Imagination-Focused Therapy - SWEET INSTITUTE - Continuing Education for Mental Health Professionals

Becoming a Supertherapist

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 08:55:39 +0000

How do you become, hands-down, the most effective therapist you could have ever dreamed of becoming? Can anyone become a Supertherapist? To help answer these questions, let us start with the following 12 Initial Inquires: What are your success rates? When was the last time you evaluated that? What tools have you been using for this type of evaluation? Do you have a way to measure your progress as a clinician? Do you have a way to measure your progress for (or with) each of your clients? Do you know any clinicians who you would consider to be top in their clinical performance? Do you know what they’ve been doing to set themselves apart? Have you ever thought of finding out? Would you like to find out now? Do you believe you can become a Supertherapist? Would you like to become one? Are you aware of the benefits that come with being a Supertherapist? Now, very few of us enjoy being evaluated. Even when we ask for feedback, we don’t always welcome what we hear or we dread what we think we are going to hear. This fear is related to a number of factors [1]. What matters here is the fact that we might, at times, do whatever it takes to skip being evaluated. Yet, unfortunately, this avoidance is not without an impact [2]. The impact, in turn, is on us, on our patients and their family members, on the agencies where we practice, and on society at large. On the other hand, such a multidimensional impact has a simple and unique solution: Becoming a Supertherapist. That’s right. Simple and unique. Now, by simple and unique, we are actually also saying easy and straightforward. All you need is to just choose to become a Supertherapist and the rest will be up to us, at the SWEET Institute. For we will soon hand you the secrets; and they are far from what you might expect. And you will not only find them simple but you will also find an eagerness in doing them. Part of that is because they are the things you had always been wanting to do, to start with; but you simply did not know how. Secondly, these secrets that you will be introduced to lie at the core of why we are in this field, to start with; and they, therefore, tap into our innermost intrinsic motivations [3]. Thirdly, they are some of the most practical secrets known to mankind. They are super easy to implement. They barely take any extra time, and in fact, they save us time. They save us headaches. They save aggravations, fear, explanations, justifications, or paperwork. They also save us the need to practice defensive work. And more importantly, they lead to increased patient satisfaction, enhanced clinical outcomes, increased productivity, decreased show rate, decreased dropout, more income for agencies or your practice, and decreased liability. What’s more is that these secrets increase clinician satisfaction, and decrease burnout, including cynicism, and sense of disempowerment, and the sense of getting stuck. These secrets are the answer to why you are in this field. They will enhance your sense of self, your image as a clinician, your sense of fulfillment, and the joy of being the type of therapist that makes the biggest difference in the lives of the highest number of people throughout your career, no matter how long you may have been practicing. It matters not whether you have been practicing for 30 years, or 10 years, or 2 years. It matters not whether your degree is in social work, or psychology, or counseling, or medicine, or nursing, or coaching. The secrets we will be giving you are designed to make you the Supertherapist that you, too, can be. Now, unto you: What do you think those secrets might be? Where do you think they lie? What do you think it takes to become a super therapist? While waiting for the next article on this series, here’s what you can do: Be one of the first 100 hundred clinicians to send your thoughts and you may earn a free 6-month one-on-one coaching session with SWEET Click here to register for one or both of our upcoming certificate courses Trauma Treatment Protocol Certificate Course: Click Here to Join Us Loneliness Certificate Course: Click Here to Join Us [1] Reichenberger, Julia, Joshua M. Smyth, and Jens Blechert. “Fear of evaluation unpacked: day-to-day correlates of fear of negative and positive evaluation.” Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 31.2 (2018): 159-174 [2] Lynd-Stevenson, Robert M., and Christie M. Hearne. “Perfectionism and depressive affect: The pros and cons of being a perfectionist.” Personality and Individual Differences 26.3 (1999): 549-562. [3] Prendergast, Canice. “Intrinsic motivation and incentives.” American Economic Review 98.2 (2008): 201-205.

