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“Countless research studies have shown that one of the most important factors to influence suc-
cessful treatment outcomes is the therapeutic relationship. There’s no intervention more powerful
than using the present-moment interaction between client and therapist to experiment with new
behaviors and promote behavioral flexibility. This book teaches clinicians how to effectively use
the therapeutic relationship as a tool for behavioral change, and is a must-read for every clinician
regardless of their theoretical orientation. This book provides practical tools for guiding clinicians
on how to use the therapeutic interaction to foster behavioral change; offers specific steps to iden-
tify, track, and monitor both client and therapist’s targeted behaviors for treatment, and modify
them in the moment; and with its many worksheets, exercises, and sample dialogues, this book is
the perfect resource for any clinician who wants to help clients build authentic and more fulfilling
relationships.”
—Avigail Lev, PsyD, director of the Bay Area CBT Center, and coauthor of Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy for Interpersonal Problems, The Interpersonal Problems Workbook, and
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Couples
“Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Made Simple clearly and elegantly describes an approach that is incred-
ibly useful for therapists and coaches. The authors explain how to consciously create a context that
intentionally nurtures growth. The skill of functional analysis can be applied broadly, and this book
explains this skill in a way that is easy to understand and apply. Functional analytic psychotherapy
(FAP) is about consciously moving into conversation with courage, awareness, and love. This book
embodies this beautifully.”
—Rachel Collis, executive coach; MBA lecturer, Queensland University of Technology,
Australia
“This book stays with what has always been the strength of FAP: focus on the therapeutic relation-
ship and functional analysis of that relationship as the central strategy for change. At the same time,
it broadens the scope in a way that makes the basic principles more assessable to therapists of dif-
ferent schooling. In short: excellent!”
—Niklas Törneke, MD, author of Learning RFT and Metaphor in Practice, and coauthor of
The ABCs of Human Behavior
“As a compassion-focused (CFT) therapist, I’ve been amazed at how profoundly the FAP training
I’ve received has deepened both my understanding of the therapeutic relationship and my ability
to engage in genuine, powerfully collaborative relationships with my clients. In Functional Analytic
Psychotherapy Made Simple, these expert authors give us a guide that manages to convey the theory
and practice of FAP in a way that is clear and easy to understand without losing any of its precision
or subtlety. Filled with clear explanation, demonstrative vignettes, useful clinical tools, and reflec-
tive exercises, this wonderfully written book escorts the reader to a nuanced understanding of how
to apply a functional-analytic approach to the therapeutic relationship—teaching us to use our
most authentic selves as instruments of change and healing, and deepening our understanding of
our clients and ourselves as relational beings. Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Made Simple is the perfect
introduction to a transformational therapy—highly recommended!”
—Russell L. Kolts, PhD, professor of psychology at Eastern Washington University,
and author of CFT Made Simple and The Compassionate-Mind Guide to Managing Your Anger
“For clinicians who want their therapy relationships to improve their clients’ lives, this book is the
place to start. A delight to read, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Made Simple provides a clear and com-
passionate guide to helping therapists be present, supportive, and responsive to clients. The book
is chock-full of vivid clinical examples, tools and worksheets, and helpful solutions for getting
unstuck in therapy. The result is an excellent foundation for therapists to develop powerful curative
relationships with clients, while being seamlessly grounded in the principles of behaviorism that
underlie this therapy. Coming over a quarter century since the seminal book on FAP was released,
and distilling the authors’ forty-plus years of wisdom and experience, the book is a true achieve-
ment. Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Made Simple is destined to become a gem in any clinician’s
library. I wish I had this book when I first learned FAP many years ago.”
—Jonathan B. Bricker, PhD, behavioral scientist, psychology professor, and practicing
FAP therapist
“After haunting psychotherapy theory for a century, the personal relationship between therapist
and client has come to its own as the most powerful tool for therapeutic change. This book explains
why and how the personal relationship is essential in the treatment of psychological problems.
Seldom has a single volume covered such a broad array of skills and such depths of understanding.
Weaving samples of clinical conversation into theory, it makes the complexities of the psycho-
therapy process—not so much simple, but rather—crystal clear. Its wisdom will cross cultural
barriers because it speaks directly to what is at the heart of being human.”
—Luc Vandenberghe, psychotherapist in private practice and faculty member at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Goias, Brazil
The Made Simple Series
Written by leaders and researchers in their fields, the Made Simple
series offers accessible, step-by-step guides for understanding
and implementing a number of evidence-based modalities in
clinical practice, such as acceptance and commitment therapy
(ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), compassion-focused
therapy (CFT), functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP), and
other proven-effective therapies.
GARETH HOLMAN, P h D
JONATHAN KANTER, P h D
MAVIS TSAI, P h D
ROBERT KOHLENBERG, P h D
Copyright © 2017 by Gareth Holman, Jonathan Kanter, Mavis Tsai, and Robert Kohlenberg
New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
Excerpts from THE ESSENTIAL RUMI by Jalal al-Din Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks. Copyright © 1997 by Coleman
Barks. Used by permission.
