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BEHAVIORAL APPROACH TO SEXUAL DISORDERS: THE LAW OF PARSIMONYThe core of the behavioral evaluation is the identification of specific target behaviors. In the sexual area the target behaviors are usually phobias. To those who have not actually seen the dramatic changes in complex sexual problems that may be brought about through the reduction of a simple phobia, such an approach may seem to be simplistic. In actuality, it would be more correct to designate this approach as parsimonious. The Law of Parsimony is central to scientific thinking. Essentially this law states that “of alternative explanations for a given phenomenon, choose the simplest, that requiring the fewest assumptions, provided it meets the facts adequately” (Schneirla). A corrolary to this law, as it may be applied to the therapeutic formulation, is never to use a complex, higher-level psychological pattern as the core of the formation, when an equally adequate formulation is available using simpler, lower-level behaviors. If the choice is between a simple conditioned response to a specific stimulus and a complex dynamic formulation involving internal conflict and assumptions of repression, instinctual drives, and unconscious fantasies, the logic of science compels us to accept the former- provided it meets the facts adequately. In sexual treatment, there are several major reasons why therapists do not arrive at the most parsimonious treatment formulation, namely: 1. The confusion between genesis and maintenance. The psychological constellation that produced the sexual symptoms may not be involved in the maintenance of these symptoms. As already noted, the symptom pattern may achieve functional autonomy from the forces that caused it. As also previously noted, the problem behaviors may now be maintaining the original constellation. To arrive at the most parsimonious formulation, the therapist must focus on the psychological variables keeping the problem behavior active in the present, rather than on the variables originally causing it. 2. The failure to distinguish between teleological and automatic behaviors. Symptomatic behaviors often have certain consequences. A sexual dysfunction may result in humiliating the person or frustrating the partner. All too frequently this is interpreted in teleological terms. The purpose of the symptom is to achieve this self-humiliation or frustration of the partner. It is completely true that people are capable of behaving in such a purposive manner. People also are capable of acquiring automatic conditioned responses to specific stimuli or acquiring certain modes of behavior because of the impact of external contingencies of reinforcement. In those instances self-humiliation or partner frustration may be a by-product rather than a goal of the symptom. The Law of Parsimony requires that we choose the simpler, conditioning explanation over the purposive one, unless compelling reasons exist to do otherwise. 3. The failure to distinguish between precipitating and derivative disturbances. Usually patients with sexual problems come in surrounded by an aura of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, marital or inter-personal problems, and other disturbances. There is a strong temptation to see the sexual problem as arising out of this disturbed context, as sometimes it does. However, many times these disturbances derive from the sexual malfunction, and to make them part of the therapeutic formulation is to complicate that formulation unnecessarily. Unless there are compelling reasons, it is usually most parsimonious to consider such disturbances as deriving from the symptom rather than as causing it. A very common error along these lines is made with people with sexual variant behavior. Very common, particularly among fetishists and transvestites, are the derived feelings of “being a monster” or of being found out by other people and being contemptuously rejected. Many times these derived reactions are considered to be precipitating stimuli leading to the variant behavior. Hence, unnecessarily complicated formulations are set forth. Unless there is specific reason to believe otherwise, it is most parsimonious to exclude these reactions from the formulation. 4. The failure to discern when problems are independent of each other. When a person has several problems, the tendency all too often is to see them as being inter-related. Most often they are seen as covarying from a common root cause. Should a woman have a dysfunction of sexual arousal and a fear of authority, both problems are likely to be seen as stemming from an oedipal conflict regarding father. This often leads to an unnecessarily complex therapeutic formulation and a cumbersome treatment strategy. The most parsimonious formulation may see them as two simple, independent fears: the fear of not being aroused and the separate fear of authority. This conception requires the fewest assumptions. Unless there is specific and definite evidence to show that problems are inter-related, they should be considered to be independent of each other. Therefore, formulating a sexual problem, even a complex one, in terms of one or several simple phobic reactions is not simplistic. Rather, it is fully scientific in its utilization of the most parsimonious explanation of the problem. Also, it often leads to the most effective course of therapeutic action. *237/187/5* Related Posts:Tags: Men’s Health Leave OneYou must be logged in to post a comment. Comments
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