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The Six Steps of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 21:26:50 +0000

In our previous article, Using the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA), we outlined the 5 fundamentals of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA). We also outlined the 6 steps of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA). In this current article, we are going to break down each of the 6 steps. But first, let us go back to basics. It may now be clear that when we imagine something, we witness its objective Reality[1]. In fact, this is exactly what weâ€™ve been doing all along, witnessing that which weâ€™ve been imagining for ourselves.Â And we do this without even being aware of it. Witnessing the objective Reality of the substance of our cognitive faculty of imagination is a function of the Reflection Principle, or the Mirror Principle, or the Principle of Expression, all three explaining how our outside world is but information about our inside world. There is no exception to this. Fighting these principles, complaining about them, or justifying the opposite changes nothing. For we, and only we are and will ever be the operant factor. Now, how does that happen? How do we go about imagining things and then witnessing their objective Reality? The answer to this question is always and only â€œusing the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA).â€ This is because the use of CFAA entails an automatic conscious assumption of that which has been assigned to our cognitive functions, including our cognitive function of imagination, which in turn determines our awareness. In other words, if we are poor, it means we have been imagining ourselves as being poor, either consciously or unconsciously; and if we are rich or successful, it means we have, either consciously or unconsciously, imagined ourselves as being rich or successful. There is no other way, and this is what it means to say that we are our imagination, and our imagination is us. It all starts inside, with our own imagination and our own concept of ourselves[2] This also means anyone can transform their world by simply imagining that which they are choosing and by making use of CFAA. This then takes us to an important caveat. The same way we all make unconscious use of our cognitive function of imagination, by default, having it work against us, unconsciously without our knowing and outside our awareness, is the same way weâ€™ve been unconsciously making use of the CFAA, by default, against us. This is one more reason behind the need for every one of us to learn how to properly use CFAA. This means how to make conscious use of it. The basics are now out of the way, so let us take a deeper look into the 6 Steps of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach. First, the 6 Steps: The 6 Steps to follow to properly use the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA): Consciously Choose Consciously Intend Consciously Communicate Consciously Imagine Consciously Feel Consciously Be Secondly, there are sub-steps for each of the 6 Steps: Step I: Consciously choose: The 5 Sub Steps: Desire Decide Be willing Be determined Be committed Step II: Consciously Intend: The 3 Sub Steps: The What The Outcome The Process Step III: Consciously Communicate: The 3 Sub Steps: Communicate with Certainty Communicate Clearly and Concisely Communicate while bringing awareness to breath, heart, and body sensations Step IV: Consciously Imagine: The 3 Sub Steps: Choose a complete but simple mental image that fully captures the intended outcome and that is easy to rehearse Choose a complete but simple mental image that fully captures the likely intended process and that is easy to rehearse Make use of all 5 senses Step V: Consciously Feel: The 3 Sub Steps: Use the Inquiry Process: What would it feel like if (followed by the outcome) â€¦? Consciously feel exactly as you would feel about the intended outcome Consciously feel exactly as you would feel during the likely intended process Step VI: Consciously Be: The 3 Sub Steps: Use the Inquiry Process: What would it be like if (followed by the outcome) â€¦? Consciously be exactly as you would be about the intended outcome Consciously be exactly as you would be during the likely intended process Lastly: Consciously Choose: Elaborating on the 5 Sub Steps: Step I: Consciously choose: The 5 Sub Steps: Desire: We need to want to assign our external world to our cognitive faculty just as it is directing our internal world. We need a conscious preference and an expressed wish to do so. A desire is a state of mind, it is an attitude, and it entails an aim.[3] This means the practical use of CFAA puts us in a state of mind that is motivating, that energizes us, and that catalyzes us toward the next step. Your desire to use the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) is, therefore, related to agency, and it motivates you to realize it. Decide: It means to have a mental resolution, after careful consideration[4], to make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) Be Willing: It means to make a formal declaration of our decision to make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) Be Determined: It means to make a resolution to not change our formally declared decision to make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) Be Committed: It means to have a sense of dedication, of constancy, of consistency, and steadfastness to make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) Making use of CFAA takes practice, patience, and commitment. The next two weeks on our IFT Certificate Course will help you do just that. [1] You don’t see objective reality objectively: Neuroscience catches up to philosophy. Big Think. (2021, September 17). Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://bigthink.com/thinking/objective-reality-2/ [2] Bateson, G. (1999). Steps to an ecology of mind: Collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry, evolution, and epistemology. University of Chicago press. [3] Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Desire definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desire [4] Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Decide definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved November 25, […]