“Session Bridging Form” adapted from A GUIDE TO FUNCTIONAL ANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY by Mavis Tsai, Robert
J. Kohlenberg, Jonathan W. Kanter, Barbara Kohlenberg, William C. Follette, and Glenn M. Callaghan. Copyright © 2009 by
Robert J. Kohlenberg. Reprinted by permission of Springer Publishers.
For John Avery (Granddad):
“Every day, make someone laugh.”
Awareness, courage, love, and humor.
Contents
H uman beings evolved in small groups and bands. We are social beings, and the importance of
others is as basic to our psychology as breathing is to our physiology.
As a scientific matter we know that others are key to our functioning, but we can also feel how
important that is in our daily lives. If you look at what is most important to you and what is most
painful to you, it is likely that people are involved in both of those reactions. We may be tormented
by rejection, or loneliness, or shame, or relationship problems: but all of these are examples of both
the importance of others and other people as a focal point of our psychological pain. We may hope
to achieve, or create, or contribute, or love—but these too will implicitly involve people to share
with.
Most clinical problems are reflected in our relationships with others. This is true etiologically:
experiences such as a lack of nurturance, interpersonal abandonment, neglect, and trauma are
among the most toxic experiences known, and in the opposite direction, social support, intimacy,
and caring are among the most uplifting. Is it any wonder then that the quality of the therapeutic
relationship is related to the outcomes of most forms of therapy, including those that are evidence
based?
If social processes are central to the development of human problems, we should expect to see
psychopathology appear in the relationship between clients and therapists; and in many if not most
cases, we do. This is a problem if it is not handled correctly, but also an opportunity if it is, since
the therapist is able to work directly with the problem behavior of interest in the therapeutic consult-
ing room.
To do this, however, you need a clear set of guiding principles. You need to see the function of
social events, not just their form. Most clients have social relationships of importance outside of
psychotherapy, but often these are not curative because people accidentally reinforce the wrong
things or support unhelpful rules. If merely being in the presence of others was enough, then
people would not usually need to seek out professional help. The automatic reactions that we have
to others may not be what they need therapeutically. A therapist needs to be genuine, but also
needs to be thoughtful and strategic. That is a tricky balance that needs to be based on
principles.
What functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) offers is a small set of clear guidelines that help
therapists keep their eye on the features of the therapeutic relationship that most predict positive
outcomes. FAP can be used as a stand-alone treatment in many cases, but it can also be used to
support the deployment and augmentation of other treatment methods—especially those drawn
from the same behavioral roots.
This book positions FAP as part of contextual behavioral science (CBS). In so doing, it invites
the reader to harmonize FAP principles with modern behavioral analysis, including relational frame
theory (RFT). That is an interesting and important step that gives the FAP clinician a powerful
additional set of concepts to apply. It puts a fresh face on the use of contingent social reinforce-
ment as part of the therapeutic agenda.
x
Foreword
This book also vigorously embraces the “awareness, courage, and love” model that links more
abstract functional analysis and clinically relevant behaviors (CRBs) to domains defined by common
sets of functional analyses. Not all will approve of this step, but I know the line clinician will
because it immediately makes FAP more vital and focused. And that, in turn, makes FAP simpler:
simpler to understand, simpler to teach, and simpler to deploy.
The latter part of this elegant book casts a clear light on areas of growth and difficulty. It shows
how to use this model in a creative and practical way. Some issues it covers—such as how to end
therapy and to explore what was learned—are often missed in other books. These wise sections
alone are worth the price of admission.
As researchers and clinicians further unpack this model I expect to see new pathways forward.
My suggestion to you as you read this book is to explore this model with the awareness to see
opportunity, the courage to explore new territory thoroughly, and the love of humanity to acquire
new skills with humility—to bring all of that to the task. If you do, you will be changed by the
journey, as will the lives of those you serve.
—Steven C. Hayes
Foundation Professor and Director of Clinical Training
University of Nevada, Reno
xi
Introduction
Neither love without knowledge, nor knowledge without love can produce a good life.
—Bertrand Russell
FAP Made Simple
You arrive at your office, and you bring yourself with you. But what else do you bring?
Perhaps you bring a bad night’s sleep or the stress of Monday morning. You might
bring good coffee and a commitment to do good. Are you at a high or low point in your
career? Are you learning a new method, or consulting with fantastic colleagues? Or are
you wondering what you’ll do next because too many weeks have felt “blah” lately? Are
you struggling to like some of the people you will see this week?
What joy have you brought with you? What fears? What hopes? What vulnerabilities?
What shame have you brought with you? Are you still stinging a bit from a painful
session on Friday? Are you feeling disconnected from a friend because of something that
happened over the weekend? Are you dreading something?
