The Case of Gabriel: A Linguistic Therapy of Evaluation Perspective

Abstract

This article describes the treatment of Gabriel, 24, an undergraduate student suffering from performance anxiety. His main symptoms were heart palpitations, aching muscles, inability to relax, nervousness, worry, and negative anticipation about performance in various classes. The treatment applied was 13 sessions of linguistic therapy of evaluation (LTE), a variety of cognitive therapy based on the theory of general semantics. The main therapeutic techniques involved emphasizing the difference between words and “facts” (the “map” and the “territory”), general semantics debate, and the focusing on orders of abstraction. Across treatment Gabriel showed a clear shift from an intensional orientation to an extensional orientation, which for Gabriel meant stopping anticipating and instead focusing on the here and now and dealing with uncertainty. At the end of therapy and at two-year follow-up, Gabriel showed a complete recovery.