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Using The Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 11:30:12 +0000

In a previous article, entitled, Why The Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)?, we talked about Ann, our fellow clinician, who has been burning the candle at both ends. Basically, Ann is either burnt out or is on the verge of being burnt out, and unfortunately, she is not alone. Does it have to be this way? Is there anything that she and her husband Michael can do? Or are they to resign themselves to this lifestyle, hoping for the best, waiting for the kids to get older, hoping they all become independent, and then they can start living life closer to what they want? The thing is, it is not that this is Ann’s and her husband’s life. Rather it is the life that Ann and her husband do not want, dread, and hate. We now have enough evidence to support that some stress can be good for us[1]. Stress is not all or always bad[2], provided we take into consideration the following three caveats: The need for a strong, authentic, congruent, and aligned belief that stress is good for us. By congruent and aligned, we mean that we believe this both at the level of our conscious and our unconscious mind The need to take into consideration the allostatic load[3]. Simply put, the allostatic load is the point at which exposure to repeated chronic stress starts to interfere with our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Interestingly enough, the mechanism that regulates, stabilizes, and maintains our homeostasis during stress is the same mechanism that regulates every other function in our body A healthy relationship with our body, with our cognitive function behind the mechanism of homeostasis and the conscious use of that mechanism[4] Neither Ann nor Michael wants to continue to live their life as they have been. As clinicians, whether they believe that stress can be good for them or not, they have reached their allostatic load and are feeling and experiencing the interfering impact of their repeated chronic exposure to stress. Should they believe that stress is good for them, then such a belief must not be congruent or aligned. For if it were, they would not have reached the allostatic load. All this could have been prevented and can be managed through the use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA). Here are 3 Inquires: How do we make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)? What does it take to make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)? What are the steps to using the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)? There is a number of principles, techniques, and steps to follow and to take into consideration to properly use the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA). For now, we are going to simply provide you with a quick way to start making use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) and to reap its benefits. Let us do so by laying and reminding all of us of the foundation: Our cognitive functions are the representatives of the mechanism that controls every single aspect of our organism with the highest level of precision imaginable When any function of our body is impaired, it does not reflect how well this mechanism is working or not. Rather it simply reflects the mechanism of the allostatic load We can and do consciously interact with our cognitive functions to upregulate or downregulate the inner mechanism of our body. For example, we consciously decide to run. This then leads to a change in our breathing, heart rate, skin, muscles, and our joints. Our conscious decision to run also speeds up our digestive function and our metabolism In the same way we can consciously interact with our cognitive functions to upregulate or downregulate the internal functions of our body, we can also consciously interact with our cognitive functions to regulate, command, direct, manage, administer, guide, or oversee the different activities outside our body Our cognitive function is intrinsically designed to automatically regulate the internal functions of our body, and we can then consciously choose to make use of that intrinsic mechanism. Our cognitive function can help regulate our outside world just like it does our internal world. However, a conscious choice is a fundamental and basic requirement, and the first step With these five fundamentals in mind, let us look at the steps to follow to properly use the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA): Consciously Choose Consciously Communicate Consciously Intend Consciously Imagine Consciously Feel Consciously Be These are the 6 steps to follow to properly use the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA). Would you like to learn more about these steps? If so, CLICK HERE to enroll now. [1] McGonigal, Kelly. The upside of stress: Why stress is good for you, and how to get good at it. Penguin, 2016. [2] Rudland, Joy R., Clinton Golding, and Tim J. Wilkinson. “The stress paradox: how stress can be good for learning.” Medical education 54.1 (2020): 40-45. [3] Doan, Stacey N. “Allostatic load: Developmental and conceptual considerations in a multi‐system physiological indicator of chronic stress exposure.” Developmental psychobiology 63.5 (2021): 825-836. [4] Goldstein, David S. “How does homeostasis happen? Integrative physiological, systems biological, and evolutionary perspectives.” American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 316.4 (2019): R301-R317.

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Why the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)?

