The Web address of this
glossary is https://sfhelp.org/pro/terms.htm
Created
September 29, 2015
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This article is part of a free online self-study course for human-service
providers who work with troubled people, couples, and families. This course
builds on seven online self-improvement lessons
for all adults.
This article assumes you're familiar with:
-
the
intro to this Web site and the
premises
underlying it.
-
seven online self-improvement
-
the intro
to this course for human-service providers. and...
-
these
grieving, and
inner-family
definitions.
|
The effectiveness
of your thinking, speech, and writing depends
partly on the words you use. Words have different meanings to different people,
depending on the context and their experience. I offer these definitions to help
you understand clearly what I'm trying to say in this course and Web
site. .
As you
review these definitions, note which are unfamiliar or "different" and how you react to them. I don't propose these meanings as absolutes.
I
offer them to help you clarify your own definitions. Try speaking your current definition of any term out loud before
you compare it to the proposed meaning here.
Selected Professional Definitions
Use
the following to form, clarify, or refine your definitions. Underlined
links lead to definitions on this page or in other articles. Plain links will open an
informational popup. These items are in alphabetic order. if you don't see a
word or term, scan these general definitions.
Assessment
Behavior, human
(true-Self disabling)
(wound)
, hitting
Change,
human
Client
(human service)
Clinical service, also see Human service
Coaching
Conflict
Confront, Confrontation
Counseling
Dissociate,
dissociation
Disorder (psychological)
Dysfunction see Toxic |
(personality)
Family system
Family therapy
Human service, also see Clinical service
Inner family system
(IFS)
Inner-family system therapy
Intervention, professional
Mapping
a
family structure
Medical model
(of therapy)
Mental Health and Illness
, client-provider
Modality,
human-service
Needs, human
Outcome (service)
Paranoia, paranoid
(therapy)
Pathology, pathological |
, psyche
Problem,
problem-solving
Pseudo recovery
Psychosomatic
Psychotherapy
from addiction and/or trauma
Resistance
(client)
Role strain and confusion
Subself (personality
part)
- see also metasystem
Toxic
Therapy
Trauma
(personality)
,
psychological |
ASSESSMENT - in
this Web site, this noun or verb refers to "evaluating the symptoms or level
of...
-
knowledge of key topics
-
current beliefs about key topics
-
ancestral traumas and wounds
-
psychological wounds
-
primary personal needs
-
relationship strengths and
stressors
|
-
courtship danger signs
-
communication skills and
effectiveness
-
grieving progress and blocks
-
family or group functionality
(nurturance level)
-
parenting effectiveness,
and/or...
-
kids' developmental status
|
This Web site provides many
Q&A articles,
worksheets, checklists, and "status checks" to help site visitors and students assess these
things.
<< terms
index
>>
BEHAVIOR
- premise - all human
behavior and relationships are motivated by primal instincts + learned
reflexes + current physical, psychological, and
spiritual needs (discomforts). Psychological needs are caused
by an array of
(brain regions).
Implications:
-
human-service clients and providers must
clearly identify their respective
and long-term needs to be effective; and...
-
effective service-providers will
intentionally encourage clients and co-workers to learn how to
(a) their needs and (b) practical options for filling them (i.e. learn
how to
.Few clients know how to do
this.
See
this article for more perspective on
needs (a possible reference for clients).
<< terms
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CHANGE
- typical human-service clients seek to learn and/or validate
something, and/or to change (start, increase, decrease, or stop)
something in their lives. Attitude and behavioral changes occur because of
new knowledge, environmental shifts, new experiences, and aging.
Changes can be unconscious (spontaneous and reflexive) or conscious
(intentional), and temporary or permanent. Attitude changes may or
may not cause significant behavioral changes, depending on whether
the client is guided by their true Self or not.
Premise - permanent personal change requires active personality subselves to
want to (a) trust the resident true Self, (b) live in the present, and (c)
shift their priorities. Implication - service providers need to know
how to assess whether clients are
by their true self or not. Few
providers can do this, presently. Can you?
|
For more perspective, see
these articles on...
<< terms
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CLIENT - In this self-study
course for human-service providers,
client can mean any adult or child seeking (or needing) some personal
service - e.g. students and trainees, medical patients, customers,
co-workers, church and other group members, and therapy, counseling, social
work, personal development, and life-coaching clients. See Human service
for perspective.