As you start your day, how firmly do you hold on to what you stand for as a
therapist? How are you holding back? Are you truly looking at your weaknesses as a
therapist? How are you trying too hard?
What are you avoiding facing in your life right now? Where are you vulnerable?
And how will all of the variables above affect how you perform as a therapist today?
How will they affect your clients?
Your client—maybe he is a new client, let’s say his name is Tom—also brings himself
and his history to the session. Tom wakes up feeling anxious about his appointment with
you. His hands shake as he pours his coffee.
He imagines you will be sitting across from him, quietly professional yet full of
assessment. He imagines himself squirming. He rehearses what he’ll say so he can
sound at least semicoherent. He feels panic rising in his chest.
He recalls a string of nameless doctors questioning him. Though well-intentioned,
they all set him on edge.
And so you and Tom meet. What happens as your histories and vulnerabilities and
perspectives interact? What will he take away from your interaction? How will you
encourage him? How will you subtly discourage him? Shame him? How will you invite
him to open up? In turn, how will he shame you? Disappoint you? How will you serve
him? Or, if you act to preserve your sense of expertise and competence, will you subtly
or not so subtly miss Tom and overlook key issues that need attention?
Each client is not just a case, and you are not just a therapist. You and your client are
two people engaging in a dance of connection (and hopefully healing) with a foundation
that involves hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution. That’s a lot for a
Monday morning!
2
Introduction
F unctional analytic psychotherapy (FAP), the subject of this book, is about being aware, coura-
geous, and skillful in the moment when interacting with each client. It’s about standing at the
head of your own history, with awareness, and engaging with a client who stands at the head of her
history. As the interaction unfolds, FAP is then about seeing together, with courage and compas-
sion, how this present moment in therapy may contain the very problem for which your client is
seeking help—and then taking the opportunity to grow and change right here and right now in a
way that is immediate and experiential and relational. When this happens, the interaction is not
only compassionate and connected, but it also creates change.
We have two main purposes in this book:
• First, through the lens of contextual behavioral science, we want to help you recognize
that what happens in each moment in a therapy session is a behavior that makes sense
in the context of each person’s learning history, and that behavior is unfolding now in
response to the present. Functional analysis (FA) is the assessment process at the heart
of this way of seeing each moment in session. It’s a way of relating to behavior that is
empathic and compassionate and also principled and precise. In FAP we apply FA to
understand the client’s problems—in particular, how this moment in therapy may evoke
these problems. FA is how we “aim” the change processes of FAP. It’s also how we
understand what this moment means for this unique person.
• Second, we show you how to weave FA with honest, courageous, compassionate, and
personally involved engagement in the therapeutic process. A real, authentic therapeu-
tic relationship serves FA because that’s the natural medium in which human beings can
become “known” to each other—through the vulnerable dance of disclosure and
response, by finding a common language and perspective.
The intersection of FA and relationship defines FAP. Why should you care?
First, it’s widely accepted that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is important to therapy
outcomes (Horvath, Del Re, Flückiger, & Symonds, 2011). FAP is based on research and analysis
that looks at what creates strong, connected relationships, and it offers concrete guidelines for
creating good therapeutic relationships.
Second, FAP provides a framework for thinking about the therapy process in a highly indi-
vidualized yet precise way. FAP stands firmly inside the growing movement of contextual behav-
ioral science (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Wilson, 2012; Hayes, Levin, Plumb-Vilardaga, Villatte, &
Pistorello, 2013) and behavior therapy more generally, and FAP is based on the central practice of
behavior therapy, which is defining specific behaviors and then targeting those behaviors through
specific change processes in therapy. In turn, the therapist responds to behaviors not based on
what they look like but on what they actually mean for the client (that is, how they function) in the
context of his or her unfolding life.
To say that FAP is a behavior therapy means something quite different than it did several decades
ago. The newest wave of behavior therapies (and therapies of other types) has closed the gap
3
FAP Made Simple
between the principled distance of the behavior therapist and the sensitive attunement of the
humanistic psychologist. As therapists, we no longer have to choose between a structured,
evidence-based assessment framework and being fully human and sensitive in our interactions with
clients. FAP and its fellow travelers—acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl,
& Wilson, 1999), compassion-focused therapy (CFT; Gilbert, 2010), and dialectical behavior
therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993), in particular—integrate these viewpoints. If you have a background
in more experiential therapies, FAP can help you improve the precision of your assessments. If you
have a background in behavior therapies, FAP can help you improve the experiential flow and
immediacy of your work.
In so many ways, therapy is a process: a series of events unfolding between two people who
influence each other in exquisitely subtle ways. A breath, a sigh, or an averting of the eyes can com-
municate more than a long stream of words, especially when therapists or clients are most vulner-
able or emotional. And because this process of mutual influence is often subtle, fast, automatic, and
ephemeral—or so extended over time that it’s hard to connect the dots—it’s easy to miss what’s
really happening in the moment. It’s easy to miss that therapy happens in the here and now and
unfolds in the ongoing sequence of present moments. It’s easy to overlook that the struggle hap-
pening in the here and now, in session, is often what happens in other situations in a client’s life. It’s
also easy to overlook the tiny, tentative moments of new possibility in which deeper change might
take root.
