Site icon SWEET INSTITUTE – Continuing Education for Mental Health Professionals

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

Mardoche Sidor, MD and Karen Dubin, PhD, LCSW

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 we’ve been doing all along, witnessing that which we’ve been imagining for ourselves.  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 “using the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA).” 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 we’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):

  1. Consciously Choose
  2. Consciously Intend
  3. Consciously Communicate
  4. Consciously Imagine
  5. Consciously Feel
  6. Consciously Be

Secondly, there are sub-steps for each of the 6 Steps:

Step I: Consciously choose: The 5 Sub Steps:

  1. Desire
  2. Decide
  3. Be willing
  4. Be determined
  5. Be committed

Step II: Consciously Intend: The 3 Sub Steps:

  1. The What
  2. The Outcome
  3. The Process

Step III: Consciously Communicate: The 3 Sub Steps:

  1. Communicate with Certainty
  2. Communicate Clearly and Concisely
  3. Communicate while bringing awareness to breath, heart, and body sensations

Step IV: Consciously Imagine: The 3 Sub Steps:

  1. Choose a complete but simple mental image that fully captures the intended outcome and that is easy to rehearse
  2. Choose a complete but simple mental image that fully captures the likely intended process and that is easy to rehearse
  3. Make use of all 5 senses

Step V: Consciously Feel: The 3 Sub Steps:

  1. Use the Inquiry Process: What would it feel like if (followed by the outcome) …?
  2. Consciously feel exactly as you would feel about the intended outcome
  3. Consciously feel exactly as you would feel during the likely intended process

Step VI: Consciously Be: The 3 Sub Steps:

  1. Use the Inquiry Process: What would it be like if (followed by the outcome) …?
  2. Consciously be exactly as you would be about the intended outcome
  3. 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:

  1. 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.

  1. Decide:

It means to have a mental resolution, after careful consideration[4], to make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)

  1. Be Willing:

It means to make a formal declaration of our decision to make use of the Cognitive Faculty Assignment Approach (CFAA)

  1. 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)

  1. 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, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decide

 

Exit mobile version