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CLINICAL SERVICE - is the
subset of "human service" that helps troubled people, couples, and families
to function better.
Clinical service is provided by psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and social
workers, (some) counselors, clergy and pastoral counselors, personal-growth
consultants, and spiritual advisors.
Clinical service usually includes teaching
as well as strategic "interventions" to promote personal
and
relationship satisfaction.
Non-clinical human services usually focus on providing information and
instruction, not on increasing self-awareness or psychological changes.
<< terms
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COACHING - generally, this human
service is an experienced person helping a less-experienced person learn how
to do some physical, mental, or social activity more effectively. Part of
effective coaching is accurately assessing problems the student is
experiencing as they learn, and suggesting practical solutions.
Coaches who (a) understand the concept of psychological wounds and personality
subselves and who (b) are guided by their true Self can provide better service to
their students. This is specially true for the emerging profession of "life
coaching," which includes elements of psychotherapy. In my experience, few
contemporary coaches of any sort are aware of (a) their and their clients'
psychological wounds and unawareness, and (b) this opportunity to heal and
grow.
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CONFLICT - human-service
providers experience up to three concurrent conflicts in their work: (a)
within themselves (b) within their clients, and (c) between them and their
clients.
Internal (innerpersonal) conflicts occur when two or more
active personality subselves disagree over some idea,
or action. This typically causes the host person "confusion," "indecision,"
and distracting internal debates.
Interpersonal (social) conflicts
occur when the dominant subselves in each person disagree with each other
over something, and/or when their communication
clash.
Social conflicts are most likely when one or both people are controlled by a
false self and unaware of this and/or how to
To give effective service, providers (you) need to...
-
be aware of each type of conflict when
they're happening,
-
be steadily
by their
and to...
-
know how and when to teach clients about
personality subselves; and...
-
know how to negotiate and
internal and social conflicts effectively,
and providers need to know...
Do you have these requisites
yet?
<< terms
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COUNSELING - this human
service provides clients with (a) information and/or (b) advice (suggested
actions). Counseling can be requested or imposed. The latter may be kindly
motivated, but is inherently disrespectful ("I know better than you how you
should live your life.") This often causes resentment and c/overt
"resistance."
counseling is provided (respectfully and empathically or not) and
when (client is undistracted and receptive or not) affects the client's
reaction to it.
Education offers information but no advice. Coaching
can include information, motivation, and advice. Therapy
usually includes all of these plus personal insight (awareness), and
strategic interventions to promote desired psychological and behavioral changes Each type of
service can range from effective to ineffective. For best outcomes,
providers and clients need to agree on which type of service is appropriate.
<< terms
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CONFRONT, CONFRONTATION -
The Latin root of confront means "to stand before." At strategic
times, human-service providers need to
clients who are distorting reality (like denial) and/or causing themselves
and others distress by their unawareness, distortions, avoidances, and
behaviors. Not confronting is
a form of
Effective confrontations are respectful attempts to raise clients' awareness
of themselves and their choices, not to criticize, shame, control,
manipulate, or guilt-trip. To
confront successfully (cause desired changes), providers need to
-
be
by their true Self;
-
be objectively aware of clients' harmful
misperceptions, distortions, and avoidances;
-
know how to
effectively and
-
know
how to respond to expected client "resistance," including how to avoid
and resolve
and
conflicts,
and
and...
-
teach clients
how to confront others effectively, including kids.
Providers also need to confront themselves (i.e.
their subselves) and each other - e.g. in supervision, training, co-therapy,
and consultations.
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DISSOCIATE, DISSOCIATION - this noun
and verb has several meanings for providers and clients. It may refer to a
temporary reflexive "mental state" where a person narrows their conscious
awareness to some inner or outer focus and loses awareness of their broader
environment and reality. Their perception of current reality and their
mental processing becomes locally or chronically distorted.
Dissociations can take many forms, like day and night dreaming, fantasizing,
flashbacks ("re-living"), hypnotic and ecstatic trances, epiphanies,
delusions, hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, and personality-subself
take-overs
Dissociation occurs on a continuum, and may be judged
by the severity and frequency of its occurrence - i.e. "minor and occasional
(episodic) to major and chronic.
Dissociation may occur from ingesting "mind-altering" chemicals, some
traumas, exhaustion, self-induced trance, or an organic (brain) malfunction.