FAP is about slowing down and tuning into this process and realizing that the interaction is
about you and your client. FAP is about examining the personal and interpersonal through the
general principles of learning while acknowledging that no set of principles entirely survives contact
with real life. FAP’s stance is that doing due diligence in the therapeutic process also requires
knowing our blind spots, passing through vulnerability, taking risks, and expressing what we feel—
not recklessly, but strategically.
In the course of a session, a FAP therapist might plot a functional analysis on a white board and
then evoke the client’s honest expression of anger related to a comment she made during the func-
tional analysis. With a different client, a FAP therapist might spend forty minutes working with the
client to express vulnerable thoughts and feelings in the moment, and then spend the last ten
minutes of the session defining a concrete behavioral homework assignment. In FAP, the tools of
behavior therapy and interpersonal process deliberately mingle.
With its emphasis on an intense, engaged, and individualized therapy relationship, FAP reflects
the ongoing and evolving scientific consensus that social relationships are key to shaping human
well-being and achievement. Psychotherapy is simply one expression of the power of social connec-
tion. It isn’t magic, a coincidence, or a trick of scientific psychology that a relationship (which is what
therapy is) can be incredibly therapeutic. Human evolution has proceeded in such a way that close
relationships can influence us tremendously. As a result, we humans are exquisitely sensitive instru-
ments of change for one another.
Because of FAP’s focus on genuine engagement in the therapy relationship, and because doing
therapy from an interpersonal distance is a violation of this principle, it’s fair to say that FAP
4
Introduction
demands a lot from therapists. It requires you to do your own work so you can own your mistakes
with clients, be vulnerable, take risks, feel emotion, and so on. We are in the same situation as our
clients: we struggle as human beings.
This stance of favoring genuine engagement is not incidental or arbitrary; it’s not a matter of
personal preference. It is part of a growing worldwide recognition—core to contextual behavioral
science (CBS)—that human well-being is nurtured or undermined by the contexts in which we
live, and those contexts are overwhelmingly about other people. As prevention scientist and behav-
ior analyst Tony Biglan shows, summarizing more than five decades of behavioral science in the
areas of parenting, education, public health, and clinical science, “nurturing environments” pro-
foundly support human health and well-being (2015).
There are several different ways to focus FAP (Bonow, Maragakis, & Follette, 2012). However,
because of FAP’s important place in the CBS community and the growing evidence base support-
ing CBS interventions (Hooper & Larsson, 2015), this book draws heavily on the foundational CBS
principles concerning the contexts in which human beings flourish. Like CBS, FAP is about creat-
ing a compassionate context for change—one that supports flexible, committed action—in the
therapeutic relationship.
5
FAP Made Simple
anxiety, and personality disorders. These studies are unique and particularly relevant to this book
because they demonstrate the individualized approach to functional analysis that’s at the heart of
FAP, and they also demonstrate large, clinically relevant changes at the level of the individual client
rather than a group average.
Other substantial FAP research has been done with depression. In 1996, Bob Kohlenberg
received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study whether FAP training would
improve the outcomes of cognitive therapy treatment for depression delivered by experts
(Kohlenberg, Kanter, Bolling, Parker, & Tsai, 2002). His team reasoned that cognitive therapy, then
recognized as the gold-standard empirically validated treatment for depression, was a great
approach but could still benefit from key features of FAP: functional analysis, attention to the
therapy relationship, and a focus on improvements in social functioning. The expert therapists first
completed their typical therapy with sixteen clients. Then they participated in a FAP training pro-
tocol, after which they completed therapy with twenty-four clients. The study found that clients in
the first group did well, with about 48 percent experiencing clinically significant improvement.
The FAP clients, however, did even better, with about 70 percent experiencing improvements. And
interestingly, clients in the first group didn’t demonstrate any improvements on a well-validated
measure of social functioning: relationship satisfaction. FAP clients, however, demonstrated signifi-
cant improvements in relationship satisfaction.
Recent research has provided more understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the ben-
efits of FAP found in earlier studies. For example, we now have evidence that FAP’s strategy of
reinforcing improvements in session (which we’ll discuss throughout this book) is a key mechanism
responsible for clients’ improvements in the single-case studies discussed above (Busch et al., 2009;
Oshiro, Kanter, & Meyer, 2012), and that FAP processes were uniquely responsible for the improve-
ments in the cognitive therapy study just described (Kanter, Schildcrout, & Kohlenberg, 2005).
Most recently, and most notably, Daniel Maitland and colleagues (in press) produced the first
randomized controlled trial of a FAP treatment for interpersonal difficulties. FAP produced supe-
rior outcomes for social connection, anxiety, and avoidance compared to a minimal active control
condition (watchful waiting) in a sample of anxious clients presenting with interpersonal problems.
