Re: Greetings everyone!
Beverly Walker (beverly_walker@uow.edu.au)
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 21:44:22 +1100
Dear Jonathan,
i wonder what would happen if you did Tschudi's ABC technique with your
procrastinators?
Just to head off the usual 'what's an ABC technique?' series of emails, its a
therapeutic technique (very powerful at times and needing to be handled
sensitively and carefully) which attempts to ascertain why people don't move
along the construct axis when they indicate they want to - i.e. they want to
get their work in on time, but procrastinate.
myself i don't find Tschudi's description of the technique (no offence Finn)
as helpful as it could be. It's in Don Bannister's New perspectives on pct.
don't know which american writer discusses it.
At level A you start with the construct you want to move on - here e.g. doing
whatever on time - procrastinating. You may have to be specific about
whatever. At level B you elicit two new constructs correpsonding to the
advantages of moving to the desired action and the disadvantages of staying
where they are. then at level C, and there seems to be a couple of schools of
practice here, you ask the the disadvantages of the desired action and the
advantages of staying where they are. people seem to differ in the order of
the level C elicitation, but i think I've got that right. But there seems to
be disagreement about whether you ask for the disadvantages and advantages of
the level B constructs or the level A ones. i tend to go for the level B, but
the person who is most experienced with this technique is probably Fay
Fransella, so I'd double check with her or some of the other British group
who've been associated with the pcp centre may want to make some comments.
but be careful using this technique. make sure you are available to discuss
the outcome as some people may get a big surprise. You would need to consider
the ethical issues of using it in a research context carefully.
regards,
Beverly (Walker)
--
Assoc. Prof. Beverly M. Walker,
Psychology Dept,
University of Wollongong,
NSW, Australia, 2522
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