Our Approach:To fully appreciate our approach it is useful to understand that we take an experiential, holistic line. An understanding of Psychological & Emotional Transformations and Social Adaptation would be useful and some insight into our views on Relativistic Psychology and Our Mission could be helpful. Our perspective on a General Theory of Psychology and Genetics may give you some further useful insights to the approach we take. The benefit of our approach is that we can provide information, counselling advice and suggested therapeutic technique at a general level, quite anonymously, directly to yourselves, or to those involved in your support. We try to provide both conventional and alternative information on each subject area. In addition to this, we also respond to specific questions, problems and issues relating to all forms of 'Abuse', Mental and Emotional Health, Social and Relationship issues and Psychological and Emotional Ill-health and Well Being. This is done in the context of the outline I have provided above. You will find, as you read our material and as we respond to your enquiries, that we take a particularly positive approach to both mental health and mental ill-health. This is explained in more detail else where. The main reason for the manifestation of 'mental illness' is due to 'social forces, inhibitions and restrictions', which make the most significant contributions to all the underlying difficulties (irrespective of underlying 'propensities'). Similarly, some of the resolutions that we have identified and 'rationalised', have been developed and evolved by people who have suffered the consequences of mental ill-health and physical, emotional and psychological abuse (and often the consequences of 'treatments' also). This 'core' of fundamental knowledge is then supplemented by people with training and experience, who have observed the benefits that these various approaches can have, for different people and at different times in people's lives. Their backgrounds can be various and the differing 'theoretical' approaches can sometimes appear at odds with each other. Amazingly, this need not cause any practical difficulties for the person being supported, as we are able to give them the 'context' within which they can take and incorporate, or discard, the bits that are, or are not valuable, as appropriate. The general professional approach to this website is to incorporate this 'service user knowledge' as the foundation for all the work that we do. What works for one person is not necessary ideal for another. What treatments, or resolutions that we develop, or accept are often decided by our previous direct, or indirect experience of treatment, or by media images of the worst example of mental ill-health and treatments. As the Author, my own experiences include both conventional treatments and self help; through my professional studies, and my subsequent 'alternative' explanation for much of what we call mental illness. I have included, else where, a history of the mental and emotional crises I have experienced in by life and the different ways I have engaged with and resolved them. I don't ask anyone to do anything I have not tried for myself and subsequently tested with others (with their consent of course). I have also worked in the 'conventional' mental heath sector, with statutory services and voluntary / user led services. In this work I also expected Counsellors, Therapists, Group-Workers and Community Workers to undergo the same techniques that they elect to invited their clients to undertake. These approached do not replace the services that exist for your benefit. All too often we find ourselves helpless in circumstances that befall us. There is no shame in that and most of the help we can get is invaluable. The only criticisms I would make is that they are all too frequently under resourced and often provide little real choice. Sometime this help comes too late for a speedy resolution and the problem becomes engrained to the extent that it is difficult to identify constructively, or resolve effectively. Sometimes the late arrival is because of the institutional nature of services, inadequate resources, lack of funding and lack of knowledge, insight and skill at the early stages. Support Institutions are part of the Systematic Problem:Sometimes this is because of our own fear is stopping us getting the help we need. Fear developed through poor experience, ignorance and the 'negative' images and misunderstandings of mental health. Sometimes, however, it is because we did not see it coming. Again, this can be because of upbringing, previous experience and ignorance and because our culture does not adequately 'exercise', promote, value, or respect our mental and emotional health. This social prejudice has been transported by intellectuals of poor standing, within political, religious and scientific disciplines, wishing to imply that the wealthy, pious and/or clever will avoid such demeaning conditions and the 'morally and intellectually inferior' will succumb. How wrong they were. In this respect, professionals workers and their manager, can often be quite ignorant and inexperienced in these respects. They are educated and funded through these institutions and the institutions remain resistant to the changes, retaining the 'shadow' of these older practices. Professionals and the Managers of institutions also experience the same distresses and 'aberrations' as the rest of us. Some of the 'precipitating' influences for mental ill health, are actually incorporated in wider institutional and commercial practices, including managerial practices and philosophies. These are often to the detriment of real social and commercial progress. Many destructive practices are celebrated as good management technique. It is only relatively recently that some of these practices have been identified as bullying, prejudicial and socially & commercially costly. Some competitive practices are also destructive to commerce, very costly to societies and create significant levels of insecurity, poor quality and short term gains for long term losses. New legislation, introduced to put right injustices, inadequately reflect upon the severe mental and emotional impact of poor employment and commercial practices, even within the caring services. As a consequence, policies are geared mostly towards protecting the institution from litigations and perhaps towards putting things right, once they have gone wrong. How have we arrived at this state:Over the last quarter of a million years human beings have evolved sophisticated means of communication and socialization. This evolution prepared us for engaging in complex physical, mental, emotional, social, economic and spiritual activities, appropriate to different stages of our individual development, adaptively appropriate to different times in history and to differing physical and social environments. In the main this adaptation is potentially beneficial but, like all powerful things, can become distorted and corrupted and start to work against us, individually and collectively It is small wonder that we get mixed up at times, but nature has made us very adaptable to meet changes and crises we are bound to experience throughout our lives. We don't appreciate this. As members of modern, rational societies, we often see the things that are naturally there 'for our short and / or long term benefit', as 'aberrations from the norm'. This is a bit like a self fulfilling prophesy. If you do have an underlying propensity to one of these 'mental health states', then actual experiences, behaviours and other social reactions, can 'feed' this as being a negative