In an alternating-treatments design, Maitland & Gaynor (2016) previously demonstrated the supe-
riority of FAP compared to supportive listening for improving interpersonal functioning. In both
of these studies, the ratings of therapeutic alliance were also superior for the FAP treatments.
More research is needed. We hope this book might further inspire researchers.
6
Introduction
content does little to change actual skills (see Beidas & Kendall, 2010). A music arises when you
fully practice FAP, and you won’t hear it if you only read the words.
We offer exercises that are both practical and interesting and address the full range of FAP
principles in order to facilitate your practice of FAP. You can practice these exercises in your day-
to-day personal life, in your psychotherapy practice, or both. As you can see, we will address you
not just as a therapist but as a whole person. We have several reasons for asking you to engage in a
personal practice of the FAP principles.
You are not outside the process of psychotherapy. Indeed, you are at the center of the process.
This includes the words you speak, the expressions you show, where you push forward and where
you pull back in the dance of therapy, and everything else that contributes to how you appear in
therapy. All of this is shaped by your history—not just your professional training, but also your
personal history of love and connection, of belonging and loneliness, of suffering and striving, as
well as your current life circumstances. You may not always have to reveal yourself, and there may
be parts of yourself that you never reveal in therapy. But given that the process of therapy is an
exquisitely nuanced dance of influence between two people, even your most subtle dispositions
and vulnerabilities may sometimes matter.
As FAP therapists, we don’t ask clients to practice or do what we do not do. To be a sensitive
instrument and to guide clients well, therapists must be familiar with the path. Empathy is usually
informed by personal experience. That said, you must also have enough awareness about the par-
ticular ways you’ve traveled on your own path to discriminate it from the paths of others.
Therapy is demanding and requires self-awareness. Therapists need to engage in ongoing prac-
tices of self-care and compassionate self-reflection. You will react to your clients. And sometimes
those reactions will be influenced more by your own history than by clients themselves, so you
must be able to identify which of your reactions are mostly about you and your history and there-
fore don’t yield broadly useful information about the client involved.
The points above outline the stance we ask you to take as a FAP therapist. A slightly different set
of points defines the stance we invite you to take as you go about learning FAP by reading this
book. Here are a few specific suggestions about how to get the most out of this book.
Find practice partners. Given FAP’s focus on interpersonal interactions, it probably won’t come as
a surprise that some of the exercises in this book involve interacting with other people. Many can
be done with clients, but it will be useful to do certain exercises with people who are not clients.
Here and now, at the outset, try to identify a few people who might be willing to engage in some
deeply heartfelt conversations with you or play some fun, experiential psychology games. These
people could be colleagues, but they might also be friends or family members.
Drop perfectionism and embrace discomfort. Expect to feel uncomfortable while engaging in
many of the exercises in this book, as well as while learning functional analysis (if it’s new to you)
7
FAP Made Simple
and while practicing FAP in general. It’s okay to feel clumsy and anxious. You’re practicing some-
thing new. Even with all of our experience, the authors of this book continue to feel anxious at
times while practicing FAP or training therapists in FAP. You may find it helpful to think of your
discomfort this way: it actually represents your attunement and sensitivity to the dance of opening
up to another person, and thus your ability to relate to clients from a foundation of shared human-
ity rather than disconnected expertise. We discuss this idea in depth later in the book. For now,
simply focus on accepting the discomfort and reminding yourself that it’s a sign that you’re on the
right track.
Trust your own expertise. Bear in mind that psychotherapy is strong medicine and can do as much
harm as good if it isn’t managed effectively. That means managing it locally by using the years
you’ve devoted to training to develop the capacity to practice competently. Since we cannot know
the particulars of the situations you and your clients face, please don’t take anything in this book
as an absolute recommendation. If something doesn’t feel right to you, trust your gut and follow
your expertise—or seek expert consultation. We will ask you to take calculated risks throughout
this book, but please don’t be reckless or trust us blindly.
Reach out if you need help. If you have questions or concerns about FAP, don’t assume it’s because
you’re somehow inadequate as a therapist. Hold us accountable to teach FAP effectively, and give
us the opportunity to do so by letting us know what you need. We care deeply about this work,
and we remain humble about doing it. If you reach out to the FAP community, you will get answers.
You can access the FAP community by e-mailing one of us (for contact information, visit http://
www.functionalanalyticpsychotherapy.com/find-a-fap-supervisor). If you’re on Facebook, you can
ask to be added to the private FAP Facebook group, or if you know someone who is already a
member, you can ask that person to add you.
Participate in formal training or consultation. If you want to intensify your practice of FAP prin-
ciples, if you find that parts of FAP remain difficult to put into practice, or if you simply want a
powerful experience of FAP in action, consider joining an in-person or online training or signing up
for consultation with one of the growing number of FAP trainers worldwide. Check out http://
www.faptherapy.com for a listing of upcoming trainings and available consultants and trainers.