I believe most or all non-organic,
non-chemical dissociation is a symptom of personality subselves
the resident true Self.
In the last generation, psychiatrists have formally recognized Multiple
Personality Disorder (MPD) as one form of mental dissociation. They recently
changed this label to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) because people
with the condition seemed to change their identities depending on which
"alter" (personality subself) controlled the host person.
In this course and Web site, one of six common psychological wounds
is
This includes most forms of non-organic dissociation. Significant
non-organic dissociation can be reduced over time via
and skilled, patient
Few
clients and providers know this, so far. |
<< terms
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DISORDER (psychological) -
the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is about to publish the fifth
edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) - one of two
international schemes for classifying human organic and psychological
pathology. The classification includes several types of "disorders" - e.g.
mood, anxiety, and personality disorders. "Disorder" means, broadly,
"abnormal mental-social functioning," relative to "mental health."
Though the DSM is published for mental health professionals, some lay people
and self-help media are beginning to use some DSM terminology to
describe common mental-behavioral conditions - e.g. "I have Borderline
Personality Disorder (BPD) or Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD)." These
psychiatric labels are based on the century-old Freudian "medical model"
of mental illness.
I propose that these DSM labels promote troubled clients feeling they're
"diseased" and "sick." That promotes anxiety and assuming that
medications are appropriate solutions to their troubles, rather than
effective therapy. In my professional opinion after 33 years' research,
most or all nonorganic
"psychiatric disorders" are not "illnesses." They are a wonderfully
wide array of symptoms of being ruled by a "false self" - which does
not merit medication.
I propose that human-service providers should avoid outdated,
misleading medical-model (DSM) terms and diagnoses for
psychological and behavioral problems - including the various
"disorders." A more appropriate global label is "psychologically
|
<< terms
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DYSFUNCTION - As
therapy continues to grow in popularity, the term
"dysfunctional family" has entered our vocabulary. Human-service providers,
the media, and typical clients rarely understand what a "functional family
system" is, so they use the term "dysfunctional" to acknowledge "something's
wrong" with a family, group, or relationship.
Premise - the
"function" of any human group or relationship is to consistently fill the
of all people involved. This implies that providers need to understand these
needs, and be able to educate clients, the media, and other professionals on
them. Opinion - human-service providers have an ethical
responsibility to clients to understand and be able to explain "family
dysfunction."
in this educational Web site proposes what people in
relationships and
in families need from each other. It
also suggests that describing a relationship's or group's
is more useful than its "functionality." Nurturance
refers to filling needs of living things.
A key opportunity for any human-service provider is to encourage and
motivate clients to (a) become
of their primary needs, and to (b)
learn how to
(fill needs effectively). Are you doing this? .
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FAMILY SYSTEM - a
system is a group of related elements which behave according to identifiable rules.
Families and other groups can be viewed as systems, whose elements
are people,
relationships, and subsystems. Family-system behaviors are caused by human
biology, needs, instincts, and adults'
values, and inherited psychological
Family systems which don't meet all members' developmental and local primary
needs well enough are labeled "dysfunctional." Troubled (wounded, unaware)
clients usually were raised in dysfunctional
families,
and often
unconsciously recreate them as adults.
Human-service providers can more accurately assess clients' (and their own)
problems if they know about family systems and how they function. This is
specially true of medical professionals, psychologists, social workers, and
pastoral and other therapeutic counselors.
Useful systemic assessment and teaching tools are (a)
this article, (b) genograms,
and (c) family-structure maps.
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FAMILY THERAPY - Clinical human service which treats an
entire family system as the client is "family therapy." It exists because
human behaviorists increasingly accept that individual personal
problems like low self esteem, addiction, and "depression" are usually
caused and amplified by dysfunction in their early-childhood and current
families. Many providers now believe that permanent personal healing (recovery) requires
improving current client-family functioning.
Effective family therapy is complex, and requires knowledge of...
-
human
formation and functioning;
-
two levels of human
-
human developmental, primary, grieving, communication, relationship,
and spiritual needs;
-
effective
and
skills;
-
bonding,
effective grieving; and
-
how to assess for
incomplete grief and how to
complete it;
-
family-system and group-therapy principles;
-
how to
analyze and
relationship problems;
-
how to identify and resolve interpersonal
boundary problems;
-
how to identify and reduce family-role
confusion and conflicts;
-
how to identify and resolve
and
conflicts and relationship
-
how to teach and motivate family members to
and...
