decision making. He convinced the king to require everyone who saw Haman to bow before him. Mordechai refused to bow to Haman, because he was devoted to God and refused to bow to anyone except God. Some of the castle guards noticed that Mordechai did not bow as Hamon walked past. They asked him why and he said the reason was because he was a Jew (Bible, New American Standard Version). The castle guards reported to Haman that Mordechai was refusing to bow to him. This made Hamon very angry. Haman developed a strong dislike for Mordechai and decided to punish all of the Jewish people, because he did not want it to look like he was making a decision based solely on his dislike for one man. He proposed a plan to the king to execute all of the Jews on a specific chosen day, based on the information that the Jewish people had customs that went against the Persian customs. Haman went so far as to offer to deposit a large amount of his own money in the treasury to help pay for the army. The king showing little interest either way gave Haman his signet ring (Bible, New American Standard Version) and told him to keep his money and to do as he pleased with the Jews. Haman had the king’s scribes help him develop an edict stating that on a certain day all of the Jews young and old would be killed. Mordechai and the other Jews go into mourning at this time. Mordechai dressed in sackcloth and went to the palace gate. It was reported to Esther that Mordechai was at the gate dressed in sackcloth. She sent him clothes, but her refused them. He then sent a message back to her explaining the situation and asked her to talk to the king about the and tell him about haman’s evil reasons for wanting to kill the Jews. He told her to reveal her true identity as a Jew herself. Esther expresses her concern for her people, but explains to him that by going to the king she would be putting her life in danger as well. At that time there was a law stating that no one was allowed to go in to the king unless they were summoned by him. Anyone who broke this law and went into him could be put to death (Bible, New American Standard Version). The only exception to this rule was if the King raised his golden scepter to the person to allow them to approach and address him. Mordechai sent back another message saying that maybe the reason God had put her in the position of queen was to save her people. Because of her obedience to her cousin and her faith she was able to overcome her fear. She told him to have all the Jews fast and pray for three days and then she would go in to the king to see what happened. After the three days of fasting and prayer, Esther went before the king, he did not have her put to death, but instead promised her anything she wanted up to half of the kingdom. She could have asked at this point to have her people spared, but Esther knew the time was not right to reveal Haman’s plot. She simply asked for the king and Haman to join her for a dinner the following night. During the dinner, she invited both to a dinner again the next night. By that time Haman believed he had won Ester’s favor as well as the king’s. He went home quite happily and told his family about the two dinners he had been the only person besides the king Esther had invited. He felt good enough he decided to propose to the king that Mordechai be executed the next day. He was confident in enough in his power over the king that he had gallows built to hang Mordechai on as an example to the Jews. Ironically that same night, the king was unable to sleep and had the scribes come to read to him from the records. One of the things read during this time was the incident in which Mordechai had warned the king of the assassination plot against him (Bible, New American Standard). The king asked what had been done to thank Mordechai for saving him. The answer was that nothing had been done. At that time Hamon entered with the intention to tell the king of his plan to kill Mordechai. The king asked him what should be done for the person the king wanted to honor. Haman in his excessive arrogance (Stewart, 2008) thought that he must be the person that the king wanted to honor. He told the king to put the robes on him and have him ride through the town. The king told him to do that for Mordechai. This is a truly unique twist in this story as Haman must honor the man he wanted to kill. At the second dinner, Esther finally revealed that someone had plotted to kill her people and she would like for them to be spared. When the king asked who was plotting against her people, she explained it was Haman, The king was upset to the point that he had to leave the room. Haman then fell to the floor at Esther’s feet and begged for mercy. When the king returned to the room, he saw Haman with Esther and thought he was attacking her. At this point he demanded that Haman be executed. Haman was executed on the gallows he had built to execute Mordechai on. The King was unable to completely withdraw the decree he had sent out about attacking the Jews, because once a decree was signed and sent out, it could not be changed. He instead sent out another decree allowing the Jewish people to defend themselves by whatever means they needed. This resulted in fewer people attacking them and many of those who did were killed. It was extended into a second day and the Jews killed many of the people who hated them. Esther was the perfect person for God to choose for this job. She began life very humbly and was raised by a man who was her cousin with no mention of a maternal figure. In those days women were considered insignificant except for the purpose of procreation, therefore the very fact that a woman would carry out the task of saving the Jewish people from certain death was amazing. Esther was not an outspoken person or any kind of rebel. She was the kind of person who would be least likely to stand out in a crowd except for the Bible’s description of her obvious physical beauty. She was portrayed in the Bible as a young woman who followed authority with little question. Whatever Morechai asked of her she did, even if she would have preferred not to. This was evidenced by her hiding her Jewish heritage at the request of Mordecai (Bible, NIV) and entering the king’s throne room at the risk of her own life. She additionally was obviously a person who followed God’s wishes and who showed great faith in spite of the difficult youth she had endured. God used Esther through her faith to be an instrument for saving his people. Esther was raised to be an obedient faithful person who through that faith became one of the most influential women in the Bible. She did nothing outstanding nor was she a great fighter, but she showed a great amount of bravery in the face of possible death. She simply acted on obedient faith and allowed herself to be the instrument for God to use to save the Jewish people from a death caused by an angry bitter man. Her belief in God and her obedience made her the person to save her people. Only God could have designed a plan in which a young Jewish woman could end up married to a Persian king at the tight time to save an entire race (Platz, 2007). It is amazing how God works through people who have done nothing outstanding and whose only amazing trait was her incredible natural beauty.

Personal Experiences and Their Impact on Counseling A...

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