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 22:25:00 +0000

In a previous article, entitled, The Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) and Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT), we talked about how complex our whole organism is. We talked about how it all started with one cell that differentiated into tissues, then organs, and then organ systems. And we talked about how our whole organism functions both as a whole and at the same time, one cell at a time. We also talked about how every one of the functions of our body is precisely controlled by the same mechanism that controls the whole organism.[1] And we then talked about how we can harness this same mechanism and assign it to several functions that we perform outside of our body. This is because this mechanism that permits such precise control of every single function of our body is closely linked to and works with and through our cognitive functions.[2] And through our cognitive functions we can access this same mechanism and use it for both significant aspects of our life and for what we might consider to be mundane things. In this current article, we are going to briefly introduce the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) and illustrate the rationale for its use. What is the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)? First an “assignment,[3]” is a task, a duty, or a chore. To assign then means to allocate, to allot, to give, and to set. It also means to appropriate, to designate, to set aside, and to set apart. “Approach[4],” is the way of dealing with something. It is an attitude, a perspective, and an outlook. The Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) is then an attitude toward our tasks, our chores, and toward our activities as they relate to our cognitive faculty. It is a new way for us to go about the different things we must do, all these many things we have on our calendar, all these patients we are scheduled to see, all these meetings we are scheduled to attend, and all the personal things we deal with. From the moment we wake up in the morning, until we retire for bed, there are countless tasks, activities, and chores for us to do. Some are emerging, others are urgent, some are routine, while others are either overdue, unexpected, or anticipated. Some of these chores we may look forward to. Some others we may dread. And some others we may be indifferent about. Regardless of how we feel about them, they are in our mind. They seek our attention. They are in the back of our head and even when we try suppressing them, they only shift to our preconscious or unconscious mind and continue to drive us. They just do not go away. Here’s Ann’s example, using her own words: “I wake up at 4am and my alarm is the baby crying because she wants milk. As I start to breastfeed her, I can hear my 6-year-old boy, Mike, screaming, and before I can even move, he’s inside my bedroom, crying his eyes out, scared because he just had a nightmare. He’s sleepwalking, and no matter what I do, he’s just not snapping out of it. My husband, Michael, hears all the noise, and wakes up, irritable because he’s only had 2 hours of sleep having gotten home at 2am after a 12-hour shift as an ER nurse. “Take Mike out of here, damn it!” he shouts, and I got it. I had been sleeping since 12am, he started sleeping at 2am and he must be up by 6am to start his day all over again. No matter what we have tried, we have not been able to figure out what would help Mike with his nightmares. Whatever all the doctors or therapists say, nothing works. I move us to the kitchen to finish breastfeeding the baby, while Mike follows me still crying. Finally, my husband gets up to try to get Mike back to his bed and this doesn’t work, but he does try to help. By the time I am done feeding, burping, changing, and putting the baby back down to sleep, I have to relieve Michael so he can get some sleep because he has to get up to go to work soon. I lay down with Mike, in his tiny bed, worsening my already bad back, for the next hour, waiting for the time for me to wake up and start dealing with the next set of struggles of the day. Our 13-year-old daughter, Melissa, loves to stay up late at night but never likes to get up in the morning. It is a drag. I have to go to her room so many times, while I am taking care of Mike, and the baby, and preparing breakfast, and getting myself ready to get to work… Michael is getting ready and must drive Melissa to school before he makes it to his daytime job. Before I even wake up, I am tired. By the time I make it through the bedroom door I am already exhausted, and it’s only 7am. It takes me about one hour to drop the baby, and drop Mike, and then another hour to get to work. By the time I get to work at 9am, I have several emails, calls to return, and a list of patients waiting to be seen. Then there are the managers, co-workers, and everyone else who is complaining about something. I’ve had enough!” Bottom line, it takes something to not get overwhelmed, stressed, worried, anxious, upset, or on edge. It takes something to not feel so tired, resentful, exhausted, and grow cynical, and even become detached. It indeed takes something to not experience a sense of dissatisfaction, a sense of being stuck, or a sense of “this life has no logic to it,” or “why do things have to be so hard?” Unfortunately, Ann’s example is more the norm than the exception. As you can see, Ann has been experiencing exhaustion, and depersonalization, and she […]

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The Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA) and Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT)

