Chapter 9 CCRT: Freedom PDF

CHAPTER 9 CCRT Freedom ':Abandon all hope you who enter here," 1his is written on the entrance to the gates ofhell. In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil is the guide who takes the re...

CHAPTER 9 CCRT Freedom ':Abandon all hope you who enter here," 1his is written on the entrance to the gates ofhell. In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil is the guide who takes the reader through the author's examination of the afterlife. It travels through the Inferno (Hell), the Purgatorio (Purgatory), and the Paradiso (Heaven). Man has examined his personal freedom from the dawn of mankind. In CCRT, Freedom includes independence and individual autonomy. Freedom is also a God given reality. Freedom to make choices separates humans from all other forms of life. We are not driven by Instinct which is defined as "an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli." Even when all basic physical freedom has been removed, each individual has the freedom to think and feel. Motivation and freedom of choice are linked but not exclusive. Pain, love, hate, joy, greed, and all other emotions can provide a catalyst for choice. Freedom of choice resides exclusively in the mind. A mother's child is starving, so she shoplifts and steals food for the child to eat. Regardless of the motivation, however good or bad, the freedom to choose was exclusively 113 CHRIST CENTERED REALITY THERAPY FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY the mothers. DO NOT confuse freedom to choose with ethical and moral dilemmas. Motivation or the lack of motivation is not to be confused with freedom of choice. In chapter 1 of my book, Ethics Professional, I define the concept of ethics and mo- rality. Ethics is the set of rules which set a standard for human society, normality and in- dividual and corporate belief systems. Ethic systems are always a philosophy and apply to society. Morality applies to the individual actions. Morals are not a code of ethics. Ethics is the code and morality are ethics in action. Morality principles of behavior uses ethics as the blueprint. Morality is much more than rules to follow; it is the governing belief system of the individual. Starting in the late 20th century, counseling, psychology, psychiatry, and the medical system at large included humanistic moral principles which realigned ethical rules. This has led to the erosion of reasonable and concrete understanding of intellectual freedom. Human freedom is a need. Needs always give birth to wants and desires. Humans have a need to reproduce. The freedom of choice is to whom we choose to reproduce with to create the next generation. Thus, freedom is neither good nor bad, but a need which must be met to ensure survival of humanity for example. In the first two hierarchies of needs are love and power. The third is freedom. Freedom is the dividing point of man from all other creations. The freedom, like grace, was a gift to man and man alone. It is the all-eternal spark. God declared man is created in His own image. One of God's characteristics is omnipotence; thus, God is the very embodiment of free will. Humanistic science has a finite and limited view of man's creation. The reality is much deeper and more profound, almost beyond human understanding. Now from dirt the physical complex of man was formed, next the mental potential, and finally the spark. The very breath of the living God, not air but the living and powerful Spirit, was breathed into man and man alone. God shares his perfect divinity with man. God created all other lives and matter without the spark of divinity. He did not breathe life into any other creature other than man and man alone. In this infusion of divinity, man was gifted free will. The need for freedom is a byproduct of God's creation of the 114  CHAPTER 9 CCRT human condition. So, when man and his free will fell into corruption, he would lose eter- nal perfection but retain the gift of free will? Just as man retained his ability to reason, speak, control emotions and work, all of these things are gifts from the divinity of God. "In His image" takes on a new meaning if you consider evolution did not take man on a moon walk or create an artificial heart. It is free will or freedom which enabled man to both crucify Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior. Free will is a testament of the creative divinity of God. Try as they will, evolution and science cannot explain why man and man alone has freewill. If evolution was real, why is man the only animal to have free will? Why is the green snot of evolution not crawling out of the oceans to make new life? Finally, ethics and a moral mind were created from freewill and the spark of divinity. CCRT Reality Key: The corresponding negative to freedom is becoming a prisoner of your mind, body and spirit. Incarcerated in unforgiveness, lust, pain, hate, addiction, spiritual death and the past. The elements of the list are endless, but the results are always the same: abnormal reality. A contemporary of Dr. Glasses, Dr. Wubbolding writes, "That