The Meaning of Words and its Importance in Integrative Energy Psychotherapy (IEP)

Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), which is an integral part of IEP and our Model from Guilt to Achievements, gives great importance to language, words and their meaning, and their effects on the neurology of the brain and on behavior.

Neuroscience has identified that our brains are composed of two hemispheres which, although construed to work in coordination, each has its own and distinct way of dealing with experience. One side, usually the right one, takes in the gestalt, the big picture, the feeling of the event. Then, through the corpus callosus, the information is sent to the other side, the side of analysis, logic, reason, and language thus giving it meaning. It is here that words are assigned to the experience as mere subjective labels. These labels describe the event and the meaning it holds only for the person who lived it.

As our experiences are so real for us, we tend to think and believe that the words assigned to them mean the same to all human beings, at least to those that speak our same language. But, in fact, for each individual experience words carry not only the label but the sensations, emotions and overall “feelings” we experienced. When we try to communicate our experience to others, the words fall short and many times they do not hold the same meaning for the person receiving them. Even for us the same word may hold different meanings in different situations. So, many times it becomes very difficult when we try to describe an experience in all its details, because we try to synthesize it in words that are only abstractions of the real experience, but the words we speak are not enough and the result may be confusion.

In our practice of IEP we have integrated the Meta-Model of NLP, through which we may access the deep structure of what is being expressed and “rescue” the information, sensations, emotions and overall “feelings” that were present during the experience but that have been omitted, distorted or generalized. This will allow us to better understand the person that is communicating.

For example, someone might tell us something quite abstract as “I am afraid”. If we stay with that, we would be getting only the superficial structure of this communication and would not be able to really understand the meaning it has for the person who is expressing it. We would not know what or who is he afraid of, when or where is he afraid, how these fright sensations are produced. We would not be able to really understand the person who is talking to us. In fact what we usually would do is interpret his or her fright by our own experience of fear.   
The same thing happens even with words that are common to all of us and that describe a noun or verb. For example, I may ask somebody to “Bring me the cat.” Maybe the person will bring me an animal we commonly call “cat”. But as not all cats are alike, I might have been asking for my black cat, and she brought me her white one. Or maybe, as it is my case, where in Puerto Rico we call the instrument or tool to change the car tires “gato” or “cat”, I might be asking for that tool, instead of the animal. Furthermore, there are some people who are nicknamed “Cat”, and maybe I might be just asking for my friend Cat. So it would not be a bad idea to count with a tool in language which may help us clarify the meaning of the words we use when we are trying to communicate an experience.

This is even more important in psychotherapy where it is of utmost importance to understand the person we are working with. It is important not only to listen to him or her attentively, but to make all efforts to understand. That is why in IEP, when we want to give feedback of what we have understood, first we express what the person has said using the same words we have received, and then try to recover the deep structure of the communication using NLP’s Meta-Model. We do this asking questions that “rescue” what has been left out of the experience. For example, if somebody tells me that he is depressed, instead of saying “What you are telling me is that you have a deep and great sadness for something that happened to you recently; Am I right?” But as her depression is her own experience of depression, we might just say, “What you are telling me is that you are depressed and, if I understand by that, that you have a very deep sadness for something that happened to you recently, would I be correct?” Then I wait for their answer, and whatever they answer will be the correct answer. From there, I then move on to rescue the deep structure of her depression. This takes me to another very important situation that may happen in psychotherapy. If somebody tells me that he is hearing voices, I would not diagnose this as pathology. This person’s reality is that he is hearing voices, therefore the first thing we do in IEP is to use the NLP Meta-Model to go directly to the deep structure of his communication and try to understand this person who is telling us that he is hearing voices.

On the other hand, when we are the ones that are communicating something, we try to define what we are intending to say so as to be sure that the person receives our words with the meaning we are giving them. For example, when talking about the mind, as in my case, I will indicate that I am talking about an energy field, different and apart from the brain, that is part of the electromagnetic bio-field of the human being which is known as the “soul”, and that utilizes the brain as a tool for its expression.  
Later on I will give more details about the NLP Meta-Model, so important for an effective communication between people in general and in psychotherapy in particular.

PROTOTRUTH

PROTOTRUTH

In this Blog we will be talking about a “new” paradigm of Integrative Energy Psychotherapy. When we talk about new things and new concepts, the general tendency is to defend earlier knowledge, or what we may consider to be the truth of the old paradigm, as if they were absolute truths. To avoid this, I want to establish and would appreciate if you adopt, the knowledge that we will be offering here “as if” they were proto-truths.

First of all, we will be working with an old concept which in certain way may sound as new to those who have studied traditional Psychology. We will be working with the concept of the soul, energy, psyche and the spirit. Traditionally many of these concepts are associated to religions and as such are considered religious concepts. We want to study them outside a religious context, which might not be as easy a task as we would like it to be. To facilitate what I want to achieve, I have adopted what Edward de Bono has called proto-truths in his book The Happiness Purpose (1990).

