Without needing to dig back into my psych textbooks and get overly technical (I believe there are a lot of resources out there for more formal definitions/introductions to the different terms — but if you need some help finding answers please don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll do a quick web search/evaluation for you!), I wanted to provide a brief overview of my opinions regarding the different views/approaches presented in the field of Psychology.
As a general rule, I believe we as human beings are inherently complex, so any study or conclusions regarding the nature of human beings is not best understood through any one single theory, but rather insight can be drawn from an awareness of multiple disciplines and perspectives. Based on circumstances, context, personality, and just where we are in the process of processing and healing, I feel like the tools offered by different schools of thought (in psych as well as other disciplines) can come into play in powerful ways at various points in our journeys. Below, I will try to present the different areas in terms of how I tend to apply/utilize them in my own life.
Psychoanalysis
I am a fan of Psychoanalysis as a school of thought because it is the psychological approach that goes most deep. It is, however, perhaps not always the most practical, and most certainly not convenient.
In examining one’s heart through different methods of psychoanalysis/psychotherapy, we are purposing to dig up those inner injuries and hurt feelings that we would otherwise be suppressing for the sake of everyday survival and functioning. This is not an easy or quick-fix process, and messiness and difficulty are actually good signs in this process that we are actually hitting on something significant!
When there have been patterns in my life, or terribly negative feelings of hopelessness that I just couldn’t seem to shake off, this is when I turn to the art of examining my own heart, my memories, my dreams, my most unlikeable traits (the things that I am most ashamed of and most afraid of being found out by others)… and asking others and/or ultimately God to help “search me and know my anxious thoughts,” to shake things up so that those deep patterns and thoughts that weigh me hopelessly down can be hit upon and identified… so that root problems can be brought into view and named… Because I believe that once such things are brought into view and named, then we have an idea that there is something to be dealt with that could be a cause of our otherwise hopeless case.
Staying too long in this analytical, heart-searching state, however can sometimes remove me too far from real life and bog down my mind to the point of being preoccupied or obsessed with the problems and faults I am examining. The danger here is forgetting that delving into these deeper darker places was a choice I made BECAUSE my real identity is actually very strong and good as well…and capable of overcoming (with help) whatever it is I had dug in to uncover in the first place to become a more whole and restored version of myself…
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This is where I believe the strengths of CBT come in. After “root” problems are uncovered, then we can apply the ABC’s of CBT (and other cognitive-behavioral approaches) to strategize and break out of those untrue, unhealthy thought patterns and their subsequent destructive behavioral habits. We can take one of our uncovered memories, and/or the root problems we are currently facing, and analyze it for the following:
“A” = Activating Event
“B” = Beliefs about the Activating Event
“C” = Consequent Emotions & Behavior
We identify a triggering event that upset us, think through what we believed or thought when that event happened, and then explore how we then felt and behaved as a result. Then we can take a closer look at the beliefs we had about the event, and identify lies or untruths in our beliefs that we can counter and replace with more truthful and adaptive beliefs, which will then affect the consequent emotions and behavior.
Sometimes, when problems have become more obvious or concrete, or when we know the changes we need to make but have difficulty making them, we can apply the even more basic rules of learning introduced by behavioral therapy (and we can apply this to the process of trying to change our habitual thoughts from lies to truths as well). In a nutshell, this is where we reward behaviors (and thoughts) we want to reinforce, and/or we apply consequences (punishments or loss of rewards) for the the behaviors (and thoughts) we want to ween ourselves off of…and we apply ourselves to persevere in doing so until our unwanted habits are broken.
To me, this is a process of valuing, applying and building the character trait of discipline in our lives, where we go into training to fight our emotional/behavioral/relational battles (versus how one would train for a race, or other sport competition, or any type of physical battle).
Medication
A big part of being human is our physical state, our bodies, and our brains, and all the chemistry that goes on in our brains and bodies that affect our emotions and motivation for life etc. This is where things that affect our physical health and chemistry get factored in.
While I was never personally prescribed medications for my depression (or anxiety, which I also struggled with), even after my suicide attempt, and I don’t believe that they are always necessary or necessarily always the best first option, I am not at all in the camp of rejecting the use of medications outright. I believe medications for depression and anxiety and other psychological issues, while they are not cures and should not be depended upon as such, can be powerful allies in our battle towards health and wholeness (under the supervision and direction of a licensed professional, of course). They can act as a very necessary and powerful stepping stone…or create a safe, temporary place for some people to “stay” relatively safe/stable until if/when the necessary help and support becomes available.
Personally, I have come to understand that sometimes it’s just fine (and possibly even better in many other ways even if it isn’t the complete best physiologically) to opt for the painkiller instead of putting up with that mild but persistent headache, or to take the epidural when there’s that option in the face of childbirth…
I have also come to realize (after the deeper issues have been uprooted), that there is a lot of value in taking my brain chemistry and hormonal states more seriously. It is no small thing the difference it can make in my day or week (or even a whole year!) to just let myself enjoy a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning, or making sure I get enough sleep at night, and getting enough good food into my system at mealtimes, and making time for myself to exercise… All these seemingly small things aren’t just a matter of keeping my physical heart healthy, but they can be the difference between night and day for my emotional state as well!
Positive Psychology
Hm, it seems I have said a mouthful already even without going into formal definitions etc., but I wanted to comment quickly on the contributions of Positive Psychology into my life as well. First of all, I have learned to appreciate the power of Optimism, not just as some hokey positive thinking and ignorance of harsh realities, but as an important discipline to train my mind to focus on what is good, what I’m thankful for, even as I also soberly take stock of what isn’t quite there yet because I don’t want to be unwise and not owning up to and/or facing reality… This is because in my experience, what I choose to place my “focus” on is also what vision I’m ultimately empowering to take the lead in my life… I want to be “lead” and “pulled forward” by my vision of what is going well and what could become even better, versus being dragged down (and de-motivated) by everything I don’t like or am not happy about…
Another aspect of Positive Psychology I feel strongly about is the notion that prevention is always more effective than intervention… This is where I find the motivation to press into my issues “now” as opposed to later, to try and take care of things as soon as is possible, because I know ultimately it is worth it to not delay getting the help and healing I need for my life. Especially as a mom of my 5- and 3-year-old daughters, I see all the more urgently why it is better to try and get better now as opposed to later, for the sake of being able to pass on more joy and wholeness to my kids rather than to have them suffer hurt from expressions of my brokenness on them, or for them to carry on in themselves any longer than necessary whatever they have personally inherited of my brokenness… As I learn how to become more whole, I want to be able to pass on to them what I have learned in terms of understanding our own weaknesses and brokenness, as well as how to navigate and draw on our strengths (and the strength God gives us) to be over-comers in everything….
Concluding Thoughts…
I guess my brief overview was not so brief…hmm hopefully as I’m blogging more I will eventually run out of this wordiness tendancy I seem to have…
Anyhow, I wanted to mention one more point, which is foundational for where my faith for always persevering on even when things get or feel impossibly hard comes from: I believe I am never alone in my journey towards seeking greater wholeness and wanting the same for the people around me! My experience of what I now know to be God’s great love for me (and all humanity) is that He not only can but wants to and will lead us each step of the way when we let Him, revealing aspects of our brokenness only as He knows we are also ready to receive the necessary resources to overcome them… through the things we are learning, reading, sharing in community, etc. or even just receiving as direct revelations from above. More often than not (and possibly even always), the deeper issues of the heart cannot be resolved through applying simple formulas or techniques based on theories and principles, but ultimately we find restoration through seeking and applying truth in our relationships with loved ones and ultimately the only one that’s always truly perfect (and perfectly loving) — God.