An overview of psychological growth and healing

First, about psychology

Every science can be useful or harmful. Every science can be turned intentionally to use for evil as well as good. And all can also be misused, creating unexpected results—some good and some bad.

Psychology is no exception. Some people refuse to think of it as science, since it is so inexact and borders on pure philosophy. And then, there is the sickening amount of pure psychobabble—from both the “:popular psychology” genre and the presumably more authoritative sources.

Worse, some people—actually, a lot of people—have used psychology maliciously or at least selfishly: brainwashing, manipulation and propaganda. The “tools” have been used to promote official policies, sell products, or to tilt culture for the cynical benefit of some few. “Psychological operations” is not solely the realm of military activity.

It’s understandable that so many people simply ignore psychology altogether. But to do this, as the old saying goes, is to throw the baby out with the bathwater; not understanding the weapons being used—or the flawed approach being used—makes an individual actually more, not less, vulnerable to these machinations.

Having thrown out the bathwater, the baby...

On the other hand, there is a lot of really helpful study, thought and literature, in both the technical and “self-help” categories. With the right approach, it’s entirely possible to change your life, your thinking, your mentality.

It’s this material that I want to help you locate, understand, and use efficiently.

Mental Health: the Key to
Resiliency and Creativity—
The Keys to Survival

Mental health is far more than the absence of pathology. Just like not being sick doesn’t make you a picture of fitness, not being mentally ill does not make you psychologically fit, or even effective. There’s a lot more to it than that.

One short description of vigorous mental health is seeing reality, understanding priorities, making good decisions, and being internally free to pursue those priorities and decisions.

Being internally free. We’ve all been taught, or have otherwise learned, ideas that conflict with one another. Most of us also have strong impulses that conflict with what we believe or with other impulses. This is the source of anxiety and internal bondage. Unaddressed, it’s also the source of the worse kinds of pathology, especially depression.

This suggests another short description of vigorous mental health: internal peace. It’s also been known as self-esteem. The popular brands of psychology have done a number on both of these terms, treating them as if you could just up and decide to be internally at peace or love yourself, or as if a defeat could destroy this for an individual.

The fact is, whatever you call it, it’s attained by our approach to daily life, our image of ourselves and, resultantly, by how we relate to defeat and success.

Ultimately, vigorous mental health is a result of a collection of attitudes and practices that create a sort of mental endocrine & immune system that drives us to success and moves us through setbacks.

Physical well-being and fitness are a part of it, too. The mind and the body are closely linked; it's hard to be mentally fit when the body is not well treated.

Two Methods
for growth and healing

In my experience, there are two useful fundamental methods for psychological healing and change. They need to be used in tandem, but rarely are.

The first is use of the imagination to envision—actually, to experience in every way possible—the person we want to be in the life we want to have. There’s a lot of this kind of work in the self-improvement and success literature, as well as in religion and the like.

Essentially, this method acknowledges a truth that a lot of folks seem not to recognize: we humans, with our minds and actually amazing abilities, are self-fulfilling prophecy machines. What we truly, deep down expect is what we tend to create around us.

The second approach is more directly technical. When you think of a psychologist, you probably think of someone who is working with thought processes and memories, trying to bring them to the surface and help the client restructure them so that they become useful, instead of destructive.

This method—or rather, its effective applications—recognize emotion as a function of thought, however deeply ingrained, automatic and “unconscious”; not as something driven by mysterious, unexplainable forces. It doesn’t necessarily rule out mystical possibilities; it just recognizes that what most of us experience most of the time is much more down to earth—and easier to work with.

Attaining the Survival Mindset:
Overall approach

The first thing you have to do, if you want to have that sense (and reality) of vigorous health, is figure out what you value. People who have miraculously survived had one particular thing in common: a reason to live... a wife to get back to; someone who was counting on them; pure stubbornness (“NEVER say die!!”) has probably been a factor for some. What do you value? Be honest.

Secondly, by extension, you need to sort out what you really want out of life. See yourself at your best, with all that matters to you. What do you see? How do you act? What do you do?

Third, compare what you do today against what you see when you see yourself at your best. Why didn’t you live up to your vision? What impulse threw you off?

Fourth, dig through the impulses that are throwing you off the mark. Don’t fault yourself; actually, forgive yourself, but find out why you’re doing what you do. This can be tricky and technical. It can also lead to better self-understanding and refinements of your ideal self-image.

Fifth, refine your vision and keep refining your thinking, moving yourself toward your latest, greatest vision of the vigorous you. Set workable goals, and if you get knocked down, just remember that most obstacles are surmountable; you can get over, around, through or under them; external obstacles are rarely as tough as the internal ones we face.

Next article: Humans are Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Machines. And how this relates to survival.

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