Humanistic Psychology in Wilber's Model

        Ken Wilber’s spectrum of consciousness model comprises the following four levels: shadow, ego, existential, and mind. To come right to the point, the third force (especially, humanistic force) is situated on the mind level; strictly speaking, the transpersonal force might be more closer to the mind level. First, Wilber (1975) explains that human beings tend to identify with the universe. Human beings in the existential level are regarded as organisms which have a rational thought, those who in the ego level are deemed to have a mental picture of their total psychophysical organism, and those who in the shadow level become gradually able to dis-identify with some aspects in their ego. On the other hand, human beings in the mind level are identical to the absolute and ultimate reality of the universe. Secondly, Wilber (1977) describes the mind level in the following: “The Level of Mind is―as we shall try to demonstrate―exactly what you are feeling right now before you feel anything else―a sensation of being one with the cosmos.” (p. 8). In other words, human beings in this level tend to value feelings of here-and-now and attempt to connect with higher and expanded consciousness.

As well as Wilber’s remarks, the third force addresses a sense of unity, or higher realm of human consciousness. While the first force is prone to focus on the mechanistic aspects in human beings and the second force is inclined to emphasize a dark side of human beings, the third force is likely to shed light on higher realms of human psyche. Regarding this point, Maslow’s research about self-actualizaed people is a typical example of focusing on a bright side of human beings. Therefore, I think that the third force is categorized into the mind level in Wilber’s model in that it refers to the higher and bright side of human beings.  

Reference:The spectrum of consciousness

Thinking is Moving?: A Metaphor of Lakoff and Johnson

I like the following metaphor of Lakoff and Johnson. In my paper this quarter, I wrote a section about the power of metaphors to affect human brain and mind.

The mind is a body.

Thinking is moving.

Ideas are locations.

Reason is a force.

Rational thought is motion that is direct, deliberate, step-by-step, and in accord with the force of reason.

Being unable to think is unable to move.

A line of thought is a path.

Thinking about X is moving in the area around X.

Communicating is guiding.

Understanding is following.

Rethinking is going over the path again.

Reference

Philosophy in the Flesh : The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought

Weekly Reading: My Favorite is George Lakoff

I read and looked over the following book last week. Especially, George Lakoff inspired me a lot. His idea of human mind and language resonated with my experiences as a coach.           

1 Philosophy in the Flesh : The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the relationship between our mind and language.
2 Metaphors We Live By

3 Mirroring People: The Science of Empathy and How We Connect with Others

4 Coaching with the Brain in Mind: Foundations for Practice

5 Being a Brain-Wise Therapist: A Practical Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

6 The Quantum Brain: The Search for Freedom and the Next Generation of Man

7 Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence

8 Neurobiological and Developmental Basis for Psychotherapeutic Intervention

9 Towards An Integral Vision: Using NLP & Ken Wilber's AQAL Model to Enhance Communication

My Current Way of Being and New Way of Being

This morning, I had a coaching session with my coach through Skype. She is my Integral Coach and, at the same time, my supervisor. So, she always gives me useful feedback about my assessments and coaching program which I created for my clients, and also supports my growth. This was the second session with her, but she gave my two metaphors to describe my current and new way of being based on the first session.

My Current Way of Being: Busy Space Explore

My New Way of Being: Practical Master Body Builder

I love these metaphors. Especially, the first metaphor exactly describes current me (I don’t talk about it here). Furthermore, the second one correctly points out what I need in order to support my weakness of the CWOB and to develop more.  

So far, I’ve offered some metaphors for my clients, and I noticed the power embedded in the metaphors, but I’ve never been offered from someone else. Thus, today’s session was meaningful for me because I found many new things about Integral Coaching and in me. 