which drives human beings is the urge to make choices, to move from place to place and to be eternally free. Bonds of slavery are not merely external." (URT) Victor Frankel, has a very unique perspective on the meaning of freedom. Victor Frankel in World War II, retained his inner freedom as a prisoner of Auschwitz Nazi con- centration camp for several years. Frankel was always in control of his choices. He elected to respond with normal reality to the horrible events he experienced and witnessed. He experienced a daily act of pain and had to choose self-will of freedom. So fundamental is the determination for freedom, people will die for the idea. Man's commitment and quest for freedom is abundantly clear from the study of world history. The idea and concept of individual freedom does not have to be taught to men. The need for individual freedom is genetically encoded in all humans by God. Dr. Glasser has repeatedly stated in his lectures, "1he Needs are human genetic instructions. 115 CHRIST CENTERED REALITY THERAPY FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY The genetic instruction is always possessed and interrupted in individual culture." Society in the 21st century is very directive in the enforcement of correct thinking, style, educa- tion, speech and sexuality. Non-confirmative behavior is socially unacceptable. This ideol- ogy restricts by way of law and public criticism freedoms worldwide. The more restrictive the government rules, the more anti-God is at the core of the values. Consider the USSR, Communist China, Shreya Law, Socialists, and the Nazi's. The United States and most of western civilization for the Last 2000 years was born in free thinking societies directly because of the Christian Bible and its values. Dr. Wubbolding who was Dr. Glasser's associate alludes to the freedom which Victor Frankel found in inner hope. Victor Frankel explains his view of hope and freedom found in a place like Auschwitz where the demonic forces of death loomed each minute of each day. Life in a Nazi death camp was as uncertain as the next meal or even the next breath. Something as simple as a shower held the possibility of extermination. The shower should have helped if nothing but to remove a few lice and clean open festering sores of the pris- oners, but instead it was a danger. As a free person, it is hard to imagine the stress experi- enced by the prisoners when even a shower held the threat of termination. In1987, Victor Frankel wrote in Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen Freed. ''We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comfort- ing others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof, everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's own way." "The camps," Victor Frankel wrote, "reveal man much as Freud and others had de- scribed him- a creature driven by ego and instinct and sublimated drivers. But they re- veal something even more fundamental: our defining "capacity for self-transcendence." It is man who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also the being who entered those chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer of the Shema Yisreal on his lips." (Frankel, 1987) 116  CHAPTER 9 CCRT The freedom expressed by Dr. Glasser "including independence, autonomy, and one's own space feeling ofwell-being can be summed up in terms ofhope."Without hope there is no freedom from oneself or circumstance. The installation of hope is consistent with Christ Centered Reality Therapy counseling techniques. The opposite of hope is hopelessness. This always will affect and affect the way people feel, act, and individual spiritual clarity. Hopelessness and hope are always three-dimen- sional affecting the mind, body, and spirit. The three are inseparable. The 21st century psychiatrist or counselor's office is a revolving door due to the lack of treatment of the three-fold man. The dirty little secret is if counselors can implement a 25% improvement in any counseling client most often, they have achieved satisfaction in the counseling client and their family. Consider the drunk who drinks every day, but with the counselors help he can cut down to only the weekends. This is viewed as a tremendous success by most secular coun- selors. A couple heading for divorce, but they avoid divorce through counseling. Their lives become somewhat manageable; this is considered a major improvement. Consider the child who is failing all their classes and refuses to get up and go to school; but in the course of counseling, the child is motivated to attend school and make all D's. This is con- sidered a major victory. Most parents in this situation would do cartwheels of happiness. When a suicidal person avoids suicide by the means of counseling, this is considered success in counseling. This is the reason for suicide hot lines. If a depressed person can get up, go to work, and function to some perceived normal level, it is considered success. If a church has 100 chairs and fills ALL the chairs for one service, then this too is considered success. Reality Key: I call this the 25% rule of improvement. If a counselor can help any situ- ation just 25%, this is considered a miracle in modern medicine. 