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Threat Detection
In the armed forces, radars are employed for detecting threats, and detecting friends. Imagine this data being fed through a computer that is used to analyze for potential threats. If the programming is set to be too sensitive, it’s possible that even birds might be flagged as threats. If the system does not have a provision for detecting friends, all signals will be labeled as threats. In this case, the system needs to be tuned to appropriately detect friends, irrelevant objects such as birds, and to more appropriately identify threats.
Many people have trouble with trusting. Oftentimes, there was a very good reason that this pattern developed because of something that was done to the person in the past. However, life experiences sometimes make our internal threat detecting radar overly sensitive and we begin to identify all types of things and people as threatening. Whereas the system for detecting threats worked perfectly well in the past, it may not be tuned appropriately to the current life situation. Also, with the problem of anxiety, many things are identified as threatening that are not truly threatening. Psychotherapy and homework assignments can serve to tune the threat detector.
One way to consider solutions to life’s problems is to consider the wisdom of a single cell. I owe credit to a workshop at the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis for this metaphor.
One really ought to consider the wisdom of a single cell–what it does naturally. In particular, consider the cell wall. The cell wall performs vital functions for the cell. It controls the flow of substances in and out of the cell. If it is working well, it allows in things that the cell needs to thrive and survive. It lets in nutrients and water only and keeps out toxins and other chemicals that would be harmful to the cell. It expels waste products from metabolic processes.
The life of a cell can go wrong if it doesn’t let enough good things in, lets harmful things in, fails to keep good things in, or fails to expel wastes. And emotional or psychological difficulties can usually be thought of in a similar way. We let people in that we shouldn’t and expel people that we should. We put things in our bodies that are harmful, and don’t put in enough good things into our bodies. We hold on to old toxic feelings.
As you can see, this can be applied to relationships, diet, ways of thinking and feeling, bitterness, addictions, and so forth. There is wisdom and solutions in the operation of a single cell, and it’s also likely that you can think of some other way to apply this metaphor that I haven’t thought of.
Life as a sailboat
It’s important as a psychologist to get a handle on the nature of a patient’s difficulties in order to plan their treatment. One way I often do this is through the following metaphor.
If you think about the people I see in treatment as being like a boat, there are a number of different problems that the boats have. Some have a faulty rudder or steering wheel. Some have worn and broken sails.. Some have small leaks below decks and spend a lot of their energy bailing out the water. Some are on the verge of sinking and just barely keeping above the water. Some just need minor repairs in several areas to operate more efficiently. Which boat are you?
In this way, I learn a great deal rather rapidly about a patient, and the patient also learns something new about themselves. It is a quick way to gather some information about the nature and severity of the problem as well as what will be required in solving the problem.
Patients often wonder how revisiting old painful issues may be of benefit in psychotherapy. They’re right to wonder about this, because doing so often evokes painful emotions. First of all, it’s never wise to do trauma work if a person has severe instability in their life at the time. Trauma work requires a relatively stable personal environment.
Once it has been ascertained that the environment is stable enough and that the patient is functioning well enough to handle increased distress, I will often begin explaining how it may be helpful to re-visit the traumatic episode.
Imagine that you have a severe cut on your arm. The cut also has some dirt in it. What would happen if you just put a bandage over it and ignored it because it would be painful to apply the treatment?
The patient typically responds that it would likely become infected and would not heal.
That’s exactly right. The body has built in healing processes that are designed into it; however, there are some injuries that are severe enough to require that the wound receive treatment before the body’s natural processes can take over in the healing. When a wound is washed out, antiseptic is applied, and the wound is closed, a person will experience increased pain. There is no way around that pain. In applying the treatment, the body’s natural processes can take over to heal that wound. The same thing applies to severe emotional wounds. The mind also has processes designed in that allow for automatic healing of emotional wounds. But some emotional wounds are so severe that they must be revisited to release the emotions associated with it and to allow the mind to begin to assimilate just what took place. And in the safe environment of treatment, one can begin to see aspects of what happened in a new light, the light of today’s understanding. After enough of these issues have been addressed, the mind’s natural healing processes can begin to take over and continue the healing process.
People in psychotherapy change at different rates. Most often I find that this relates to numerous factors. It may for
instance be related to the age at which a trauma occurred, complexity of current life situation and influences, interplay of personality characteristics, and so forth.
I use a puzzle metaphor to explain various aspects of the therapeutic process.
