Dispelling the Myth of "Mental Illness"-The Origen of The HRA

People often ask me if mental illness is real. I believe that the term "mental illness" is completely inaccurate and that there are no true illnesses of the mind. In fact, there is no reliable scientific evidence to support the idea that mental illness is a biological disease.

In my clinical practice I focused on these behaviors solely as behaviors and not as the indicators of a problem. I dealt with them as the crux of the problem so that when these behaviors were changed, altered or removed, so also would that MEBP be changed, altered or removed.

A question arises: If problems-in-living are not mental illnesses, then exactly what are they? Part of the answer can be found in what the illness model calls symptoms. To many people these so-called symptoms are the problem, not just a manifestation of the problem.

I see things differently. My Houle Relationship Approach (HRA) maintains that these symptoms are behaviors that people acquire not by disease but by learning and experience in their interactions with others.

So, here's the key. Each of us has certain guidelines or rules we see as governing our specific relationships. These rules are made up of the expectations we have as to how others in that relationship should act. When we believe someone in the relationship has violated these guidelines or rules, problems develop.

It all boils down to this: there is no problem that occurs outside of our relationships. Therefore, when we are experiencing a personal, emotional, and/or behavioral problem in ourselves or others, the first thing we must do is look to relationships and their demands as the source of the problem.

I developed The Houle Relationship Approach (HRA) to offer an alternative explanation for problem behaviors based upon the premise that our relationships are actually the environments in which social, emotional and behavioral problems occur.

Thanks for reading.