DISCOVER ▶ CONTROL MASTERY 101
Control Mastery 101
Unlike CBT, ACT, EFT, or any of the other nearly 500 therapy brands, control-mastery theory (CMT) is not yet one more brand advocating a prescribed set of therapy techniques.
CMT provides a framework for understanding how and why psychological problems develop and how patients work in psychotherapy to overcome them. In short, CMT is a theory of the mind, of how psychopathology develops, and how psychotherapy works. The San Francisco Psychotherapy Group has been researching and publishing in this line of inquiry for over 50 years, and PPI is now the education wing of that organization.
The theory derives its name from two foundational premises: that a person’s control over their mental life is regulated by subjective feelings and perceptions of safety and danger, and that patients come to therapy in order to achieve mastery over their problems and conflicts.
The theory assumes that patients are highly motivated both consciously and unconsciously to solve their problems, to rid themselves of symptoms, and to pursue important life goals such as a sense of well-being, a satisfying relationship, or a meaningful career. Patients are typically in conflict about wanting to accomplish these things because they suffer from pathogenic beliefs or schemas. These beliefs, which are often unconscious, warn the patient that moving toward their goals will endanger themselves or their loved ones.
Patients come to therapy with a plan (often unconscious) to disconfirm their pathogenic beliefs, working throughout therapy to change these beliefs and to reach their forbidden goals. Patients test their pathogenic beliefs in therapy, hoping that the therapist will pass their tests (i.e., disconfirm their pathogenic beliefs). In addition, patients use the therapeutic relationship, therapist interventions and interpretations to realize that their pathogenic beliefs are maladaptive and a poor guide to behavior. The therapist’s primary task is to help patients carry out their plan to disprove their pathogenic beliefs and to achieve their adaptive life goals.
For over 50 years the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group (SFPRG) along with other research groups has carried out empirical research studies on CMT. Several books, numerous book chapters, and hundreds of journal articles on CMT, its clinical applications, and the research evidence for the theory can be found in the Publications page.
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