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 00:57:05 +0000

We are a complex entity. As a whole body, or a whole organism, we are made up of 11 organ systems, which include our nervous system and our respiratory system, for example. Each of these 11 organ systems are made of organs, and we have approximately 78 organs in our body, 5 of which are vital, including, our brain. Each of our organs, in turn, are made of tissues, which are made of cells; and we have approximately 37.2 trillion cells in our body.[1] That is a lot of cells, and each one of them has independent living functions. In fact, we all started as just one cell – a cell like one of these 37.2 trillion[2] and we have, since, been evolving. When looking at ourselves as a whole organism, superficially, we may not look so complex. Even when we look at ourselves from the perspective of our 11 organ systems, or our 78 organs, our apparent complexity pales in comparison to our true complexity, which is best appreciated at the level of our cellular organization. When we take a moment to wonder about how one single cell has divided itself, then multiplied, and then differentiated into hundreds of different groups of cells, and evolved into 78 different organs, 11 different organ systems, a whole unity of body, while functioning as both a whole group of 37.2 trillion of cells, together, and as one single cell, separately, we start to appreciate the complexity and the paradox of who we are as an organism. Such a moment may indeed generate a lot of questions, such as: How is all this possible? What makes all this possible? How does it all work? What’s the mechanism? What’s behind all this and what else does it do? Are we able to understand how this all works? Are we able to harness the ability of this system in other aspects of life? Eric Kandel[3], the Nobel Prize Laureate, is a psychiatrist and a scientist. He earned the Nobel Prize for discovering the role synapses play in memory and learning[4]. Synapses are connections between cells in the brain, called, neurons. When Kandel was a medical student, he expressed his quest to understand the mind, the brain, and consciousness. The advice he got from his wise mentors at that time, was for him to study the brain one cell at a time. For in the cell lies the answer to the above 7 questions. So, he studied the brain, one cell at a time, and the rest is history. From Kandel’s work and the work of other scientists who studied the brain, one cell at a time, the following conclusions can be summarized: Our brain is the organ that serves as the command center[5] for the other 77 organs Our brain, as an organ, does all its work at the level of its cells, known as neurons Our brain serves as the command center for the other 77 organs through cell-to-cell communication As a command center, our brain is more of a site. It is the place where commands are being given, but the command itself is what we commonly call brain functions or cognitive functions Our brain functions or cognitive functions are what truly command each one of our 78 organs, our 11 organ systems, as well as the coordination of our 37.2 trillion cells But you may ask, before we had a brain, where were these cognitive functions? The answer is, “at the level of the cell.” And that’s exactly what makes the cell the basic building blocks of all living things. Each one of our 37.2 trillion cells is organized into exactly what makes up our whole body or how our organism is organized. For example, the name given to the command center for the cell, or the cell’s brain, is the nucleus. The name given to the respiratory system for the cell is the mitochondria, while the name given to the digestive system for the cell are the lysosomes. These same functions that are present throughout the cells and allow the cells to evolve, continue to control every aspect of the mechanism at the level of tissue, organ, organ system, and at the level of the whole organism. And regardless of the level of complexity that the cellular organization may take, the mechanism of control, also known as homeostasis, also controlled by our cognitive functions, continues. To illustrate: When we go to sleep, a series of stages cycle every 90 minutes. During that time, there are automatic changes in our rate of respiration, in our heart rate, in our musculoskeletal system, our skin, and our digestive system. The moment we wake, there is also an automatic change, at the level of our brain and at the level of all these other organ systems to then automatically adapt to our being awake. As we go about our day, this precise mechanism of adjustment continues. For example, when we stand, or sit, or walk, or run. As we eat, or think, or write, or read. As we talk, or feel, the same mechanism is in place, commanding the rest of our body, at the level of cells.[6] This mechanism takes care of our most vital functions. Regardless of who we are, what our title is, and what our level of education may be, breathing remains our most vital function.[7] Our blood circulation comes to a close second, then our digestive and excretory systems. Now, it is not all black and white. All our organ systems work interdependently. The point we are trying to make here is that these vital functions of our body, upon which we rely to go around the world, are all dependent upon an intrinsic mechanism represented in part by our cognitive functions. An intelligent question then is: Why is it that we are not making use of this same mechanism, to control our affairs and the different areas of our life, the same way these cognitive faculties are controlling […]

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How To Make Optimal Use of Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT)

