Attempts to correct the character

If the problem of a young man or girl is so serious that it makes him isolate himself from human society, then Erickson attempts to correct his character. The overall approach remains the same as with short-term therapy, but the intervention will be deeper. If Erickson conducts psychotherapy with a patient for many months or years, he, as a rule, does not meet with him regularly, every day or once a week. He may meet with the patient regularly for some time, then take a break and resume meetings. Erickson liked to initiate changes that could continue without his direct participation. In such cases, the duration of treatment could reach several years, but the number of psychotherapeutic sessions in general was much less than with other types of long-term psychotherapy.

If a young man or girl is isolated from society, there can be many reasons for this. In the first case we cited, the young woman isolated herself from society because she considered herself physically defective. Preoccupation with her appearance is typical for youth and early adulthood, but she rarely achieves such intensity as in this case. Usually at this stage of their development, young people compare themselves with the cultural ideal and come to the conclusion that they lack this and that. Usually this concern disappears as they succeed in the courtship period. Girls start to consider themselves attractive when boys find them attractive. However, sometimes girls develop such an increased concern with some sort of physical disability, real or imaginary, that they begin to avoid those social situations that could help them overcome this concern.

Sometimes it is really a real physical defect, in other cases it is some minimal flaw, but extremely important for the girl herself. There can start a movement in a vicious circle, when a girl isolates herself more and more from other people, and the stronger the isolation, the more her own defect takes her, because the number of interests she has decreases and thus becomes even isolated. Support and encouragement from parents does not change the result, because the girl takes their attempts for charity. Sometimes a girl develops a similar symptom as a reaction to a family problem, for example, she can deny her physical attractiveness so as not to lose contact with her mother, who sees her as a rival. It also happens that a maturing girl falls into the center of a conflict between father and mother, when the mother looks at her as a rival, or the father uses her against her wife. It also happens that such an increased concern with a real or perceived physical disability arises as if from scratch, and no logical argument can dissuade a girl that she is too unattractive to communicate with people.