As an empirically based theory, SDT has been constructed and
refined through iterations between theoretical propositions and
testing of their implications in experimental and field studies. Yet
SDT is also reflective of a basic organismic assumption that
throughout development people manifest active tendencies toward
integration (Ryan, 1995), synthesis (Freud, 1923/1962), organization
(Piaget, 1971), and self-actualization (Patterson & Joseph,
2007). From the SDT perspective, the promotion of therapeutic
change involves energizing and supporting this inherent growth
tendency as patients take on the challenges confronting them.