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 16:16:11 +0000

In a previous article entitled, the Practical Use of Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT), we wrote about the use of triggers to stimulate our cognitive function of imagination. We mentioned that one of these powerful triggers is the Process of Inquiry (PI). In this current article, we are going to illustrate the How of using the Process of Inquiry (PI) for the optimal use of the cognitive function of imagination. We will also provide some illustrations. Process of Inquiry and the Conscious Use of Our Cognitive Function of Imagination As we previously mentioned, our brain cannot ignore a question. We explained that this is so because questions stimulate our cognitive function of imagination.[1] We added that the type of stimulation or response is a function of the quality of the question. The higher the quality of the question the more substantial the response[2]. And the Process of Inquiry has been shown to be the most sophisticated way to achieve this goal. The following are 9 of the highest quality questions used in the Process of Inquiry as a powerful trigger to stimulate and make conscious use of the cognitive function of imagination: What would happen if….? What would it be like if….? What if….? What would it feel like if….? How different would my life be if…? What would it look like if….? Wouldn’t it be nice if…? What would it sound like if….? How different would things be if? Illustrations: What would happen if….? Examples, using the area of health, ease, comfort, and well-being: What would happen if I were healthy? What would happen if I were comfortable? What would happen if I were at ease? What would happen if every single cell of my body were healthy? What would happen if every single organ of my body were totally healthy? What would happen if every single one of my body organs were totally healthy? What would happen if I were strong? What would happen if I were energetic? What would happen if I were in optimal shape? What would happen if I had a healthy lifestyle? What would happen if I ate well? What would happen if I exercised regularly? Illustrations: What would happen if….? Examples, using the area of Relationship with Others and myself: What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my mother? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my father? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my daughter? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my son? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my brother? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my sister? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my siblings? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my parents? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my children? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with everyone? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with everything around me? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with myself? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my thoughts? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my feelings? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my habits? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my results? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my body sensations? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my perception? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my belief system? What would happen if I had a healthy relationship with my senses? Illustrations: What would happen if….? Examples, using the area of money, finances, wealth, prosperity, and abundance: What would happen if I were financially stable? What would happen if I had financial freedom? What would happen if I were independently wealthy? What would happen if I no longer had to work for money? What would happen if I had all the money I needed whenever I needed it? What would happen if I were prosperous? What would happen if I were abundant? What would happen if I let go of my scarcity mindset? What would happen if I felt financially secure? What would happen if I had financial security? What would happen if I had enough money to contribute to others? Illustrations: What if: What if I were happy? What if I were wealthy? What if I were successful in my endeavors? What if I were courageous? What if I were brave? What if this were a disguised opportunity? What if I were abundant? What if I were prosperous? What if I were financially independent? What if I were financially free? What if I were independently wealthy? What if I no longer needed to work for money? What if I were free? What if I were energetic? What if I were strong? What if I were successful? What if I had a harmonious relationship with everyone? What if I loved myself? What if I forgave myself? What if I were committed to myself? What if I loved myself just a little bit more? What if I were kinder to myself? What if I were gentler with myself? What if I were confident? What if I were assertive? Illustrations: What would it be like if….? What would it be like if I had a healthy relationship with my thoughts? What would it be like if I had a healthy relationship with my feelings? What would it be like if I had a healthy relationship with my behaviors? What would it be like if I had a healthy relationship with my habits? What would it be like if I had a healthy relationship with my results? What would it be like if I had a healthy relationship with my beliefs? What would it be like if I had a healthy relationship with my body sensations? What […]

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Principles of Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT)