117 CHRIST CENTERED REALITY THERAPY FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY What if Christ's blood only covered 25% of your sins? You would end up with one leg in heaven and 75% in hell. Jesus never compromised with healing. Christ never said, "I al most got t h e d emon out " or "now you can see out of one eye. " CCRT Idea: It is critical and essential to understand the word cure as it applies to Christ Centered Reality Therapy. The core of authentic Christian beliefs and hope is the fact, when Jesus Christ becomes both Savior and Lord, a person is eternally changed, mentally reorganized, and spiritually powerful. Hope of Christ's salvation and recreation lies at the dead center of the absolute restoration of the process. Likewise, at the center of Christ Centered Reality Therapy holds to a primary core concept a cure is absolute. There is no mental illness or counseling client need which can- not be 100% cured. The example comes from Jesus Christ and His healing ministry. At no time did any person or people who were miraculously healed by Jesus Christ return to their illness. Jesus Christ provides permanency of salvation and the absolute :filling power of the Holy Spirit. In the power and will of God, a Christian can be healed mind, body, and spirit. Christ Centered Reality Therapy principles and diagnostic guidelines state the following: CCRT: Normal reality is the cure. (for all abnormality) CCRT: The counseling client's abnormal reality is NOT greater than authentic nor- mal reality. CCRT: Morality is well-defined and contained within Christian absolutes. Other mo- ralities can be applied as long as they do not contradict Christian absolutes. CCRT: No, external abnormality is greater than internal reality of the power of the Holy Spirit. CCRT: The cure or authentic reality will need to be directly in proportion to the size, scope, duration, network, and magnitude of the problem(s). 118  CHAPTER 9 CCRT These five guidelines of CCRT through the counseling experience give numerous historical case studies where learned hopelessness is an abnormal reality. The following quotes are from case study statements about the human condition as it pertains to hopelessness or not being free. "Nobody likes me, I'm worthless, I'm unlovable, and I am doing really badly and feel awful about myself" "My daddy was a drunk I guess I will always be one too." "I am a failure; nobody loves me. I can't maintain a relationship. When they get to know me, they leave." "I was sexually violated. Noone will ever want me; hell, I don't want me" "I feel like a hypocrite, I'm a fake, I walk around all day with a smile plastered on my face on the outside but on the inside, I am just dying. I have no hope of ever changing." "Nobody cares." '~I just don't fit in; I feel alone and every time I walk into a room everybody stares at me; I am hopeless. I have nothing in common with anyone here. I have no hope of ever advancing." "I feel trapped by my drinking. The only thing I have to look forward to is hope- lessness. Things will never get any better; I will always be like this; my hope and my youth are gone." "The one person I trusted and placed all my hope in for my future has be- trayed me." "I am drowning in debt; I don't think I can take it. The world would be better off if I would just die." "Hope, hell the only hope I have is to wake up dead. My luck, I'll just be para- lyzed and crap on myself until I die." 119 CHRIST CENTERED REALITY THERAPY FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY "I feel guilty and extremely hopeless now! Every day when I get up, I just lack energy and hope. I don't see any hope; my mind is blank." "I feel guilty about my mom. I have no hope of restoring our relationship after all the pain I caused!" "What will I be in the future ifl continue to act so stupid? I just want to die, but I am such a weak person, I don't even have the courage to commit suicide. I can't even get this right." (Case studies recovering adolescents- Barnette, 1990) All of the preceding statements reflect separate individuals who experience hopelessness on a mental, physical, and spiritual level Each individual has a crisis of se!fworth and depression, physical impairment, and spiritual disconnection. Most ofwhom had traded their freedom far a quick fix. CCRT Reality Key: The installation of hope is essential to the healing process. To ex- perience freedom, it is necessary to instill hope and freedom on all three empirical levels. It is not enough to give a drug for depression and armchair, feel-good psychology to the counseling client and call the client fixed. Treatment is NOT a cure; it is a tool of healing, not the end result. Medication and counseling treatment will certainly lead to some physical improve- ment. Counseling treatment can teach individual coping tools which can deal with the hopelessness the client is experiencing. The authentic cure is still far from being complete. Treatment alone is not a cure. A cure becomes reality, only when no abnormal reality reoccurs. The concept in the fallowing story offreedom and hope is so simple a child could understand "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. 