De Bono establishes that a proto-truth is a functional, useful and believable truth, only as long as one is open to enrich or even change it for a better and more functional one at any time.

Hence in cases like this, truth depends on both persons agreeing on a statement one of them has expressed. In fact, I think that to be able to establish what is “true”, a social interaction, identified as a relationship, is needed and both in that relationship must agree and “believe” that which will be established as “true”. If there might be any disagreement on what is to be considered “true”, then from a social perspective there is no truth or truth does not exist. There might be individual truths, but there would be no social or group truth. In other words, for there to be a social truth, all member of the group must agree and believe on that which will be considered “true”.

My dear reader, for the effect of this new paradigm, I ask you to agree with me and to act “as if” what we are establishing in the Integrative Energy Psychotherapy is “true”, as long as it is functional, and to work with me striving to understand the human soul. You will always be able to enrich and even change it if you find another truth which would more functional than ours. I ask you that, if and when that might happen, please share it with me because I want my “truth” to be each time “truer” and nearer the knowledge we are searching. That is the real objective of science, finding new “truths” that can get us every time nearer to the absolute truth.

Psychology, Psychotherapy and Integrative Energy Psychotherapy: What do they mean?

The term Psychology is a word composed of the segments “Psycho” and “logy”.

According to Dictonary.com, the segment “Psycho” comes from the Greek word psyche meaning spirit or soul, the human soul, spirit or mind. The segment “logy” is a combining form used in the names of sciences or bodies of knowledge, meaning science, theory, studies.

Merriam’s Webster Collegiate Dictionary, eleventh Edition, defines “Psycho” as personality and mind; and “logia” as doctrine, science, theory. This same dictionary defines psychology as: the science of the mind and behavior, 2a. The mental and behavioral characteristics of an individual or group, 2b. The study of mind and behavior in relation to a particular field of knowledge or activity.  

The next word to define is “Psychotherapy”.  We have already defined “Psycho”. For the segment “therapy”, Dictionary.com states that it comes from the Greek “therapeia” meaning healing, curing; defining the word therapy as the treatment of disease or disorders as by some remedial, rehabilitating or curative process. Merriam's Webster. defines “Psychotherapy” as: “Treatment for mental and emotional disorders or related physical illnesses, through psychological methods.”

Therefore, by definition, “Psychology” should be the study of the soul, the human mind and behavior. By definition, too, “Psychotherapy” should be the treatment of soul or mind disorders through the knowledge acquired from the study of such soul or mind.

On page XV, third paragraph of the introduction to his book, The Mindful Brain (2007), Daniel J. Siegel says: “After asking more than 65,000 mental health professionals, face to face, in different conferences that I have offered around the world, if they have taken any course about the mind or about mental health, 95% of them answered ‘no’. Then, what have they been practising? Isn't it time, for us to become aware or conscious of the mind not only to emphasize symptoms of disease?”
  
As a lecturer and teacher of Integrative Energy Psychotherapy, and after having taught more than 500 health professional, I have also asked them a similar question, receiving basically the same answer. Another question that I have asked them is; “What is the mind?” and their answer has been that “the mental health professionals are not in agreement about that, they don't know for sure what is the mind”. The next question is; “Where is the seat of the mind?” obtaining a similar answer, “we don't know for sure”. Then, how is it possible that if you don't know what is the mind, and you don't know where it is, how come it can be declared diseased or disordered?

This is precisely the subject matter of the Integrative Energy Psychology (IEP) that I have developed. Resting upon the knowledge acquired through time by others who have studied the soul, the mind, consciousness and energy and then integrating these knowledge to my own experiences, findings and understandings; IEP focus its attention on the body, soul, mind, consciousness, and energy, as a system, to find how to heal the soul, if it needs healing at all.

While talking about healing, in IEP we are referring to restoring harmony to the human system: physical body, emotional body, mental body, intuitional body, spiritual body… known as the living soul.

Even tough in my daily experience I do not find many people that follow this same line of thought, I am sure each time more are awakening to this knowledge which as I said before…. I did not invent. Many others have gained this consciousness much before I had. My wish is to integrate all that can enlighten us in regards to that living soul we call human being. Then use that which is “natural”, that which is part of our “being”, our “essence” and make it available to those who might need it so they can regain their lives and bring balance and harmony to themselves and each and every system of which they are part of. Healing would then start with ourselves, our families, societies, countries up to that global system we are all part of, our Planet Earth. Through this Blog it is my desire to connect with others that are already aware of this, from every field of thought and knowledge. From the oldest Myths to the most modern quantum theories I have found a guiding thread that conveys the same ideas… using other words.

To be able to act upon something, it has first to be understood…

That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)