In the previous article (this article), I introduced the three challenges for empathic and logical people to overcome mental issues. That idea showed me one hypothesis of why many psychotherapies don’t fundamentally solve emotional problems. Let’s talk about it.
Why do psychotherapies not work for us?
Sometimes, we want to know why something that works for others doesn’t work for us.
A typical example is psychotherapy. Although there are many methods, and some people praise a particular therapy, it doesn’t work for us.
In my case, it was the cross-judging method I created last year (the summary is in this article). Not limited to that method, there were many times when my methodology didn’t work for others, even if it worked for me.
That makes us want to know why such an inconsistency happens.
One possible reason is a misunderstanding of psychotherapy’s purpose. We can consider it for the process of developing logical abilities rather than restoring mental state. That shows us suitable methods. Today, I will explain the logic.
Considering it as a necessary process of mental growth
We can consider that mental disorders are a temporary phenomenon that happens in the process of developing our logical abilities. In other words, it is a natural process for empathic and logical people, in my opinion.
It is like a physical growth. Assume we are children and grow our bodies. The body develops our muscles and skeletal structure gradually. However, our bodies sometimes lose balance. For example, the skeleton sometimes grows faster than the muscles. That causes us physical pain. Although many children may not realize it, we have often experienced it.
In this physical case, we determine the normal state based on the state we become after growth. We don’t try to revert the body to its pre-growth, immature condition. It is pointless to restore our muscles to their original, underdeveloped state.
Similarly, we can regard mental disorders as a temporary loss of balance in the process of mental growth. The goal of mental growth is to recognize our feelings and circumstances appropriately and decide rationally. This concept makes sense.
However, the current psychological methods go against this idea. They regard the original, old state as the normal state. They think we should ‘revert’ to a healthy mental state—the immature one. That hinders our healthy mental growth.
The three stages of mental growth
It tells us we need different methodologies according to growth stages.
In my mental model, we consider that the purpose of developing our consciousness is to judge and decide rationally. That allows us to live well.
From this perspective, psychological disorders are often natural and unavoidable.
We have the three stages of mental growth, as follows:
- (The first stage) The stage of competition: When we are children and lack knowledge, we have no choice but to live like our surroundings. In a competitive environment, it naturally stimulates our empathy, which makes us focus on weak people. In this stage, we need to distance ourselves from the competition. Otherwise, mental disorders arise. Natural therapy, such as Morita therapy, would work for people at this stage. As a result, we start to focus on empathic ability—which is the same as spirituality—and go to the next stage.
- (The second stage) The stage of spirituality: We grow empathy. It sometimes makes us driven by emotions. In this stage, we need to be aware of the confusion and repression within us. Otherwise, mental disorders arise. Cognitive-behavioral therapy and other similar methods that focus on emotions would be effective at this stage. As a result, we start to focus on expressing ourselves and move on to the next stage.
- (The final stage) The stage of expressing oneself: Expressing ourselves allows us to recognize our feelings logically. It is a process of simplifying our circumstances and relationships. That helps us process our emotions and situation logically and judge rationally. In this stage, we need to focus on verbalizing our situations and our inner feelings. Otherwise, mental disorders arise. Expressive therapies, such as Sand Tray Therapy introduced by Jung, art therapy, and narrative therapy, would work at this stage. As a result, we can decide rationally, and mental growth is complete.
Choosing an appropriate method
We need to choose an appropriate method according to the stage. Otherwise, we cannot grow our logical sense.
For example, if we continue to stay in a competitive environment, focusing on our emotions will be pointless. This is because we come to focus on others who stimulate our empathy. It is rational to change others rather than focusing on our fundamental philosophy. That makes us continue to make unrewarded emotional efforts. That is why we have to distance ourselves from competitive environments.
This idea explains why cognitive-behavioral therapy and counseling often don’t solve the whole problem. To encourage people to make rational decisions, continuing to focus on the past interpretations is pointless. We need to verbalize our inner contradictions. That creates our philosophy and solves mental problems.
That was why my method didn’t work for other people. The cross-judging method is the almost final stage of logically recognizing our situations. We are often on different stages.
That may be why some logical people who want to solve mental problems come to like this blog. We need reasons. Irrational spirituality doesn’t help us. I have sought reasonable decisions without clear answers. That way of thinking may have helped logical people cultivate logical sense.
Conclusion
That is my hypothesis regarding why many psychotherapies are not effective for the whole emotional problem.
We can consider that mental disorders are a temporary phenomenon that happens in the process of developing our logical abilities.
That may show us an appropriate psychological method to apply.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