120  CHAPTER 9 CCRT "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time." "That's why it doesn't happen often to [people) the ones who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." "I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled. "The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "This was a great, many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always." The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished; he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him. (Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams) Counseling today has formulated the expectation is mental illness is incurable and can only be maintained or 'treated'. This system oflearned helplessness has been developed in concert with relativistic humanism counseling and in medical practice worldwide. It kicks the knees right out from under hope and freedom. If the doctor or counselor does not expect normalcy (cure), why should the client? The message is there is no hope of achieving normalcy. The number one complaint from counseling clients is their presenting problem always reappears and persists. Counseling was only good for a while then relapse always occurs. Counseling and drugs have become a revolving door of no hope. 121 CHRIST CENTERED REALIT Y THERAPY FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY The counseling and drugs never seem to fix the problem permanently. Due to the fact modern counseling never has a plan to fix the problem, only to treat the symptoms and maintain the abnormal need. Cure is a dirty word in the mental health field, only sur- passed by the word normal. The world hates the concept of normal. To be normal you must have a scale to mea- sure normal. The world declares normal when it is politically expedient and advances their agenda, or there is money to be made. The hypocrisy of the world system is they define normal when it fits their agenda. A simple example of modern-day measurement of normal: Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight which applies to adult men and women. The BMI is a best guess, yet doctors prescribed billions of dollars of tests and drugs based on this information. Being an athlete all my life, my muscle mass weight to height, BMI, always had me one foot in the grave by their normal charts; thus, I was abnormal. "It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes." (Unknown) The basis of the BMI was devised by Adolphe Qyetelet, a Belgian astronomer, mathe- matician, statistician and sociologist from 1830 to 1850, during which time he developed what he called "social physics". The modem term "body mass index" (BMI) for the ratio of human body weight to squared height was coined in a paper published in the July 1972 edition of the Journal of Chronic Diseases by Ancel Keys and others. In this paper, Keys argued what he termed the BMI was "... if not fully satisfactory, at least as good as any oth- er relative weight index as an indicator of relative obesity."The BMI has been promoted and used by the pharmaceutical industry to sell medication for years now, no matter how unsubstantiated the science. Reality Key: The counseling clients must have a desire to have permanency and reso- lution in the healing process for resolution to be achieved. If the client does not desire a total removal of the abnormality in their life events, then however great the need for the 122  CHAPTER 9 CCRT cure, they are simply not ready to face the pain of the cure. If the client does not want to let go of abnormality you cannot make them. For some living in the abnormal lifestyle, it is easier than the pain of change. You CAN NOT breathe, eat, or go to the bathroom for someone else. Nor can you cure their abnormality. No matter how good you are at bathing someone, they can still clean their selves much better. "The client must sweep their own porch." (A.A.) The complete holistic healing is only obtainable through the concert of the mind, body, and spirit. The greatest of the three is the spirit. Resolution and permanency are the hallmarks of normalcy as a cure. If a cure is not obtained then either the treatment plan is wrong or insufficient time and effort in the treatment on the part of the client is to blame. Both the client and the counselor must add resolution to obtain permanency. CCRT Reality Key: How does one know if one is cured? Abnormal reality causes destruction and damage to self and others. Normalcy Reality creates, restores, teaches and flourishes in love. So, either the person is growing or dying. They cannot do both! Do not be fooled by appearances. Plenty of well-to-do, middle-class Americans live out their abnormality in normal suburban settings. If money would heal, then Hollywood would be the model for normal. "Today is tomorrow's yesterday waiting to happen," or something like that. It is dif- ficult to be both me and profound at the same time.