What takes place in treatment is similar to putting together a puzzle. There’s a catch to the whole process though. It’s as if we have all kinds of puzzle pieces for a puzzle and we don’t have the original picture from the puzzle box to guide us. There is something very interesting about the mind along these lines. It has been examined from Gestalt psychology with a process that is called “closure.” The idea of closure is that the mind fills in the gaps to produce a “unified whole” or a Gestalt. As we’re putting together the puzzle pieces about how you can become the person you want to become, more of the picture is obtained. There is a point at which adding just one more puzzle piece allows the mind to form a Gestalt and mentally see the final outcome. Once that happens, everything becomes clear as to the direction needed.
And this process also takes place on an unconscious level. The mind has built in self-corrective measures and begins searching for these corrective measures during psychotherapy. Automatically, while we are asleep and dreaming, or we are staring off into space thinking about nothing in particular, the mind continues this process.
I also use this metaphor to explain why some people are able to change rather rapidly and others take much longer.
Some people’s problems are like a puzzle that a young child might be able to put together. It may only have 8 pieces, and it only takes putting a couple of pieces together to get the Gestalt of the picture. Others are like a 1000 piece puzzle. This type of puzzle takes a great deal more searching, effort, and trial and error. It takes longer to be able to get that feeling of making progress. It takes longer to get the Gestalt of the picture.
Each individual has his or her own unique way of changing. Some patient’s will put most of the puzzle together before they make a single change. They have to know what the full picture is before they feel comfortable in changing. Sometimes this process happens completely unconsciously. Others are very deliberate, and utilize a great deal of conscious effort in placing each piece and make a shift or change with each piece that is connected.
Psychotherapy is very much about creating the right environment to allow a person to grow. Consider the following metaphor.
Let’s say you have a tree, a small tree, a sapling. And that little sapling is trying to grow, but it can’t because it’s surrounded by tall weeds. Those weeds are taking away all the needed water and sunlight that this sapling needs to grow into a big tree. When the weeds are removed from around the tree, it can then get all the light from the sun it needs. It may be good to even add some fertilizer and to water that tree a little extra while it is regaining its health. That way it can get all the nutrients it needs to grow. After it is big enough, no special care is needed. Even if the weeds are allowed to grow back it will continue growing. Its roots are deep enough to get the water, and its leaves are high enough to always have access to the sun. All one must do for that tree is to provide the right environment. That tree already designed to grow and mature–it only needs the right environment.
Oftentimes, patients worry that they will completely revert to their old patterns;
however, certain types of change are lasting, and one need not fear a return of the old patterns. It is then helpful to continue the metaphor.
Once that little sapling begins to grow and becomes a tree, it cannot be un-grown. It’s not possible for that
tree to go back to being a sapling again.
Other types of growth and change may fit better with the dike metaphor of my previous post, but there are certain types of growth, maturing, and new ways of thinking and being, that fit with that pattern of that little sapling growing into a tree.
You can easily imagine how this metaphor can be applied to many different situations of a person’s life. Perhaps the tall weeds are certain people with whom a person associates, or perhaps habits of thought or behavior. You probably can even imagine other things that I have not considered.
Dikes of the Netherlands
I know, that’s a strange title, but you’ll soon understand. Patients often want to know how psychotherapy works. One of the metaphors that I use to explain this was first taught to me by my most respected mentor.
The Dutch have had a most interesting approach to acquiring more land. They have actually reclaimed land from the sea. They started this at a basic level approximately 2000 years ago. What they do is they build a dike out in the sea along the shore and then pump out the water between the dike and the existing land. After this is done, they may continue the process…reclaiming more and more land.
People engage in automatic patterns, often for reasons unknown to them. Psychotherapy is about making these patterns known, and gaining ground. It is about revealing, understanding, and overriding these old patterns in successive fashion much like the Dutch reclaim land from the sea.
Now the Dutch were not without many different problems over the years with this system. Sometimes the dikes broke or were flooded over. But each time this happened, they learned something new about how to build the dikes in the best possible way to resist dangerous storms, erosion, and other types of stresses. They have become very sophisticated in dealing with these stresses.
And just as a person implements new patterns of thinking, coping, and being, they will sometimes find, that while the changes are in a positive direction, they discover circumstances that send them back into their old patterns. That is a time to learn, and rebuild the patterns in a new way, with increased understanding, so that they new patterns can be maintained through all kinds of stress.
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