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 12:49:29 +0000

In a previous article, entitled, The Practical Use of Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT), we talked about a number of relevant factors and triggers that aid in the practical use of our cognitive function of imagination. This article introduces the principles to follow so everyone has a guide around the practice, implementation, facilitation, and transfer of the practical use of our cognitive function of imagination. For the practical use of the faculty of imagination, the following 7 principles apply: 1. The Neutrality Principle: There are no such things as good or bad ideas, good or bad thoughts, or good or bad words. When it comes to our cognitive function of imagination, everything is information, everything is evolution, everything is an invitation, and everything is an opportunity. 2. The Best Interest Principle: All ideas are neutral, are designed to create something, and ultimately are intended for the best possible outcome. As we embark on the use of our cognitive function of imagination, we are in a process – a process we are to trust, knowing that the outcome is always for the best, even when we are yet to see it that way. 3. The Noise Principle: An idea may seem to be promoting or interfering. We experience this through the thinking and feeling of our thought. What seems to be promoting or interfering is simply Noise, and nothing else. What we are to do, then, is not to react; rather recognize it as an intrinsic part of the process and learn to be with it. Ultimately, we will see that such noise is, indeed, designed to create (or tell us) something[1]. 4. The Nurturing Principle: We are always making use of our cognitive function of imagination. We cannot not make use of it. However, we are doing so unconsciously, most of the time, if not almost all the time. This means we do not really know how we are using it, how we are relating to it, how much we may be using it against us, or what to do, or even when (or where) to start. This is why, as explained in the previous articles, the first step is making the use of our cognitive function of imagination a conscious one. Once we start consciously making use of our imagination[2], we increase our awareness[3] and then start nurturing it. Nurturing our cognitive function of imagination entails: Noticing it Observing it Following it Engaging it Probing it Experiment with it Replicate These 7 steps of the Nurturing Principle for the practical use of our cognitive function of imagination is rather crucial. 5. The Relationship Principle: This principle is crucial. Our relationship with our cognitive function of imagination parallels our relationship with our other cognitive functions. This is because our brain works both separately and as a whole. Such a paradox is a function of how Life itself works, or how Nature itself operates. What does a healthy relationship with our cognitive function of imagination entail? Awareness of its inner workings and of how we make use of our cognitive function of imagination[4] Awareness of how we relate to it Pattern recognition[5] Pattern reinforcement recognition Pattern eradication 6. The Intention-Action Principle: This, too, is a very crucial principle. Each time we imagine, whether consciously or unconsciously, we are intending. Intending is an intrinsic part of the process of the practical use of our cognitive function of imagination[6], and so is acting. Acting has two parts: One is conceptual, while the other one is concrete. Conceptual acting is often taking place, while concrete acting operates based on timing. The term “timing,” means “a particular point or period,” and this is a crucial part of the Intention-Action Principle because concrete acting outside of timing is one of the factors that explain why a lot of individuals fail to reap the benefits of their cognitive function of imagination. 7. Process-Outcome Principle: There is scientific evidence to support the fact that solely imagining an outcome we want may be rewarding enough to stop an individual from being motivated towards concrete acting[7]. While concrete acting is ruled by timing, failing to act with timing is due to a misunderstanding or ignorance of the Process-Outcome Principle and often stifles the flow of the practical use of the cognitive function of imagination and its process. An optimal way to make us of our cognitive function of imagination is to imagine the effort to the outcome, in addition to imagining the outcome. In other words, we marry conceptual acting with concrete acting, the latter, with timing. Would you like to learn about each of these 7 principles of Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT) in greater depth? If so, join us for our 4-week certificate course. Click HERE to enroll. [1] Kahneman Daniel et al. Noise a Flaw in Human Judgement. William Collins 2021. [2] Thomas, Nigel JT. “Are theories of imagery theories of imagination? An active perception approach to conscious mental content.” Cognitive science 23.2 (1999): 207-245. [3] Carlson, Stephanie M. “Development of conscious control and imagination.” Free will and consciousness: How might they work (2010): 135-152. [4] Gordon, Kate. “Perception and imagination.” Psychological Review 42.2 (1935): 166. [5] Loasby, Brian J. “Cognition, imagination and institutions in demand creation.” Escaping Satiation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2001. 13-27. [6] Anderson, Craig A. “Imagination and expectation: The effect of imagining behavioral scripts on personal influences.” Journal of personality and social psychology 45.2 (1983): 293. [7] Sinhababu, Neil. “The Humean theory of motivation reformulated and defended.” Philosophical Review 118.4 (2009): 465-500.

