Have you ever wondered whether a thought comes before a feeling, or is it the other way around? Do our feelings influence our thoughts? where does behaviour fit in?
We’ve heard the saying; “think before you act.” If you have played a team sport at a high level you may have been drilled using repetition. The creed used in sport is the reverse; “act, don't think.”
We may also have heard; “don’t act on your feelings,” and there is a school thought that says; “don’t deny your feelings.” We have thoughts, feelings and actions everyday, and we don't give it much thought. In most circumstances we don't really need to think about the order of things, and what comes first. Thoughts, feelings and actions are all part of the human experience.
The relationship between thought and action, or feeling and action, is referred to as cognitive fusion.
The theory of most psychology is that if thoughts govern actions, then cognitive defusion can solve problems. In theory the content of the mind has the capacity to govern the behaviours we choose, and therefore education, counselling and training can change lives. There is always a new model of therapy emerging. That is the theory and it works on some problems. This is the pathological model of human welfare. It relies heavily on diagnosis, and is supported by the pharmaceutical industry.
The greatest beneficiaries of this system are the service providers and the manufacturers. Clients who are caught up in the “mental health” system get moved around between service providers and diagnosis - almost endlessly, with each new model / medication carrying a hope that soon fades and eventually fails to deliver. The client, along with family, hope in a cure. They long for a sense of calm and normality, and sadly that never really happens for many. Clients and families spend their lives in a system that cannot help them and wont admit to it. The professionals go home at night with their wallets and bellies full, assuring themselves they tried to help. Meanwhile the customers and their families are poor, confused, or in some circumstances suicidal. And the community goes along with this and calls it professional help? Medicare funds it. Millions are raised on the ASX to support the industry. Bravo!
This mess is based on cognitive fusion theory. Whether called that or not, the understanding that the mind can be altered to the benefit of the client’s well being is considered to be 'work for professionals,' and yet it is limited, and often fails those most in need.
Therefore is it reasonable to ask if a model of organic fusion is more helpful than cognitive fusion? In the organic model there are many aspects of being human that interact and inter-relate with one another to create and to solve problems. Let’s have a look at that.
In organic fusion there is more than thought, feeling, action. There is also genetic mutation, memory and body chemistry / hormones. These modes interact with thought and feeling to influence behaviour. In some circumstances there is a particular order, and in others it's not so clear. It would perhaps suffice to say that being human is complex.
Organic fusion acknowledges these complexities and the many modes of being human, but is not concerned for pathologies and defusion. This is not a new theory, nor is it a new approach to human welfare. It is in fact, as old as the hills. What this understanding changes is the mode of treatment. What returns us to the best state of humanity when we go off course? How do we get from madness to peace?
Put simply, talk therapies don’t have a large bearing on making problems better, and pharmacology is limited in affect and risks comorbidity. Tactile therapies seem to have been either;
Long forgotten and superseded, as though we found a new shiny thing with pharmacology and models of therapy. Or;
Handed to goofballs and weirdos who attempt to make beer money through false promises to the vulnerable people (usually while wearing a fancy hat and strange clothes).
Examples of creditable tactile therapies and some helpful variants include; Hypnosis, ice baths, sound baths, natural diet, reiki, massage, kinesiology, yoga, aikido, slow swimming, physio directed pilates, meditation, REM, pet therapy, and tantric breathing. It also includes sacramental religious practices such as body awareness, contemplative spirituality and the giving up of ego; examination of moral conscience and confession. There are more examples but you get the idea. Tactile therapies exclude anything that places a stress on our body. It is only gentle exercise and not gym or running a half marathon. Those things are fine but if you are trying to counter anxiety, trauma, or stress they are elevating your cortisol levels and not lowering them. If you are trying to counter addiction there must be a surrender of ego. The purpose is to lower the stress in our body and allow our body to inform our mind, and to end the energy consuming practice of trying to control the world around us.
What cognitive fusion calls a mental health problem, organic fusion calls a chemical problem. So you may not be nuts. You may just have a hormonal imbalance. Maybe that can be changed with something as simple as an ice bath for your face, or a massage - relaxation that reduces the amount of cortisol and adrenaline in our body, and once that happens the heart rate slows, blood pressure drops, pupils in your eyes recede, your muscles are more relaxed and you stop being so tightly wound. The physical relaxation leads to mental clarity, and increased decisiveness.
It is extraordinary the amount of people who refuse to accept this equation.
Cognitive fusion = pathology and hopes for answers in diagnosis and defusion.
Organic fusion = less definitive and encourages us to start living more in our body, and to embrace the tactile, the spiritual, the pleasurable. It does not make us hedonists, it makes us healthy.
And yet there they all are; half mad, emotionally deregulated, broke, sad, miserable and feeling isolated in a crowd. "I wont do that," they say, "it's weird."
Alternatively, bless those who can self nurture through their own body and eat well, embrace others, are completely aware of themselves and their environment, and who are able to surrender to life just as it imperfectly is, and are unafraid to touch and to be touched.
The astute may ask, why is all this on a church blog site? Well, Jesus laid hands on people to heal them. He formed communities in which people were treated equally and respectfully. He never prescribed pills or talked a lot. Jesus spent time alone, and we presume he didn't pray to himself. He would have practiced a contemplative awareness and a love of self and others. He said; God is love (not love is an attribute of God). Jesus also said; I have come that you may have life. A smarter question might be; "why wouldn't you put this on a church blog?"
Also, to make progress on the spiritual journey one must have some degree of self awareness, and must also be willing to take personal inventory. Without it there is no maturing as a person, and therefore no growing closer to God through an adult faith.
On the other side of so called "mental health problems," there is life. Those who recover are some of the nicest people. They have lived through grief, pain, loneliness, addiction and trauma, and they use their experience of recovery to connect with others. That is not someone else - that is all of us. As we travel from madness to peace, the only question is; “what is the most effective way to get there?”
Remember; amateurs built the ark, professionals built the titanic.
