52. Demotivational Process in Motivational Work

Another form of consolidation takes place in the demotivational process. As the negative contact rebus becomes increasingly demonstrative and destructive, a withdrawal between the motivational worker and the client becomes increasingly obvious.

The positive contact rebus can likewise be seen as a visible consolidation of the ending of the relationship. This process is seen most clearly in the latently motivated client since the rebounds here have a high degree of transmutation, both in terms of destructiveness and the neutral principles of transmutation (Motivational Work. Part 1: Values and Theory, page 492 – 516).

Case Study

Valentin, 29, is a long-standing drug user, having started sniffing solvents at the age of eleven. His father, who has been dead for many years, was an alcoholic and used to abuse Valentin, while his mother did nothing to intervene. The social authorities were called in and Valentin was placed temporarily in a foster home. His substance abuse became worse and worse during his early years so that by the time he reached adulthood he had taken everything, including heroin.

He finances his addiction through crime and has been frequently imprisoned for theft and burglary. He has also badly assaulted other drug addicts, but his victims never press charges, or if they do, soon withdraw them. He also hits his mother when he visits her. However, there are periods in which Valentin’s habit becomes less intense and he considers treatment.

Twice he’s been to a treatment center, both times for almost a year. Valentin’s life shifts between the two states – serious drug abuse and violence versus less drug abuse, restraint and introversion, and active participation in rehab programs. In the past year, his demonstrative period has been unusually destructive; he has abused substances, whatever he can get his hands on, with abandon, seriously beaten his mother up, and started more frequent fights with other addicts.

His mother calls the social welfare office and tells them that she is in fear of her life. On several occasions, Valentin has received medical care, through the agency of a social worker, for the injuries he has been caused by others. At the end of his periods of abuse, he enters a state of despair and cries in front of his social worker, at which time he normally accepts being admitted to a detox center.

He then goes along with their after-care regime for a month or so and then abandons it completely. After such a period of detoxification, the social worker loses contact with his client and pays a visit to him at home. He finds Valentin lying on his bed, dead from a lethal cocktail of different narcotics.

Discussion

In this example, we can see clearly how the negative rebound becomes increasingly negatively demonstrative. Valentin’s substance abuse increases both in frequency and scope, and his violence becomes even more accentuated. He physically assaults his mother more and gets into increasingly violent situations in which he is in very real danger of doing himself serious harm.

Towards the end, Valentin withdraws from contact with his social worker, while his positive rebound becomes even more transmuted. Looking only at his behavior, it seems as if he is more motivated than before and in more emotional contact with himself (i.e. he cries and agrees to undergo detoxification).