T H E CLINICIAN AND HIS VALUE SYSTEMS Whether consciously recognized and evaluated cognitively or not, every clinician continuously acts out the implications of his value systems both in his personal and professional life. He becomes so accustomed to playing certain roles and taking certain values for granted, that anything else comes to seem unnatural, erroneous and invalid. Too often, the clinician (in common with other laymen) comes to lose sight of the fact that all values are relative, and that other values may be just as pertinent and valid in other situations.
One of the great natural areas of value conflicts arises from the different needs of the strong vs. the weak, the gifted vs. the inadequate, the upper crust vs. the underdog. The psychology of the natural leader (fighter) is vastly different from that of the follower (underdog). Certain institutions in any culture such as higher education, the military, competitive business and industry, or competitive sports, are dedicated to excellence, high performance, relentless competition for survival, and the general philosophy of "may the best man win". Other institutions such as the healing a r t s , public welfare agencies, some benevolent labor and charitable