The issue of force and energy in behavioral change

The issue of force and energy in behavioral change involves the following question. Assuming that certain ideas or cognitions help individuals to change their basic personality structure, is it important that these ideas be conveyed by the therapists, or by the clients, to themselves, in a vigorous, forceful and dramatic manner? This question, along with the concomitant one of “intellectual” versus “emotional” insight, has been neglected and avoided in much of the recent literature. This article considers these questions, tries to formulate an operational definition of force and energy in behavioral change, and suggests some specific things that clients may do to achieve “emotional” insight or elegant philosophic reconstruction.