Outsourcing: A Way To Get Rid Of Problems

We often need help dealing with our problems. We can go into therapy or use a widely used technique called outsourcing that we’re talking about today in this article.

People go into therapy because of all sorts of problems that they have not been able to solve on their own. These problems are usually internal. That means they may not be fully structured and reviewed. The symptoms that make a person resort to therapy are often: anxiety, lack of motivation, grief, stress, interpersonal problems, family problems, and so on.

Outsourcing is a tool used by psychologists to help their patients solve their problems. It causes patients to observe their problems or symptoms from the outside and find a purpose or solution quickly and effectively.

Symptoms do not define people

People who go to therapy are usually very attached to their beliefs, problems, and symptoms. They may actually experience these things as part of themselves, and are not always aware of any other perspectives.

For example, a patient may find it difficult to distinguish themselves from their own anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem. It’s hard for him not to include it in how he talks about his own personality.

In therapy, the patient may express things that he or she does not usually tell people, including things that hurt him or her or that he or she does not like about himself or herself. At this point, a defense mechanism may emerge that prevents progress from happening.

The origin of outsourcing can be traced all the way to systematic therapy. One of the first therapists to propose this approach was Michael White, who made this technique a central line of action in his therapeutic approach.

How outsourcing works

We are often so immersed in our problems that we see no solution. Outsourcing means revealing something that a person assumes is only within him. This can be done, for example, through drawing. The idea is to monitor the problem externally.

Imagine, for example, a person suffering from great anxiety. He has internalized it to the point where he is now able to define himself as an anxious person. It is painful, both mentally and emotionally, and physically exhausting. But outsourcing your symptoms can help alleviate the suffering.

The therapist chooses which elements to outsource (symptoms, emotions, problems) and names them. He then creates a distance between the patient and the thing he outsources. Finally, the Therapist helps him see his problem from another perspective.

The benefits of changing perspective

The benefits of outsourcing include:

• Mental balance : A person may feel relief and peace by speaking out their problems out loud. When he is mentally stable, it is easier to observe the problem from a different perspective.
• Better self-control in managing symptoms and problems. When a person has an internal symptom or problem, he or she may feel as if he or she is not in control of what is happening to him or her. Taking a different perspective improves his ability to manage his problems.

• New resources to identify the problem at hand. Problem solving is not always easy. Outsourcing makes a person invent new resources to solve a situation. New tools lead to a new solution.
• Increased responsibility for problems.  If a person feels burdened with hardship, he or she is likely to lose control of the situation. Outsourcing makes him take responsibility for what he can change.
• Changing and questioning beliefs. Preconceptions may do more harm than good. This technology causes a person to create new ways of thinking.
• Putting a distance between the problem and the person. Outsourcing facilitates a person’s ability to expand or modify their perspective. He can then detach himself from the identity he has given himself. For example, instead of a person thinking “I’m angry, I’m always angry,” he might think that “I get angry sometimes, but I don’t always”.

How do you get rid of your problems?

With this technology, we not only learn about external problems or symptoms, but also learn a lot about our own characteristics, resources, and strengths. It makes a person see their problems from a constructive perspective and be less burdened. It’s like putting new glasses on your head.

Outsourcing basically offers a new aspect and purpose to the problem. The new aspect and purpose then opens the door to a new solution and change.