-
if. how, and when to shift between family,
couple, and individual therapy.
Few clinicians,
family-life educators, counselors, coaches, and other human-service
professionals (like lawyers, police, and mediators) have training and
experience in all these topics. Neither do their employers, program
directors, supervisors, trainers, and evaluators.
Implication - to raise their professional effectiveness,
human-service providers need to (a) understand the purpose and
utility of family therapy, and (b) help troubled clients seek and
find competent family therapists when appropriate. This is specially
true for divorcing and stepfamily clients Can you do that
now? |
This free, seven-lesson Break the
Cycle
(by a veteran family-systems therapist)
provides useful information and resources on many of these essential topics.
Option - whatever service you provide, study this course yourself,
and then encourage your clients to invest time and energy in studying the
course - specially if they care for kids. To decide whether you can benefit
from the course, take these
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HUMAN SERVICE - in this
Web site, human service means any voluntary or fee-based actions by a
qualified provider toward helping troubled kids, teens, adults, couples,
families, and other groups improve their
communication, relationships, and
(functioning).
<< terms
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INNER-FAMILY SYSTEM (IFS) - Veteran psychologist Dr. Richard Schwartz
suggests that the
that form normal human
personalities can be called an "inner family." These (your) subselves relate to
each other like members of physical families - they vie for
control; form alliances; and ignore, criticize, fear, protect, play with, care
for, fight, communicate with, and/or reject each other.
Like
physical families, personality subselves have boundaries, subsystems (e.g.
the
and relate to each other by the same rules that govern human
behaviors and groups. Inner families range between chaotic and leaderless
(dysfunctional) to harmonious and functional (well-led by the true Self, Higher Self,
and Manager subselves).
who have felt socially isolated in their lives and who have little or no
bonding with their genetic relatives or other people can feel a welcome
sense of belonging and companionship when they consider having
an inner-family where ever they go. This is specially welcome to Lost,
Abandoned, and Lonely Inner Kids and their
subselves.
Introducing subselves to each other
and welcoming them to their internal family can be a very moving
experience for the host person and the provider who facilitates this
For
more perspective on personality subselves, see (and refer clients to) these
Lesson-1 articles:
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INNER-FAMILY SYSTEM (IFS) THERAPY - Family-systems therapy is a
methodical way of intervening with family members as a group to improve
their "functioning" (filling members' primary needs). This therapeutic
process focuses on (a) educating family adults, and (b) assessing and
strategically improving family roles, communications, relationships, and
boundaries. This may be a stand-alone clinical process, or it may combine
with individual and couples therapy, depending on the clients' needs and the
clinician's style and abilities.
Inner-family system (IFS) therapy applies the same clinical goals and
techniques to improve the functioning of an individual's personality
subselves as a group. Key IFS goals are to:
-
assess the client to learn (a) their
psychological assets and surface stressors, (b) the nurturance level of
their childhood and current families, and (c) what they want to
accomplish in therapy; .
-
educate the client on personality subselves,
and validate subselves' reality;
-
identify and assess clients' subselves to
learn their functions (roles), and whether they're living in the present
and trust the true Self;
-
work with individual subselves to (a) bring
them into the present time as needed, and to (b) learn to trust and
follow the leadership of the resident Self and other Manager subselves;
-
teach and motivate the client to recognize
and reduce false-self dominance in any situation; and...
-
teach clients how to recognize wounded
people (ruled by a false self), and how to relate to them.
-
Key: teach
clients caring for children why and how to protect the kids from
inheriting toxic [psychological wounds and unawareness].
My clinical experience over 33 years suggests that
all personal,
marital, parenting, and family "problems" stem from (a) adults'
inner-family dysfunction (psychological wounds) and unawareness, and
from (b) living in a
low-nurturance ("dysfunctional") environment. Implication
- for
permanent positive change, typical clients need to want to do some
form of inner-family system (IFS) therapy with a
qualified provider. |
For more perspective, see these selected
books on working with personality subselves ("multiplicity").
Some
IFS variants are...