Short Essay: The Importance of My Body

I think that my body is indispensable to live in this world, and it’s like a wonderful container. If this container doesn’t work well, my mind, spirit, and soul also don’t function appropriately. Therefore, training my body is really important. To tell you the truth, I sometimes use my “mind” too much, neglecting my body. In other words, I sometimes try to know the world by using only my mind. However, I have faced several difficulties when I tried to understand this real world by means of only my mind. That is to say, I couldn’t perceive the world fully through my mind alone. Then, I noticed that I needed to use my body in order to understand me, others, and the world more comprehensively. I believe that our body knows a lot and often may understand ourselves more deeply than our mind does. In that sense, it is important for me to use and energize my body.

Furthermore, I feel that my body is being embodied in this world when I concentrate on a deep realm in my body. In other words, when I deepen a dialogue with my body, I become connected with my body strongly and feel that I’m embodied in the world. So as to feel this, I need to listen to a lot of voices in my body (sometimes I need to listen carefully to a voice because it could be very silent.) and activate my body enough.  

Pathology Model In Humanistic Psychology

Regarding the primary model of pathology in the 3^rd force, Maslow (1954) enumerates two points about major impediments to self-actualization: deprivation, conflict, and threat.         

First, Maslow (1954) points out that being deprived of, for example, love, prestige, respect, or other basic needs will have a negative effect on human psyche. And these kinds of deprivations are almost the same as threat. However, Maslow raises an alarm over this point. In the Maslow’s view, the inevitable deprivations in childhood such as sexual deprivation are regarded as a kind of frustrations, and these are not necessarily pathological. In that sense, the clear distinction between the certain deprivations which are like threat and mere deprivations is important.

              Second, Maslow (1954) demonstrates some types of conflicts, but I’d like to choose one concept of them: “catastrophic conflict” (p. 159). It’s a well-known fact that we live with innumerable choices in daily lives, but “all the choices are equally catastrophic or threatening in their effects or else there is only one possibility and this is a catastrophic threat” (p. 159). Although this type of conflict is common in the animal world, human beings also suffer from it and it becomes a kind of pathology to prohibit self-actualization.

              According to Maslow, a certain threat in our lives becomes a factor to inhibit our psychological growth. Maslow (1954) explicates that “synonymizing ‘threat’ with ‘growth-inhibiting’ creates the difficult possibility of a situation being at this moment subjectively nonthreatening, but threatening or growth-inhibiting in the future” (p. 166). This sentence implies that a certain present event seems to be nonthreatening in that moment, but it may include a future risk of prohibiting self-actualization. With respect to this point, Maslow (1954) illustrates by an example that a child hopes for satisfaction which will please him, quiet him, reduce anxiety, etc., but which might have a possibility to inhibit his psychological growth. In terms of Maslow’s view, the above three concepts lead to pathology to restrain self-actualization.

Reference

Motivation and Personality

Where is the Third Force (Humanistic Psychology) in the Wilber's Spectrum Model?

Ken Wilber’s spectrum of consciousness model comprises the following four levels: shadow, ego, existential, and mind. To come right to the point, the third force (humanist and existential) is situated on the mind level (strictly speaking, the transpersonal force might be more close to this level). First, Wilber (1975) explains that human beings tend to identify with the universe. While human beings in the existential level are regarded as organisms which have a rational thought and those who in the ego level are deemed to have a mental picture of their total psychophysical organism and those who in the shadow level become gradually able to dis-identify with some aspects in their ego, human beings in the mind level are identical to the absolute and ultimate reality of the universe. Secondly, Wilber (1977) describes the mind level in the following: “The Level of Mind is―as we shall try to demonstrate―exactly what you are feeling right now before you feel anything else―a sensation of being one with the cosmos.” (p. 8). In other words, human being in this level tend to value feelings of here and now and attempt to connect with higher and expanded consciousness.

As well as Wilber’s remarks, the third force addresses a sense of unity, or higher realm of human consciousness. While the first force is prone to focus on the mechanistic aspects in human beings and the second force is inclined to emphasize a dark side of human beings, the third force is likely to shed light on higher realms of human psyche. Regarding this point, Maslow’s research about self-actualization people is a typical example of focusing on a bright side of human beings. Therefore, I think that the third force is categorized into the mind level in Wilber’s model in that it refers to the higher and bright side of human beings.  Reference

1 The Spectrum of Consciousness