propensity rather than alleviate the problem, or otherwise beneficially utilise it. Many of these 'natural' reactions are for managing, or deferring our affairs in distressing circumstances. If you feel 'low in mood' and don't feel able to 'go with it' to see what it represents in relation to your recent, or past experiences, you may instead identify this as 'becoming depressed'. You may even get treated for it and miss getting to the bottom of a 'recent & rather local' problem. If you hear a persistent voice in your head, trying to tell you to attend to some issue (sometimes in an increasingly distorted form) you become 'paranoid' and eventually feel unsafe. You keep this to yourself until it gets beyond your ability to hold it in control. If the experience is out of control your fears mean that you become out of control. You loose insight and can become 'clinically paranoid'. Social fear and ignorance are therefore the biggest contributor to mental ill health. Healthy, intelligent people can become 'paranoid' at some level. Alternatively, you may find yourself 'manically', or 'mechanically' doing things that you have suppressed for months and years previously. You may become distressingly and irrationally fearful of little fearful things that could have been resolve early on, if you were were not so fearful and embarrassed to get help to deal with them early on. The fear would have been recognise for is benefits, put in a context and you would have been released from being potentially imprisoned by it. Fear serves a purpose but fear of fear has no known benefit. By not confronting our fears early on we leave ourselves open to failing to cope, or manage situations when things go badly wrong. Because of socially induced embarrassment and fear, we avoid facing up to the issues that are being brought to out attention by these 'unconscious' means. We then find ourselves suppressing our 'natural presentations' of the underlying issues that are causing us the problems. Other cultures and our own cultures in the past, have often had explanations, or rationales for odd or uncharacteristic behaviour. Sometimes these are destructive and arise out of social fear, but some are benign and seem to serve some constructive purpose. We can learn from both sides of this equation. We have lost something, in throwing away 'quaint' customs in preference for modern science. Social Science has taken its time to catch up with the established 'theories and explanations' that did serve a real social purpose. All too often, a simple, persisting change in mood, thinking, or behaviour is felt to be problematic, because we have learned to see the world in particular ways and are told that these feelings, moods, thoughts and behaviours are abnormal, or are to be suppressed, shunned and otherwise hidden away. The consequence of this is often that a minor problem becomes engrained as a major one, or, more importantly, something that was a 'natural reaction' to events and circumstances becomes misunderstood, medicalized and eventually institutionalized as a mental health problem. All too often we create a bigger problem, trying to resolve the original one, which we identified inadequately. I advocate that we study the history of customs and look, scientifically, at the wider, often forgotten, benefits of these practices. Cultures take hundreds and some thousands of years, to establish customs and practices. Their original purpose is often forgotten and they can become distorted and corrupted by their miss use, by those who never understood the beneficial purpose. There were rarely perfect in themselves but they incorporated knowledge that we could appreciate now and transform into something useful for today. Look for these yourself. The world is rich with them. Ascertain their essence. Customs and Folklore carry wisdoms within their essence. They were the 'science' of their day. I will use these 'metaphors' as the foundations for a more scientific appreciation of their purpose and benefits. We need to be cautious in our science and social technology, however. The proponents of Science and Technology are prone to sing the praises of their discoveries and inventions, but can be short sighted in recognising the 'side effects', wider implications and unpredicted consequences. It is the role of scientific genius to remember, at all times, that scientific advancement answers many questions but asks a great deal more questions. Asking the right questions is the key. My advice is that you take the 'Old Wisdom' and incorporate it into the 'New Wisdom' and keep moving forward, questioning, being creative, being realistic and being optimistic. This is the process of 'Positive Transformation' that allow us to 'Transcend' our previous selves. Not mystical, not mumbo jumbo; Observable development and enlightenment, achievable at all ages and in many different ways. Take all your experiences, positive and negative and turn them to something constructive and valuable. It takes courage but it is how we are made: To Adapt. Recognise your potential for this and take the 'put downs' as knowledge, the disasters and 'testing' your resolve in establishing your new understanding of yourself and the world. See: Towards a General Theory, Relativistic Theory; Social Adaptation, 'So What?', Human Rights | NOTE: This Document is still at some stage of development. You are invited to respond and comment on its content and its logic. If you return to the document at a future date, you will be able to see its continued development, hopefully reflecting your own and others commentary. I thank you, in advance, for any contribution that you make. Please also feel free to visit and contribute, in any valid way, to these and other social issues, through our Forums. There is also a Chat Room and protected Chat Space for more serious group discussions and individual counselling. Please feel free o use this space for your legitimate activities. Copyright: Although you will see very few reference to other formal writings in this document, I acknowledge general recognition to the discussions and debates that I have had with students, practitioners and clients over the years. Most of the ideas and theory has evolved through this rather pragmatic process (operational research), rather than any formal reading. If any content of this document describes concepts, theory, or ideas that have been established else where, (prior to my writing, either here or else where - in part or in full), I acknowledge their entitlement to claim them as their intellectual property for financial purposes, if they can evidence this. I also reserve the right to retain them as my intellectual property, with due recognition to those who have made direct contributions, including other writers, should I identify such a past influences. Other than this, I invite you to share and copy any content, to the benefit of intellectual debate and the benefit of individuals and groups, without restriction, other than it be used for constructive purpose, in the wider context of my writing. Should you wish to use any material presented here 'as is', I ask that you then make reference to myself and the web site. The 'Reading Date' would be a useful 'publishing date' for the Current Edition. 1980 is the core publishing date for most of the basic ideas and theory (unless stated otherwise). This 'Reading Date' may be an important part of this 'reference', as the document (by its 'internet fluid' nature) will be constantly changing and this may affect meaning and interpretation, for those following up on such a reference at a later date. Thank you for your cooperation. TRC. eMail: terry.couchman@visitweb.org |