-
"Inner
Voice Dialog" therapy (Stone and Winkleman, 1989);
-
"Ego
States" Watkins & Watkins, 1997, and others);
-
Psychodrama;
-
Psychosynthesis (Roberto Assagioli, 1965, 2000);
-
various D.I.D.
intervention schema, usually aiming at personality integration or fusion of
alters
(subselves);
-
Transactional Analysis
variations (Berne, 1971); and...
-
"Cast of Characters" therapy (Sandra
Watanabe - Contemporary Family Therapy, 8, 75-78., 1986).
INTERVENE, INTERVENTION - to
"intervene" means "to come between." In the context of this course,
human-service providers intervene when their behavior (or lack of
behavior) causes some change in clients' perceptions, priorities, attitudes,
and/or behaviors.
Providers' interventions can be spontaneous and unplanned, like their
language and behaviors, or they can be planned and intentional, like questions,
restatements, silence,
suggesting, brainstorming, homework, confrontations, explanations, role-plays,
referrals, handouts, demonstrations, teaching tales (parables), and strategic
frustrations and "mistakes."
Interventions can be made to individual clients or co-workers, to couples
together, and to whole families and groups. Lay people and service providers are
becoming increasingly aware of why, when, and how to do interventions with
active addicts.
A powerful intervention with all
clients - specially parents and grandparents - is to suggest that they may be
harmed by the toxic [wounds + unawareness]
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MEDICAL MODEL - Most theories
of abnormal human behavior and "mental illness" are founded on the century-old
global adoption of ideas from medical doctors like Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and
their disciples. The most widely used professional resource for categorizing and
treating psychological and psychosomatic disorders is the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual (DSM) - published by learned psychiatrists - medical doctors.
Generations of mental-health professionals and the public have been conditioned
to think of "mental problems": as an illness. This promotes the
assumption that non-organic problems should be treated with drugs (medicine) -
alone or with "therapy." Similarly, unaware lay and professional people have
been taught to believe that any addiction is a "disease" or "sickness." I
propose it is a reflexive attempt to mute unbearable inner pain, not
a disease or a "character flaw."
This traditional medicine-based view has become known as "the medical model" of
human psychological pathology and treatment. Since the advent of family-systems therapy in the
1950s, this medical framework has been losing credence. Individual non-organic
"mental problems" are increasingly seen as conditions resulting
from family dysfunction, not illnesses.
The medical model has at least three
drawbacks: it promotes...
-
medicating symptoms (surface problems),
rather than discovering the real cause of personal problems
[psychological
+
-
not recognizing that
early-family environment is a major
cause of non-organic psychological conditions; and the model
promotes...
-
clients feeling they are powerless to change
their "(mental) illness", like people with cancer believe they can't heal by
changing their attitudes, thinking, and environment.
I encourage you to help your clients avoid feeling "sick" and
"diseased," and thus assuming that prescribed drugs are the best
treatment for their "mental" problems. Option - hand out or refer
people to this article to help
them release this harmful, outdated belief. |
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MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS - "Mental"
refers to the human "mind," which is hard to define. Our conscious and
unconscious minds are portions of our brain that cause our thoughts,
ideas, moods, dreams, emotions, and behaviors. Our personality is a
unique mix of brain regions (subselves, or "parts") that shapes our mental and
behavioral functioning.
"Health" refers to how well a living organism is "functioning" (in
someone's opinion) compared to some norm or baseline. "Illness" occurs
when an organism's function is impaired because of (a) cellular and/or genetic
malfunction, or by (b) toxic microbes, viruses ("germs"), or substances.
So "mental health" is a loose term describing how well someone's mind is
"working" - i.e. interpreting sensory info, identifying needs, reviewing
options, making decisions, and behaving. "Mental illness" is an outdated,
misleading term (in my opinion) because non-organic brain malfunction is caused
by
[psychological wounds + unawareness] and
environments - not
germs.
I propose that a more realistic way to assess and describe someone's
mental functioning is to estimate how often they show
behavioral signs of being consistently
Being guided by well-meaning false selves is
a condition, not an "illness" or "sickness"!
|
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MODALITY - human
service can be provided to individual clients, pairs (like mates,
siblings,. and parent-child dyads), and families or groups. Service
can be provided by one professional, two (co-therapy), or a team of
several providers of different skills. In this course, "modality"
refers to a strategic (best) combination of clients and providers.
