Mr. Mekonen: the Humanistic Psychologist

In Monday's psychology class, we did our Cinderella skits, where we talked about the many different ways of treating psychological disorders. As we were going through the various different skits, I was thinking about more practical applications for these different types of therapies. Suddenly, in a flash of intuition, it occurred to me that the Mekonen is a humanistic psychologist.

For those who aren't in psych, here's some background about humanistic psychology. Humanistic psychology and therapy are based on the idea that the ultimate goal in life is self-actualization, or the actualization of human potential.  Humanistic therapy, or treatment for psychological disorders, involves a client-centered approach, including unconditional positive regard and empathy towards the patient.  This means that the therapist will act in a positive way towards the person, regardless of the past. They will also empathize with the person and validate their pain. Does this sound familiar at all? This is exactly what happens in the second part of פרק ב׳ in Eicha.

Let's review the situation: the Mekonen has just listed a bunch of grievances against G-d. He called G-d the merciless enemy and accused him of ruthlessly killing people for no reason. In essence, he is questioning how G-d could be so evil as to create a situation in which mothers would have to eat their children. In the next part of the Perek, the Mekonen continues speaking, but now his remarks are directed at ירושלים herself. Let's imagine for a moment that the Mekonen is the therapist and that ירושלים is the emotionally disturbed patient. She's been crying non-stop for weeks. She's been sad about her immense loss and is now seething with anger at G-d. While she's sitting in the room, he's talking to her, trying to get her to talk.

At the start of the session, Jerusalem starts by venting her anger at G-d. She says that she's angry at G-d and that the situation is incredibly painful. She then goes silent while the Mekonen talks to her because she's so emotionally shaken and incapable of continuing. First, he validates her pain -- he empathizes with her! He says that the things that G-d did to her and her people were awful and unforgivable. In doing this, he establishes a rapport with ירושלים that helps her accept what he's saying. He is also making the conversation client-centered by making everything about her pain. In his next statement, he advises ירושלים to turn back to G-d. In this sense, he is showing unconditional positive regard; he is giving her a second chance, despite the fact that she sinned and has a troubled past. Like other humanistic therapists, he's putting her past behind her and is focusing on the present. After this "therapy session", we hear about the Gever and his development, followed by the culmination of the development of both the Mekonen and ירושלים. Talk about a change of perspective.

Conclusion: MIND BLOWING.