Although this book offers important ideas you can leisurely ponder and exercises and processes
that you can engage in at your own pace, workshops, online trainings, and individual consultation
will provide in-depth, experiential learning about FAP in ways that go beyond the scope of what’s
possible within a book.
8
Introduction
functioning influences psychological problems and how therapeutic relationships work. Chapter 2
goes deeper into the contextual behavioral perspective at the root of FAP. Chapter 3 introduces
the core principles of functional analysis as applied in FAP. Chapter 4 describes the awareness,
courage, and love model—a framework for the functional analysis of social connections that can be
applied to therapeutic relationships, as well as other social contexts. Chapter 5 ties all of the previ-
ous threads together to describe the therapeutic process at the center of FAP as encapsulated in
the five rules of FAP.
Part 2 has a slightly different feel than part 1 for a simple reason: although theory is the back-
bone of FAP, having a grasp of theory isn’t sufficient to be an effective FAP clinician. A particular
set of skills—personal, interpersonal, and clinical—is required to put the theory to use. We’ll begin
a bit more broadly in chapter 6 with a presentation of some exercises therapists can do to develop
self-awareness and the interpersonal flexibility that supports FAP skills. Chapter 7 presents the ele-
ments of FAP at play in the beginning of therapy and sets forth how to strengthen the foundation
for FAP work at this early stage. Chapter 8 delves further into the process of evoking and exploring
what is happening in session between you and the client. Chapter 9 discusses the next important
part of in-session process: how to respond to a client’s improvements in reinforcing ways. Chapter
10 reviews all five FAP rules again and discusses a framework for using them in a single interaction:
the logical interaction. It also discusses how the actual practice of FAP might deviate from the
logical and linear. Chapter 11 covers case conceptualization in FAP. Chapter 12 addresses home-
work and experiential exercises and how these are used in FAP. Chapter 13 discusses the end of
therapy, a topic of special attention in FAP.
9
PA R T 1
The Ideas
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CHAPTER XI
THE PYRAMIDS REVISITED
This is the third time that I have made lengthy visits to the
Pyramids of Egypt. On my first trip I rode to them on a donkey. The
next time I came out from Cairo in a comfortable carriage, and to-day
I passed over the same route on an electric trolley, paying seven and
a half cents for the trip. The street cars to the Pyramids start at the
end of the bridge, opposite Cairo, and pass along the side of the
wide avenue shaded by acacia trees. The cars are open so that one
can look out over the Nile valley as he goes. We whizzed by
caravans of donkeys, loaded with all sorts of farm products, and by
camels, ridden by gowned men, bobbing up and down in the saddles
as they went. There were men, women, and children on foot, and
veiled women on donkeys.
The cars were filled with Egyptians. Two dark-faced men in black
gowns and white turbans sat on the seat beside me. In front was a
yellow-skinned Arab dandy in a red fez and long gown, while just
behind me sat a woman with a black veil fastened to her head-dress
by a brass spool. As we neared the Pyramids we stopped at a café
where American drinks were sold, and a little farther on was a great
modern hotel with telephones and electric lights.
When I previously visited Egypt, the sands about the Pyramids
were almost as smooth as those of the seashore. I galloped on my
donkey over them and had no idea that I was tramping down
innumerable graves.
But now—what changes the excavators and archæologists have
made! I n walking over the same ground to-day I had to pick my way
in and out through a vast network of half-broken-down tombs, from
which the sands had been shovelled, and climb across piles of sun-
dried brick which were made by the Egyptians at the time old King
Cheops reigned. In one place I saw a gang of half-naked, brown-
skinned fellaheen shovelling the earth into the cars in which it is
carried far out in the desert. When the work is in full play an endless
chain of cars of sand moves across this cemetery. There is a double
track with turntables at the ends, and the arrangements are such that
the sand can be taken out at the rate of half a ton per minute. For a
long time seventy-two men were employed, and the result is that
some most interesting historical material has been collected.
Some of the most important archæological work now going on in
Egypt is in the hands of the Americans. Our scientists are making
explorations in Nubia, away up the Nile, and are opening up temples
and tombs in the desert near Luxor. They have already discovered
the burial places of several kings who reigned over four thousand
years ago, and unearthed the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, whose
sarcophagus is now on view in the museum at Cairo.
Right here two American institutions have a large force of natives
at work and have uncovered a cemetery under the shadow of the
Pyramids of the time when the greatest of them was built. This
cemetery includes the tombs not only of the rich, but also of the poor,
and the relics, statues, and other things found in it enable one to
reconstruct the lives of those who were buried here forty centuries
ago.
