In the time since its initial publication, I have been fortunate enough to receive many letters from readers of The Road Less Traveled . They have been extraordinary letters. Intelligent and articulate(口齿清楚的) without exception, they have also been extremely loving.
As well as expressing appreciation, most of them have contained additional gifts: appropriate poetry, useful quotes from other authors, nuggets(金块) of wisdom and tales of personal experience. These letters have enriched my life. It has become clear to me that there is a whole network—far more vast than I had dared to believe—of people across the country who have quietly been proceeding for long distances along the less traveled road of spiritual growth. They have thanked me for diminishing their sense of aloneness on the journey. I thank them for the same service.
A few readers have questioned my faith in the efficacy(效力) of psychotherapy. I did suggest that the quality of psychotherapists varies widely. And I continue to believe that most of those who fail to benefit from work with a competent therapist do so because they lack the taste and will for the rigors(严格) of that work. However I did neglect to specify that a small minority of people—perhaps five percent—have psychiatric problems of a nature that does not respond to psychotherapy and that may even be made worse by the deep introspection(内省) involved. Anyone who has succeeded in thoroughly reading and understanding this book is highly unlikely to belong to that five percent. And in any case, it is the responsibility of a competent therapist to carefully and sometimes gradually discern(看出) those few patients who should not be led into psychoanalytic work and to lead them instead toward other forms of treatment that can be quite beneficial.
But who is a competent psychotherapist? Several readers of The Road Less Traveled who moved in the direction of seeking psychotherapy have written to inquire how one should go about choosing the right therapist, distinguishing between the competent and the incompetent. My first piece of advice is to take the choice seriously. It is one of the most important decisions you can make in your lifetime. Psychotherapy is a major investment, not only of your money but even more of your valuable time and energy. It is what stockbrokers would call a high-risk investment. If the choice is right, it will pay off handsomely in spiritual dividends(红利) you could not even have dreamed of. While it is not likely you will be actually harmed if you make the wrong choice, you will, however, waste most of the valuable money, time and energy you have put into it. So don’t hesitate to shop around. And don’t hesitate to trust your feelings or intuition. Usually on the basis of a single interview with a therapist, you will be able to pick up either good or bad “vibes(共鸣).” If the vibes are bad, pay your single fee and move on to another. Such feelings are usually intangible, but they may emanate(产生) from small tangible clues.
At the time I entered therapy in 1966, I was very concerned and critical(爱挑剔的) about the morality of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In his waiting room my therapist had copies of Ramparts and the New York Review of Books , both liberal(自由主义的) journals with antiwar editorial policies. I had begun to pick up good vibes before I had ever set eyes on him. But more important than your therapist’s political leanings, age or sex is whether he or she is a genuinely caring person. This too you can often sense quickly, although the therapist should not fall all over you with kindly reassurances and snap commitments(提前承诺). If therapists are caring, they will also be cautious, disciplined and usually reserved, but it should be possible for you to intuit(由直觉知道) whether the reserve cloaks(隐藏) warmth or coldness. Since therapists will be interviewing you to see whether they want you for a patient, it is wholly appropriate for you to be interviewing them in return. If it is relevant to you, don’t hold back from asking what the therapist’s feelings are about such issues as women’s liberation or homosexuality or religion. You are entitled to honest, open and careful answers. In regard to other types of questions—such as how long therapy might last or whether your skin rash(皮疹) is psychosomatic—you are usually well off to trust a therapist who says that he or she does not know. In fact, educated and successful people in any profession who admit ignorance are generally the most expert and trustworthy.
A therapist’s ability bears very little relationship to any credentials(资格证明) he or she might have. Love and courage and wisdom cannot be certified by academic degrees. For instance, “board-certified(通过职业验证的)” psychiatrists, the therapists with the most credentials, undergo sufficiently rigorous(严密的) training so that one can be relatively certain of not falling into the hands of a charlatan(骗子). But a psychiatrist(精神病学家) is not necessarily any better a therapist(治疗专家) than a psychologist(心理学家), a social worker or a minister or even as good. Indeed two of the very greatest therapists I know have never even graduated from college. Word of mouth is often the best way to get started on your search for a psychotherapist. If you have some friend you respect who has been pleased with the services of a particular therapist, why not begin on that recommendation?
Another way, particularly advisable if your symptoms are severe or you have physical difficulties as well, would be to start with a psychiatrist. By virtue of their medical training, psychiatrists are usually the most expensive therapists, but they are also in the best position to understand all the angles of your situation. At the end of the hour, after the psychiatrist has had a chance to learn the dimensions of your problem, you can ask him or her to refer you to a less expensive non medical therapist if appropriate. The best psychiatrists will usually be quite willing to tell you which lay practitioners in the community are particularly competent. Of course, if the doctor gives you good vibes and is willing to take you on as a patient, you can stick with him or her.
If you are financially strapped and have no medical insurance coverage for outpatient psychotherapy, your only option may be to seek assistance at a government- or hospital-supported psychiatric or mental health clinic. There a fee will be set according to your means(财富), and you can rest pretty well assured that you will not fall into the hands of a quack(江湖医生). On the other hand, psychotherapy at clinics has a tendency to be superficial, and your capacity to choose your own therapist may be quite limited. Nonetheless, it often works out very well.
These brief guidelines have perhaps not been as specific as readers might like. But the central message is that since psychotherapy requires an intense and psychologically intimate relationship between two human beings, nothing can relieve you of the responsibility for personally choosing the particular human being whom you can trust to be your guide. The best therapist for one person may not be the best for another. Each person, therapist and patient, is unique, and you must rely on your own unique intuitive judgment. Because there is some risk involved, I wish you luck. And because the act of entering psychotherapy with all that it involves is an act of courage, you have my admiration.
M. Scott Peck
Bliss Road
New Preston, Conn. 06777
March,1979