The Process of Change vs. The Impasse of Content

Maybe the therapist isn’t a believer! What works in therapy? – According to Jerome Frank (psychiatrist who studies the common features of miracle cures and healings, political and religious conversions and psychotherapy) whatever the therapist believes and can convince the client of (i.e. placebo effect). – Gerbi (1700s Italian physician) convinced patients that secretions from a worm rubbed on a painful tooth could remove pain for up to 1 year. His success rate was 68%.

When the Therapist Stops Believing Congenital Ichthyosiform Erythrodermia of Brocq treated by British Physician Dr. Albert Mason with Hypnosis. (BMJ 1952;2:422)

Appreciating Diversity in Life Examples of External Factors – Month of birth – Genetics – Nutrition – Birth parents – Number, gender, age of siblings – Gender – Religion – Chemical balances – Injuries, diseases, etc. – Trauma – Financial status and opportunities – Economy – Country – Connections – Friends – 10,000 hours of opportunity (Outliers) Goal: Increase client’s appreciation of the many variables influence their behaviors and those of others to increase compassion and forgiveness.

Epistemological Change Agents Goals – We lead by first moving ourselves into a new epistemology and continue to challenge ourselves to grow. – Give client’s safety to doubt their epistemologies. – Our aspiration is a radical shift. – Move clients to proactive position of personal ownership. – Responsible for themselves but not other adults – Never underestimate your power to change yourself, never overestimate your power to change others. (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.) – We want to change their mindset from fixed to growth.

What About The Client? Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset (Carol Dweck, Mindset) – The fixed mindset is about ownership, title, role, position. This is who I am and I should be treated appropriately, in a prescribed way. I will feel violated if I am not. Fixed is about justice, fairness and expectations of other’s behavior. Fixed is about expectations of others. Fixed is about the joy of victory, award, success, statement, validation. Judge-and-be-judged. – In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

What About The Client’s Mindset? People with a fixed mindset believe that their traits are just givens. They have a certain amount of brains and talent and nothing can change that. If they have a lot, they’re all set, but if they don’t... So people in this mindset worry about their traits and how adequate they are. They have something to prove to themselves and others.

What About The Client’s Mindset? Growth is about becoming, vision, desires and making the most of the present. Growth is about doing the most of the present. Growth is about doing to get what you want and where you want to be. Growth is about expectations of self. Growth is about the joy of effort and discovery. Learn-and-help-learn. In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.

What About The Client’s Mindset? “Think about your intelligence, talents, and personality. Are they just fixed or can you develop them?”People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, see their qualities as things that can be developed through their dedication and effort. Sure they’re happy if they’re brainy or talented, but that’s just the starting point. They understand that no one has ever accomplished great things—not Mozart, Darwin, or Michael Jordan— without years of passionate practice.

Optimism vs Pessimism THE THREE P's "There are three crucial dimensions to your explanatory style: permanence, pervasiveness, and personalization." ~ Martin Seligman from Learned Optimism du/ du/

Optimism vs Pessimism Permanence: Is it likely to continue? Is it permanent or temporary? The permanence is pretty straightforward. Something happens. Do you explain the results as permanent, and likely to recur? Or, do you think it was temporary--just a fluke. If it's a bad thing, the optimist tends to think it's a fluke. If it's a good thing, they tend to think it's permanent. The opposite holds true for the pessimist: Good things are the flukes and bad things are more likely to recur.

Optimism vs Pessimism Pervasiveness: Is it reflective of your whole life? Is it "universal" or is it "specific"? The pervasiveness looks at whether we believe an event is specific or universal. So, do we think the results of this one event apply to everything in our lives, or just that episode? With a good event, the optimist is more likely to extend it to her whole life. With a bad event, she will tend to isolate the incident as specific to that situation. The opposite holds true for the pessimist. If something good happens, they think it was a fluke. If something bad happens, they think it is representative of their whole life.

Optimism vs Pessimism Personalization: Internal or external? The personalization looks at whether we believe that we are responsible for the event, or if something outside of our control was responsible. The fancy psychological term for it is "locus of control": whether you believe the control was "internal" or "external." Something good happens. An optimist pats himself on the back (internal)--saying he did a good job. Same thing happens to a pessimist. He is more likely to attribute the success to luck, other people's hard work, or something else outside of his control (external).

Optimism vs Pessimism Something bad happens. The optimist looks to things outside of himself (external) to explain the event--from bad luck to an off day. The pessimist, although they didn't take responsibility for the good event, are eager to take responsibility for the bad event (internal). "People who make permanent and universal explanations for their troubles tend to collapse under pressure, both for a long time and across situations." ~ Martin Seligman from Learned Optimism

Optimism vs Pessimism Personalization: Internal or external? The personalization looks at whether we believe that we are responsible for the event, or if something outside of our control was responsible. The fancy psychological term for it is "locus of control": whether you believe the control was "internal" or "external." Something good happens. An optimist pats himself on the back (internal)--saying he did a good job. Same thing happens to a pessimist. He is more likely to attribute the success to luck, other people's hard work, or something else outside of his control (external).