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The Practical Use of Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT)

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 19:15:52 +0000

In a previous article, entitled, The Practice of Imagination-Focused Therapy, we elaborated on the goals and the 7 Components of Imagination-Focused Therapy (IFT). We also elaborated on the 4 Steps that you, as a clinician will take to be able to make this resource available to your clients. In the current article, we are going to talk about the practical use of IFT. Let us start by looking at the five types of imagination based on which of our senses[1] are being used: Auditory Imagination Visual Imagination Tactile Imagination Olfactory Imagination Gustatory Imagination Looking at the 5 types of imagination based on sensory involvement has a practical reason. For, in the same way some of us may be unaware of our cognitive function of imagination, we may equally be unaware of the different ways we have been making use of our cognitive function of imagination. We may be unaware that: Our imagination is intrinsically linked to our other cognitive functions of thinking, perceiving[2], reasoning, focusing, or feeling. As a result, we do not know that our cognitive function of imagination runs our life Whether we are seeing, or hearing, or touching, or moving, we are making use of our cognitive function of imagination. This is, of course, the case whenever we are smelling or tasting some cheese, chocolate, or wine, for example. How we interact with any of the above senses or cognitive functions simply reinforces our use of our cognitive function of imagination. This means that an unhealthy[3] relationship with any of them mimics and reinforces an unhealthy relationship with our cognitive function of imagination. Now let us take a look at how we can start making practical use of our cognitive function of imagination. In a previous article, entitled, How to Start Using Your Imagination, we talked about how we can make use of triggers to stimulate our cognitive function of imagination. The practical use of the cognitive function of imagination includes the use of triggers. And below are three important ones: 1. The Process of Inquiry Our brain cannot ignore a question. This is because questions stimulate our cognitive function of imagination.[4] The type of stimulation or response is a function of the quality of the question. The higher the quality of the question the more substantial the response. And the Process of Inquiry has been shown to be the most sophisticated way to achieve this goal. 2. Free Association Journaling Free Association Journaling belongs to the group of three types of journaling that are part of Unconscious-Based Interventions. Here are a few reasons why Free Association Journaling is such a powerful trigger: It starts with the Process of Inquiry It puts the individual in an unrestrained or uncensored state It mimics, encourages, and parallels the intrinsic associative quality of our cognitive function of imagination, which in turn, serves as reinforcement for the stimulation process 3. The Scan System Just like Free Association Journaling, the Scan System also belongs to a group of Unconscious-Based Interventions. Just like Free Association Journaling, the Scan System also makes use of the Process of Inquiry. Further, the Scan System allows us to become aware of the “in-the-moment state” of several of our cognitive functions In addition, during the Scan System, we are given direct access to the unconscious mind via the use of Breath Scanning. Such direct access to our unconscious mind makes the Scan System one of the most powerful triggers in the practical use of our cognitive function of imagination. As you can see, with the use of any of these three triggers, we can create a healthy balance between the conscious and the unconscious mind. This balance will permit us to make conscious use of our cognitive function of our imagination. In other words, as we explained in a previous article, the practical use of our cognitive function of imagination also entails a conscious use of the same. What are some of the benefits of conscious use of our cognitive function of imagination? Here are seven of them: Enhanced creativity Increased curiosity Improved concentration Enhanced awareness Improved self-confidence Enhanced cognitive flexibility Improved problem-solving skills In addition to these seven benefits, our cognitive function of imagination: Assists with healing, growth, and understanding Contributes to our personal and mental development[5] Assists with transpersonal development, helping us understand experiences that extend beyond the personal level of our conscious mind Assists us in making links between our experiences and helps us form detailed connections. Allows our clients to express how they are feeling about something when the direct use of words may be too painful In addition to the use of triggers, there are three factors that are most relevant in the practical use of our cognitive function of imagination. These three relevant factors are: 1. Environment This relates to both the physical and the mental components of imagination. This is also more experiential than intellectual, in the sense that it does not follow a “one size fits all” pattern. As it relates to the physical component of the environmental factor, there seems to be variation between how quiet or how noisy the atmosphere may be. And in terms of the mental component, there seems to be variation between how focused versus how relaxed one is to be. The recommendation is to experience each state. What is universal is that intention, deliberation, and attention matter regardless of whether one is focused or relaxed, or whether one is in a noisy or a quiet environment. 2. Understanding of How Things Work This factor may be one of the most relevant yet one of the most challenging ones. For it is dependent upon both our intellectual and experiential understanding. This in turn is dependent upon our intellectual and experiential knowledge, the latter being a function of our state of awareness. Understanding how things work is crucial in having individuals: Become aware of their cognitive function of imagination Understand how their cognitive function of imagination works Experience how they have been unconsciously making their cognitive […]

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