The excavations which are being made near the Great Pyramid
are in the interest of Harvard College and the Boston Museum. They
furnish the money and Dr. George Reisner, one of the most efficient
archæologists of the day, has charge of the work. Dr. Reisner came
to Egypt as the head of the Hearst Expedition. He worked for it
several years, making valuable explorations far up the Nile. He
discovered there the flint-working camps of the people of the
prehistoric period, and he explored the quarries which date back to
the time of the Ptolemies. He also unearthed the site of a large town
which was in existence fifteen hundred years before Christ and
excavated a mass of valuable material therefrom. He then came
nearer Cairo and uncovered cemeteries of ancient times, which give
us a new view of Egyptian civilization.
It was in connection with the Boston Museum that he began his
work at the Pyramids. As it is now carried on, of the share which falls
to the United States the museum gets the art discoveries, while
Harvard receives everything found bearing upon history and
ethnology. One half of all that is unearthed goes to the Egyptian
government and the other half to the United States.
The story of the allotment of the archæological territory about the
Pyramids is interesting. The Egyptian government was anxious to
have the country excavated, and there were three nations ready to
do the work. The three were Germany, Italy, and the United States.
Archæologists came here as representatives from each of these
countries and the whole of the Gizeh Pyramid field was turned over
to them with the understanding that Egypt was to have half of the
discoveries. Then the question came up as to how the site should be
divided. As it was then, it was a great area of sand not far from the
banks of the Nile with the big Pyramid of Cheops and the smaller
ones of Khefren and Mycerinus rising out of it, each being quite a
distance apart from the others. Each nation wished to do
independent work; so the archæologists finally agreed to divide the
territory into three sections and cast lots for them. I am told that Mrs.
Reisner held the straws. In the drawing, the United States got the
tract just north of the Great Pyramid and Germany and Italy the
tracts to the south of it. Our area was thought to be the best of all
and Uncle Sam’s luck has been nowhere better evidenced than right
here. We are making more finds than both the other nations put
together and are bringing new life to the pages of history.
I went out to the Pyramids to-day and called upon the chief of the
American excavation works. I find he has built himself a home under
the shadow of old Cheops. He is beyond the greatest of the
Pyramids, with the sands reaching out for miles away on the north,
south, and west of him. His house is built of stones which probably
came from these ancient monuments. It is a long, one-story
structure, not over twelve feet in height, but large enough to contain
a laboratory, a photographic establishment, and the necessary
equipment of an archæologist.
One part of it is the living quarters of Dr. Reisner and his family. He
has his wife and baby with him, and as we chatted together his little
daughter, a bright-eyed infant not more than a year or so old, played
about our feet. The baby was born here on the edge of the Libyan
Desert, and her youth and the age of old Cheops, that great tomb of
more than four thousand years ago, were striking in their contrast.
As I looked at the little one I thought of the tombs of the babies which
her father is now excavating.
During my stay we examined some photographs of the recent
discoveries. One represented three statues of a well-to-do couple
who lived here in those bygone ages. They were Teti and his wife.
The faces were life-like and I doubt not that Mr. and Mrs. Teti sat for
them.
There were other photographs of objects found in the cemetery of
the rich, as well as of some found in the cemetery of the poor. The
higher classes of that time were buried nearer the Pyramids, while
beyond them, farther up the desert, were the burial places of the
poor. Each poor person had a little coffin-like hole in the ground built
round with stones. These holes were close together, making a great
series of stone boxes that remind one of the compartments of an egg
crate.
I took a donkey for my ride to the Great Pyramid of Cheops, and
went clear around the huge mass, climbing again up the stones. As I
sat on the top I could see the work going on in the sands below me,
and I repeopled them with the men now being dug up under the
superintendence of our Americans. In my mind’s eye I could see
them as they toiled. I could see them dragging the great blocks over
the road of polished stone, which had been made for the purpose,
and observe the sweat rolling down their dusty faces in this blazing
sun of Egypt as, under the lashes of their taskmasters, the great pile
grew.
Most of the great stone blocks of which the Pyramid was built
weigh at least two tons, while some of the larger ones which cover
the King’s Chamber inside the structure weigh sixty tons. It is
estimated that the Great Pyramid contains nearly ninety million cubic
feet of limestone. This is so much that if it could be split into flags
four inches thick, it would furnish enough to make a pavement two
feet wide reaching over sea and land clear around the globe.
When Cheops completed this great structure he faced the exterior
with limestone and granite slabs. The sides were as smooth as glass
and met in a point at the top. The length of each side was eighteen
feet greater than it is now. Indeed, as the bright sun played upon its
polished surface the Pyramid must have formed a magnificent sight.
As it is to-day, when one views it from afar, the Great Pyramid still
looks like one smooth block of stone. It is only when he comes closer
that he sees it is made of many blocks. The Pyramid is built of yellow
limestone and conglomerate. The stones are piled one on the other
in regular layers. There is no cement between them, but they are
chinked with a rough mortar which has withstood the weather for all
these ages. I dug at some of this mortar with my knife, but could not
loosen it, and went from block to block along the great structure on
the side facing the western desert, finding the mortar everywhere
solid.
