A Theory and Treatment of Your Personality. Garry Flint
are collages assembled from previously learned memories active in the conscious and unconscious.
4. Dissociation causes the conscious and unconscious experience of active memories.
5. Memories that are dissociated and cause intrusions are different than amnesic parts. They are more like dissociated skills and, most importantly, don’t have executive function. Amnesic parts, on the other hand, are compartmentalized memory structures (Blizard, et al., 2005) created in novel, severe trauma who have executive function.
6. Different processes cause dissociative and amnesic parts.
I hope you find this book both fascinating and useful, personally or professionally.
Chapter 2: An Introduction to the Process Healing Method
The Process Healing treatment method was discovered in 1994. Since then, it has gradually developed and become more respectful, better organized, and more systematic. Based on science and clinical experience, Process Healing is essentially an Education Process. I teach patients how all aspects or parts of the personality and subconscious are normal and develop from conception to the present. This chapter gives an outline of the treatment method and includes a scripted session to give you the feeling of how the method works. If you have any problems with the vocabulary, Appendix III is an alphabetical glossary and Appendix IV is a glossary of new concepts.
Here is a brief outline of how Process Healing works. The example consists of a script of the conversation between the therapist and the patient’s or reader’s subconscious. This text becomes the therapist for the patient. The therapist first educates and works with all aspects of the patient’s personality to convince the aspects to want treatment. This approach is respectful to the patient and builds trust between the therapist and patient. This is called the Education Process. During this process, the reader or patient learns a way to communicate with his or her subconscious and aspects of his or her personality. When all aspects are on the Treatment Team and give permission, the therapist then teaches the patient’s subconscious how to treat painful emotions. At this point, the patient or therapist is ready to ask the subconscious to use the treatment process to treat painful or difficult problems.
The Education Process — Establishing Rapport
The Treatment Team and treatment
A key feature of the Process Healing Method is the internal Treatment Team (Satir, 1972). The Treatment Team notion is introduced to organize all parts of the personality into a cooperative group. Arranging for parts to cooperate is a major asset for the treatment process. It makes the treatment process safer and easier with fewer problems. It is always necessary to discuss the reasons for treatment and to resolve the barriers to treatment in order to get all parts to join the Treatment Team. A common barrier is the fear of re-experiencing trauma emotions. I present a strategy for safely treating extreme emotions. This strategy will be explained later in this chapter. Next, I describe the mechanics of integrating or joining parts with the Main Personality. I point out that the subconscious will strengthen all positive coping behavior with positive emotions so no assets are lost. At some point, I make a double check to see that all parts are on the Treatment Team and all want the subconscious to learn the treatment process. After one final check, I teach the subconscious how to treat trauma.
When therapists work with the subconscious and inner processes, they use metaphors. There are many different metaphors to treat people. I assume that all change activity in people is the same but the metaphors are different. I use a metaphor to teach the subconscious how to do the treatment process. Then I have the patient identify a simple phobia or moderately painful belief or memory to be used by the subconscious to practice diagnosis, to form a treatment plan, and to execute the treatment process. Then, I ask the subconscious to treat the practice issue and remove the negative emotions associated with that issue. As the treatment process occurs, the patient may feel the pain of the issue gradually diminish in intensity. The subconscious becomes an ally in therapy by analyzing treatment issues and directing treatment.
Memory — Dormant or active
Before I continue, I want to tell you about dormant and active memories. Memories are either dormant or active. Dormant memories are potentially active, but not experienced. Dormant memories are ready to be triggered into the Active Experience. Active memories, on the other hand, are in what I call the Active Experience. The Active Experience includes both the active conscious and unconscious memories. The active memories contribute to creating behavior. Some of the active memories in the Active Experience combine to create behavior by evoking a response from the body. Changes in the person’s environment are represented in the Active Experience. A change in the environment triggers or activates other relevant memories that can combine to create the next response. Other memories become dormant.
For example, I am going to ask a question and you will know the answer. The dormant answer to that question will become active in the Active Experience. Now, before you have the question, you do not know the answer. The answer is still dormant. Here is the question: “Are you right-handed or left-handed?” Your response to the question became active and you thought of the answer. Dormant memories appear inactive and do not contribute to our behavior. But dormant memories are indeed active (potentially), ready to be triggered into the Active Experience as active memories. The Active Experience includes both conscious and unconscious active memories. Chapter 3 provides more details about memory activities in the conscious and unconscious.
Building rapport
By describing how the personality and subconscious came to be, one can usually set up early rapport with all parts of the personality, at least with those who are listening. Dormant parts will not hear unless they are triggered into the Active Experience. The goal is to get all parts on the Treatment Team so they want to receive treatment, to have their positive qualities strengthened with positive emotions, to join with the Main Personality and, later, to work together to develop a treatment plan for each part. I stress to all parts of the personality that the subconscious will not learn the treatment process until all parts join the Treatment Team and agree with teaching the subconscious the treatment process. All parts, even the frailest “baby parts,” must feel safe with the idea of internal treatment and agree with it. The next step in getting parts on the Treatment Team is to tell them the advantages of treatment and of joining with the Main Personality.
Reasons for getting treatment and becoming one
I attempt to motivate all parts to want treatment by giving the benefits for getting treatment and joining the Main Personality. Here are the advantages of getting treatment.
•The parts will have more satisfaction and less pain and the Main Personality will stop having intrusions or experiencing lost time.
•All parts will perform with full access to the entire memory of the personality.
•When the parts have identical memories, each part will experience running the body as one personality.
•This removes conflicts between parts, removes distractions, and makes all our skills available.
•The Main Personality will no longer hide important information and will be safer.
•I also point out that mono-personalities succeed far better in realizing their potential than people who have many amnesic or dissociative parts (Ross, 1996).
Reasons for not wanting to join the Treatment Team
While trying to get the parts to join the Treatment Team, you will usually have to resolve a few objections. A part may think that it will die or that it will lose some or all of its knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. It may be afraid that it will have too much pain during the treatment process that may damage the Main Personality or other parts. It may think that it will no longer be able to protect the Main Personality by causing emotion or behavioral intrusions. A part may think that it will not be able to run the