A "TOP" Action Research Project

Ignacio Martin-Baro said, "No knowledge can be true if it has not attached itself to the task of transforming reality, but the transformative process requires an involvement in the process of transforming human relationships."

On May 1, 2007, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts , the largest insurer in the state, announced that they will adopt a measurement system called the Treatment Outcomes Package (TOP). The TOP asks 58 questions about "symptoms, ability-to-function, and quality-of-life". Therapist reactions include agreement, passive acceptance, hesitation and doubt, and outrage and opposition.

As a therapist affected by the TOP initiative and controversy, I am provided an opportunity to examine and possibly have an effect on current "therapeutic realities" (the title of a book by Ken Gergen). I am interested in exploring social change and power in and through this context. By engaging in the ongoing dialog, including possible forms of social action, I might be able to fulfill Martin-Baro's requirements for the acquisition of knowledge.

Question: What is the power of this insurance company in relation to their clients and therapists as discovered through dialog and social action?

I would like my research to reflect the values of Bent Flyvbjerg, Professor of Planning at Aalborg University, who wants to "make social science matter" by contributing to social change; Harlene Anderson, who espouses "a mutual search to understand"; Ken Gergen, who asks, how can we exit from "the cycle of infirmity" and "the requirement for deficit diagnosis"; and Tom Andersen who asked, "How can the standstill system and we make a meaningful conversation together?"

My research website is at www.notthetop.net