In this sense the therapist is non-directive because they are tracking and following the client. Metaphorically the therapist is walking alongside the client, sometimes a few paces behind and sometimes a few paces ahead, sometimes stopping to discuss where to go next, but always going wherever the client goes.
Martin Seligman developed the theory of learned helplessness, and defined it as the motivational and behavioral deficits displayed by humans when exposed to uncontrollable circumstances.
After the definitive studies (e.g., Seligman and Maier, 1967; Overmier and Seligman, 1967), there was a proliferation of research in learned helplessness in animals, as well as research that claimed to demonstrate learned helplessness in humans.aier and Seligman (1976) listed alternative explanations of the helplessness effect in animals. For example, there was the theory that inescapable shock is an extreme stressor that depletes a neurochemical needed by the animals for movement.