And this huge pile was built over forty centuries ago. It seems a
long time, but when you figure out how many lives it means it is not
so old after all. Every one of us knows one hundred men who have
reached forty years. Their aggregate lives, if patched together, would
go back to the beginning of this monument. In other words, if a man
at forty should have a child and that child should live to be forty and
then have a child, and the programme of life should so continue, it
would take only one hundred such generations to reach to the days
when the breath from the garlic and onions eaten by those one
hundred thousand men polluted this desert air.
Indeed, the world is not old, and it is not hard to realize that those
people of the past had the same troubles, the same worries, and the
same tastes as we have. I can take you through tombs not far from
Cairo upon the walls of which are portrayed the life work of the men
of ancient Egypt. You may see them using the same farm tools that
the fellaheen use now. They plough, they reap, and thresh. They
drink wine and gorge themselves with food. In one of the tombs I
saw the picture of a woman milking a cow while her daughter held
the calf back by the knees to prevent it from sucking. In another
painting I saw the method of cooking, and in another observed those
old Egyptians stuffing live geese with food to enlarge their livers.
They were making pâté de foie gras, just as the Germans stuff
geese for the same purpose to-day.
Leaving the Pyramid of Cheops, I crossed over to take a look at
the other two which form the rest of the great trio of Gizeh, and I
have since been up to the site of old Memphis, where are the
Pyramids of Sakkarah, eleven in number. Along this plateau, running
up the Nile, are to be found the remains of a large number of
Pyramids. There are also some in the Faiyum, and others far up the
river in ancient Ethiopia. The latter are taller in proportion to their
bases than the Egyptian Pyramids, and they generally have a hall
with sculptures facing the east to commemorate the dead.
Most of the stones of the Pyramids here came from the plateau
upon which they stand or from the Mokattam hills about twelve miles
away on the other side of the Nile. There was an inclined plane
leading to the river, on which are still to be seen the ruts in the stone
road cut out by the runners of the sledges carrying these great
blocks. There are pictures on some of the monuments which show
how the stones were drawn on sledges by oxen and men. In one of
the pictures a man is pouring oil on the roadbed. On the Island of
Madeira, where the natives drag sleds by hand up and down the
hills, they grease their sled runners, but the ancient Egyptians
greased not only the runners but the roads as well.
I was much interested in the interior of the Great Pyramid. The
mighty structure is supposed to be solid, with the exception of three
chambers, connected with the outside by passageways and
ventilated by air-shafts. These chambers undoubtedly once
contained great treasures of gold and silver, but they were robbed in
the first instance over three thousand years ago and it is known that
the Persians, the Romans, and the Arabs all tried to dig into them to
find the valuables they were supposed to hold.
It was with three half-naked Bedouins that I climbed up to the
entrance which leads into old Cheops. There is a hole about forty-
five feet above the desert on the north side. Going in here, we came
into a narrow stone passage so low that I had to crawl on my hands
and knees. The passage first sloped downward and then up, and
finally, pushed and pulled by my dark guides, I got into a great
narrow hall. After passing through this, I entered again the room
where old Cheops, the king, rested undisturbed for a thousand years
or so before the looters came.
The Alabaster Sphinx is one of the evidences of splendour of the ancient city of
Memphis, seat of kings, with streets so long that to walk from end to end was said
to be half a day’s journey.
Inside the great museum at Cairo are the mummies of Egyptian royalty, which,
with countless relics and records and the new discoveries of the archæologists,
reveal in intimate detail the life of these people of thousands of years ago.
Boys from all parts and classes of Egypt, Moslems and Christian Copts, come
by the hundreds to the American College, most of them paying for their tuition,
some in cash and some in work.
There is no doubt that the Egyptians believed in the immortality of
the soul. They thought man would live again, and gave the soul the
name of Bai, representing it in the form of a human-headed hawk.
They had their own ideas of heaven which one of their pictures of the
future state represents as follows:
In heaven the dead eat bread which never grows stale and
drink wine which is never musty. They wear white apparel and
sit upon thrones among the gods, who cluster around the tree
of life near the lake in the field of peace. They wear the
crowns which the gods give them, and no evil being or thing
has any power to harm them in their new abode, where they
will live with God forever.
And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the
Egyptians, so that they lent unto them. And they spoiled the
Egyptians.
In the museums here in Cairo you may see pints and quarts of
jewellery such as the Israelites borrowed and took with them into the
wilderness to melt down to make that golden calf. The place is filled
with great cases containing ornaments of gold and silver taken from
the tombs. Some date back almost to the early days of the Pyramids,
and many were in use before the Israelites left Egypt. Some are
golden snakes with spring coils so that they will fit any arm; others
are solid rings of massive gold. I saw armlets to be worn above the
elbow, golden girdles for the waist, and a chain of gold with a goose
head at each end. Among the finest of these ornaments are those
owned by a queen who lived 600 b.c. and whose mummy came from
a tomb not far from Thebes.