Typically, service to troubled persons can lead to service to them and their
mates ("couples therapy"), and then to their current family. Veteran clinical
service providers know if and when to propose - and how to manage - each of
these three service modalities.
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NEEDS (human) - a basic
premise in this course and Web site is that all human behavior is caused by
instincts and current
- i.e. physical, psychological, and spiritual discomforts. Kids and adults
automatically seek to reduce current discomforts and increase their pleasure.
An endless conflict all people experience is choosing between immediate and long-term gratification
(need fulfillment). Balancing this choice well is
most likely when a person is guided by their true Self.
Another premise is that the needs people try to fill are often superficial -
i.e. people are often unaware of the primary needs causing their current
conscious discomforts. So human-service
service providers do well to learn how to
clients' primary needs, and then teach clients how to do the same.
See this for more detail.
< terms
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OUTCOME - human-service
providers exist to fill some current needs of their clients. When the service
ends, all people involved evaluate the outcome - i.e. whether the provider's and
client's respective needs were filled well enough in a mutually-acceptable way.
< terms
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PARANOIA, paranoid, delusional -
traditional terms for symptoms of false-self dominance and
< terms
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PARTS WORK - see
Inner-family System (IFS) therapy.
PATHOLOGY, pathological
- Microsoft Bookshelf 2000 defines pathology as "The
scientific study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes,
development, and consequences."
I avoid these two clinical terms
because I believe non-organic human mental, behavioral, and relationship problems are
not diseases. I use the term condition instead of
pathology, as in "dissociation and
addictions are wholistically-harmful human conditions."
Many
words and phrases have powerful unconscious mental associations. Thinking "I am diseased"
(or "sick") and/or having a professional say or
imply "You are diseased" can promote anxiety, shame, and the
assumption that medication is the appropriate treatment for non-organic
psychological problems. Medication may
reduce the symptoms of some personal problems (e.g.
but
will not affect the [psychological wounds + unawareness] that cause the
symptoms.
<< terms
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PROBLEM, PROBLEM SOLVING -
Clients seek help to reduce or solve personal, relationship, and family
"problems." Problems are unfilled
needs. Many clients -
specially those governed by a false self - have trouble defining specifically
what they really need.
The first part of human service is helping clients
(a) their
and (b) what blocks them from satisfying these
needs. Another part is helping clients learn
to solve their
and social "problems." Effective service and problem-solving are
most likely when providers and clients are
and
by their wise true Selves. |
<< terms
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PSEUDO
RECOVERY - Here recovery
refers to (a) achieving sobriety with some addiction, and (b) significantly
reducing psychological
and
Clients ruled by a false self can
make superficial attitude and behavioral changes (e.g. dieting and exercising),
and then they revert to their previous behaviors and symptoms ("relapse").
Such
temporary changes can be called "pseudo (or trial) recovery," because the
changes don't really reduce the
and unawareness that cause the
original "problems." Trial recoveries
are useful because they provide experience that can promote a client
eventually
and
their true Self to guide them. This inner-family change +
yield true (permanent) recovery.
<< terms
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PSYCHOSOMATIC - this term
acknowledges that "the mind" can influence or cause bodily malfunctions
("illnesses") in ways we don't understand. There is increasing
evidence that "mental illness"
(inherited psychological wounds and unawareness) can promote physical sickness
and premature death.
Human-service providers whose clients have physical symptoms (e.g. ulcers;
migraines; cramps; digestive, breathing, and swallowing problems, etc.) need to
explore whether the symptoms are organic and/or psychologically based.
offers
a structured way to learn whether well-meaning personality subselves are causing
physical symptoms as a way of communicating something.
<< terms
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PSYCHOTHERAPY is clinical
human service with psychologically-troubled adults and kids. Traditionally it has
been Freudian psychoanalysis, but there are now many different models and
styles of psychotherapy.
Professional counseling and coaching provide clients with relevant information,
constructive feedback, suggestions, and confrontation; and encourage
self-and social awareness. Psychotherapy does the same, and also seeks to help clients
reduce
psychological wounds and improve or leave toxic social environments.
is an effective strategy for reducing inner wounds.
My clinical experience suggests that skilled family and couples therapy often
leads to individual psychotherapy with one or more family members. For more
perspective, see this Q&A article.
