Principle of Attraction in Clinical Practice—Part 2

-By Dr. James Michael Nolan

So what other options do we have?!? We HAVE to assign a diagnosis to get paid? Aren’t we there to help people with their problems?

Well, let’s talk about that. Yes on the “we gotta diagnose to get paid” if we are working in the insurance world. How to “get right” with that challenge will be the topic of a separate blog post. And it IS a challenge, as you know.

Two Models

Model 1:

“A client comes in with a problem, or a collection of problems, and we are there to assess the nature of the problem (personal and family history, nature, frequency, duration, intensity, resources), establish a diagnosis that reasonably names the primary problem/reason for being there. Then we establish a treatment plan, delineating exactly what we will do to ameliorate the symptoms and help restore the client to pre-morbid functioning, or baseline. We implement the treatment plan, tweaking where and when necessary, and terminate with them when they have achieved the agreed upon therapeutic goals.”

Model 2:

     “Like all of us, our clients experience “problems in living”, dissatisfactions, unrealized dreams, emotional states that are unwanted, and the like. Our clients also come in with a lot of internal and social resources, some of which they may have forgotten, or are not yet aware of. They probably bring a whole history of joys, successes, resourcing, problem solving, connecting, or they would not still be on the planet. Maybe they forgot about some of those, and maybe they just want more. Maybe they have forgotten how to dream, or don’t know they are allowed to dream. They have come in because they are hopeful, because some optimism lives inside them, and because they believe things can be better. Like everybody else on the planet, our clients are expressions of the great wonder of the universe, and at mysterious levels we both understand, and do not understand, they are part of us, and we are part of them, and we are now on a sacred journey together. As therapists, we will do everything to honor their journey, and be of service, and shine our Light on their experiences of darkness until they discover or remember how to shine their own Light, and find joy, meaning, and even more hope and empowerment. Oh, yeah, and they have an Adjustment Disorder, I suppose.”

Reflections…

Some will say Model 2 is naïve, or a bypass, or whatever, but I believe something very different. I believe I am going to help you a LOT more coming in with Model 2, because, energetically, I am bringing my archives of hope, and memories of people who have re-authored their lives, and I believe in you, and find the ways in which you already Walk in Beauty, and I will celebrate those, and honor you, in addition to offering ways to lessen your distresses, your problems in living.

     When all we want to know is “What is Wrong?” and “How is your Wrongness THIS week?”, well then Wrongness will rule the roost, man. Identities can be built around the specific brand of Wrongness somebody brings in—you know that’s true—you have relatives or friends who are doing it right now. Maybe you have done it. I sure have. Consciousness is, in part, about deeply hearing and challenging your own Narratives, and calling yourself out when the Narrative is not the Deeper Truth, but only a Narrative, perhaps one that serves some lower-level need you have, but not your Higher Self in its Journey of the Soul.

It’s not easy. I have Narratives running like crazy. It’s like sweeping up dust in your house in New Mexico. It is a job that never ends.

What you bring in, gets the focus, gets amplified, attracts more of the same, creates more of the same. That which is like unto itself is drawn. It’s the Principle of Attraction. I, personally, do not necessarily understand it as a “Law”, but I am 100% convinced it is a very, very powerful principle and force in the universe, in our lives.

More soon. Hope this is helpful…

Jim

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