Human Nature and emotions

Hello @Harry_Flanagan!
I’m glad the thread is still short enough that I could look through the whole thing pretty quickly, because I was wondering about the pracitical purpose behind your question.
Your mention of the Gensis Process was helpful, as I took a look at their website to see what it’s about. I thought this was a helpful descriptor:

Genesis integrates Biblical principles for personal change, proven relapse prevention techniques, cognitive therapy, and the latest neurochemistry research to comprehensively address, heal, and transform people damaged by self-destructive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

That reminded me of two of the adoptive parenting books I read (maybe partially read) years ago, that both discussed working with kids exposed to early life traumas, including their adoption. I found the term “stress-shaped brain” most helpful and this particular quote was worth the price of the book (well-almost):

”A child whose brain has been shaped by stress expects danger and reacts immediately, without conscious thought. These expectations and reactive behaviors persist regardless of how nurturing and loving subsequent caregivers may be. Having a stress-shaped brain is like seeing through eyeglasses that make the whole world look threatening. The condition also interferes with a child’s autobiographical and other types of memory and her ability to “make sense of the world” through rational thought and understanding such concepts as cause and effect. Stress responses interfere with attention, visual and auditory focus, and learning abilities in general. This is the “simple explanation for why internationally adopted children have difficulty with identiy, connection and emotional and behavioral self-control, the cornerstones of development.

From Parenting Your Internatioanlly Adopted Child: From Your First Hours Together Through the Teen Years / Patty Cogen, The Harvard Common Press, 2008. page 17.

Later in this chapter the author directs attention to books in the bibliography by Daniel Hughes, Daniel J. Siegler and David Ziegler.
Ziegler’s work is likely most related to the work you are doing: Traumatic Experience and the Brain, Phoenix, AZ: Acacia Publishing Inc., 2002.

The other book from my shelf is Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control : A Love Based Approach to Helping Children with Severe Behaviors by Heather T. Forbes and B. Bryan Post, Beyond Consequences Institute, 2002. The bibliography may be of interest, if the rest of the book is not.

I’m glad to hear you are exploring these issues outside of the traditional “biblical counseling” model, which seems not prepared to deal with the kinds of behavioral and psychological issues that are related to trauma.

I once heard that the job of the conscious mind is to rationalize the decisions the sub-conscious mind has already made. I suspect something similar is occurring with respect to emotions and rational thought.

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It seems to me like maybe the feeling/thought dichotomy isn’t all that useful for what we are talking about. It’s more like reaction/reflection. One can react to stimuli without “emotion,” and this is what our perception is all the time. We are constantly receiving stimuli, mentally processing it, and responding. Our responses fall on a wide continuum of unconscious/conscious and involuntary reaction/intentional decision. All of it involves a thought process. And of course plenty of stimuli generate an emotional response.

But reflection or “higher level thinking” also often draws on emotion and emotional intelligence. How much of our reasoning is purely logical or mathematical? Probably only the kind we do when we are doing math. So reasoning something out and coming to a conclusion or reflecting on something to come to a deeper understanding is not somehow the opposite of feeling. It’s just a different kind of thought process than simply responding to stimuli.

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Thanks Kendel! Your response was informative. I am certified as a clinician working with people who struggle with sexual addiction and trauma. This is a core question in our community. I work for Pure Desire Ministries whose goal is to be both clinically sound and biblically sound. But many Christians use the model of Facts Faith Feelings – which doesn’t work well.
Anyway thanks for the great input

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Hey Christy,
It appears to me that you are talking about that part of our brain that functions consciously. But there is more to our brain/mind than conscious thoughts – much more.
I use simple language in my work but the survival brain primarily functions through emotions to protect us based on previous life experiences.
That’s where I am coming from.

No, I specifically mentioned reacting unconsciously to the things we perceive and how sometimes this doesn’t involve an emotion. Sometimes we respond with an emotion, sometimes with a different kind of response to stimuli. Not all responses to stimuli are feelings. Recording any kind of memory of a perception, emotionally-tinged or not, is thinking, isn’t it? Many cognitive processes are passive, but the total picture all those responses to stimuli build our worldview and our language, which we rely on for higher order thinking. I just don’t accept that all the thought processes involved in perceiving and responding to the world can be lumped under “feelings” and all the higher order thought processes involved in analyzing and questioning and understanding the world can be lumped under “thinking.” They both involve cognitive processes and they both tap into emotions.

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Please, what kind of sexual addiction are you talking about?

Can you relate with this: when I allow Allah light in me teaching me, I’m spiritually fed fire burn in my spirit heart., can you relate?

Also can you relate about two thoughts cycles., Allah light thoughts and my thoughts., can you relate

Also can you relate that we’re all Allah light

This is why I keep re-learning in the midst of my thoughts emotions, I allow Allah light in me teach me

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I am a PSAT-S and work with a variety of SA clients.

What is a PSAT-S? What kinds of sexual “addictions” do you work with?

When you mention the “survival brain” I begin to think of aversion therapy:

Just for the record, I’m NOT saying you are using aversion therapy, only that your descriptions made me think of it.

It is interesting that we can hardwire the brain to have specific reactions to specific stimulus. I would assume the same hardwiring can happen in response to trauma. This would be a case where hard wired emotions can overwhelm rational thought, so I can see how it can be a challenge to counsel people who have these hurdles in their lives.

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Aversion therapy was used (and might still be in use) to torture gay people. Horrible!

You have just written an outstanding abstract for the two adoption books I referenced. That’s exactly the understanding that undergirds the authors’ work and their work with helping parents of traumatized children learn to parent appropriately the child they have, who will not be responding as an untraumatized child would. I think the idea is the same for counselors of trauma victims of all kinds.

I am certified to work with any clients who battle with sexual addiction. The organization that certified me is International Institute of Trauma and Sexual Addiction Professionals. To learn more go to sexhelp.com. I work with a Christian demographic, you can learn more about us at Puredesire.org Thanks for asking.

You are right, we don’t use Aversion therapy. Check out a tool that we often use. Go to genesisprocess.org

Why don’t you want to tell me what kinds of sexual addiction you work with?

Okay, Beaglelady - I think you’ve already been graciously given more information than any professional is obliged to volunteer about themselves on a public forum. Whoever wants to reveal more about themselves - that’s their prerogative, not yours. Enough with the interrogation.

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Just to be clear I am not offended by your question. Our organization does not put a boundary on the types of SA struggles people have. We work with folks with a wide variety of issues.

Well, for what it’s worth, I think that people who struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (it’s not addiction) should see a psychiatrist or other medical professional. Somebody who can prescribe medication. But that’s my opinion.

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@Harry_Flanagan

Just curious, … I’ve seen no mention in this thread of use of therapeutic hypnosis and/or Guided Imagery strategies. Does your practice employ either or avoid one, the other, or both?