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RESISTANCE (client) -
counseling, coaching, and therapy usually include suggestions that clients
change selected attitudes, priorities, expectations, and behaviors. If clients
don't comply, the suggestions were either impractical or inappropriate, or
clients' personality subselves were scared and/or unwilling to change. The
latter is commonly called "resistance."
Human-service providers may also experience resistance when they have an
among
their subselves over how to best serve the client and fill their own needs. They
can also "resist" suggestions or demands by supervisors and colleagues.
Implication - see "resistance" as a sign of false-self dominance
(wounds), and invite clients to consider doing
and
to identify, reassure, and retrain the subselves that are opposing helpful
changes.
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ROLE STRAIN and CONFUSION - A
role is a set of responsibilities and behaviors defined by people and
society - e.g. mother, neighbor, mayor, and plumber. Fulfilling a role "well" is one requisite for self esteem and
contentment. Each personality subself, and each member of a social dyad, family,
and group, has one or more roles to fulfill. Some roles are fixed, and others
change dynamically as people and the environment evolve.
Typical adults have many concurrent
roles - e.g. parent, child, sibling, citizen, employee or student, neighbor,
consumer, friend, etc. Role
strain occurs when a subself or person feels unable to fulfill
one or more of their
roles well enough. They may have too many concurrent roles, conflicting roles,
or roles that exceed their abilities. Role
confusion stresses
subselves and people when they aren't clear on what's expected of them.
Typical clients aren't aware of these two stressors and what to do about them.
Effective human-service providers will be able to assess for each of these
dynamics and know how to relieve them.
For more perspective, see this.
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THERAPY
- In this Web site...
There
are many types of psychotherapy, like psychoanalysis, paradoxical,
problem-focused, rational emotive, brief, object-relations, EMDR,
Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), and transactional analysis (TA).
This course and Web site propose
that
(inner-family therapy) is specially effective
with typical wounded clients.
For
some incompatible couples, this work aims to help them...
-
end their
relationship ("divorce") civilly,
-
understand
why their relationship
didn't work,
-
reduce significant guilts,
-
grieve their respective losses
(broken bonds), and...
-
motivate them to accept and reduce their respective psychological wounds
and protect any young people from them.
-
family therapy is purposeful intervention
by one or more providers with many or all members of a family to improve
their functioning as a group. "Functioning" means consistently filling each
adult's and child's developmental
and daily
well enough. Effective family therapy often needs to include couples
and individual therapy - specially if adults are parents.
-
group therapy is strategic facilitation
by one or more providers with a group of troubled individuals, couples, or
families.
-
co-therapists are two providers working
as a team with the same client.
Therapy can be formal or informal. It may be provided in a private
practice, a public or private agency, or in an inpatient or outpatient setting.
For more perspective, see this
Q&A
article.
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TOXIC - the traditional
meaning of this word is "poisonous." In this Web site and course...
-
a toxic family or group is one
that promotes psychological
and
in its members. Toxic (dysfunctional) groups always have
identifiable traits
and a low
-
a toxic relationship is one that
amplifies psychological wounds, and hinders true
(recovery) in any child or adult;
-
a toxic childhood is one with significant
child
and
-
a toxic
attitude
or belief is one that promotes personal and/or social stress;
and...
-
a toxic human-service is one which mis-diagnoses,
misinforms, and misdirects clients, and inhibits them from learning how to
recognize and fill their
in healthy ways. Usually this results from wounded, unaware providers and
organizations
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TRAUMA - is any life
event or process that temporarily or chronically hinders personal
functioning, and growth. Widespread
psychological
occurs because of early-childhood trauma - i.e.
parental abandonment, neglect, and abuse. Traumas can occur suddenly or over a
long time, and vary in their psychological and social impact from minor to
massive.
Some personal
(broken bonds) can be "traumatic" depending on their onset, magnitude, and
impact. Significant losses require patient 3-level
and a
environment.
of early-childhood trauma often have trouble grieving significant losses.
Implication - Human-service
providers need to know how to
incomplete grief and help clients to fully accept and adapt to their losses.
and "grief work" are effective ways to help clients heal the toxic effects of
significant traumas (e.g.
PTSD). Part of grief work is helping clients identify and improve
their
- i.e. their beliefs and values about how to mourn major losses alone and as a
family. Many human-service providers lack training in effective parts work
(Lesson 1) and grief work.
offers basic knowledge about losses and healthy grieving.
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Created
September 29, 2015
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