Pluralism limits.

Limits

1)Simply put if one assumes that there are many truths you also assume that truth is relative to what is deemed true or not rue by the client. However, you as a therapist also have a set of truths which may be in contravention to the clients. Hence, pluralism fails in so far as having an objective means of finding what is true or not. (This is a bug barer of mine)

2) In applying a meta theory you would need an awareness of each theory beyond a generalist understanding of theory a,b or c. So, for instance, as a pluralistic therapist you would not be able to apply a theory other than in what capacity you know of a, b or c, which would be limited at best. So unless you spend a lifetime training in all 350 fields, you can only ever apply aspect of each, some interventions then may contravene each other.

3) Pluralism lacks a clearly defined boundary. It assumes, given it is a meta theory, is that it is a way of talking about theories. That's fine. However, it also claims to be able to utilise each theory, or pick out elements of them that are useful. There is no clear modality of doing that beyond a therapists good judgement, meaning every act of pluralism is different. So isn't that what everyone has already being doing? This makes it impossible to measure.

Tl;Dr
1)Truth becomes impposible to define without set boundaries.
2) How can you know every theory and apply them all in a session based in client prefence?
3) Its difficult to measure scientifically.

They're quite keen to talk about their strengths. Multi modality being the top one. Cultural awareness being the other. Goals. Feedback forms. There does seem to be evidence for these in the data.

Attachment Theory: Theoretical formations. Amae: Connected Relatedness

The phenomena known as Amae is unique to Japanese culture. As an observable phenomena distilled within progressive iterations of deeply interconnected social interactions (Kumagai & Kumagai, 1986) Amae, “can be viewed either positively or negatively, depending on what is deemed appropriate with respect to maturity or degree of social intimacy,” (Behrens, 2004, pg.2), and indeed as a way of a child exacting control over their social and physical environment (Yamaguchi, 2004). Amae, ethnographically originating from the word amai meaning sugary or sweet, while unique in its sociological modalities within Japan, has characteristics comparable to attachment theory (Behrens, 2004).

Amae is an example of the interplay between child and caregivers. While a child may amaeru (verb present tense) there must be someone, usually the mother, who provides amayakasu—the capacity, in an affective parental relationship, to dictate the amount of amaeru the child can facilitate of (Behrens, 2004).

Within the context of bereavement, therefore, the obvious question is not necessarily what Amae is behaviourally speaking, but what occurs when the ability to amareu is no longer present? When this dyad between caregiver interwoven so intricately is no longer present, is Amae found in the presence of others, or, in a clinical setting, can therapists provide an substitute for it?
In this essay the concept of death, and bereavement interventions, will be examined with explicit focus to attachment theory. It will examine the relationship between child and their primary caregiver, contextualise this within the terms of the secure base and the loss of such, followed by a few observations regarding clinical treatments, while simultaneously juxtaposing a multi-discipline, holistic, awareness of the Living and the Dead.

Attachment Theory and the Secure Base: An Overview

Firstly, we would like to contextualise the mother child relationship.
The Freudian concept of, “all human behaviour…is explained on the basis of one motivational principle, namely drive,” (Gullestad, 2001, pg5) demarcates the psychanalytical view of object relations. From this perspective all behaviours can be viewed or referred to as either fulfilling—or not fulfilling—a latent, unconscious sexual, or aggressive, motivation. In essence, a human is in constant conflict with their environment; a child only relates to his/her mother because it wants to satisfy itself with the pleasure of having its drive met (Jacobs, 2003, pg.52).

Bowlby’s model differs from the Freudian concept of sexual organisation so far as the concept of the secure base is a symbiotic relationship as opposed to a parasitic-like relationship on the part of the child to their mother in the Freudian case. Bowlby termed it the secure base.
A secure base is any object—usually a mother—whom the child utilises as both a place of stability and comfort, as well as a bridgehead that allows for possible exploration of the child’s environment (Eagle, 2017). Indeed, as opposed to Freud’s emphasis on sexual gratification during nursery, attachment theory considers the spatial conditions, keeping proximity by hugging and clinging, to be paramount to the parental relationship (Gullestad, 2001). When this spatial conditionality is broken, through the absence of the mother, separation anxiety occurs whereby the child feels the lack of his/her mother’s presence thus evoking feelings of distress and alarm (Ainsworth, & Bowlby, 1991); notably fright, a stimulus response to a fearful event that leads to rapid seeking of mother and the secure base. The warm and nurturing predisposition of the mother therefore allows exploratory behaviours that, through the gentle weaning—in successive temporal iterations or events across time—from the mother, as a result develops a mature, and secure, personality (Bretherton, 1997).

It should be noted that a significant proportion of Bowlby’s early work derived from animal experimentation (Ainsworth Bowlby, 1991). Furthermore, while higher primates do exhibit similar behaviours, attachment theory considers the human attachment system to be complicated by the presence of emotions (Wachtel, 2017) though this belief is premedicated on the primacy of human emotions over other non-human. Indeed, the idea of a secure base, at a level of first principles, is further involuted by the human ability to conceptualise an abstracted ideal of a secure base—notable work has been done in this area regarding belief in God and the notion of the divine attachment model (Kam, 2018).

Greif and Mourning: Some Procedural Remarks

These two theories of relationship differ drastically in terms of the primacy of a human’s bond to their primary caregiver, though both assume a naturalistic reflection of human. It is obvious, if not apparent, that death is a veil of separation demarcated either by a personal, religious cosmology, or a universal, naturalist finality.

That being said, even in Christendom, heaven is viewed as the apocatatasis, or restoration, which does not promise reunion of the Living with the Dead but only the transformation of the old and the reunion of God and humankind in the new heaven and the new earth (Ware, 1997). While philosophies present eulogies extoling annihilation, reunion, resurrection, and many shades in-between, it is undeniable that the Livings’ relationship with the Dead changes fundamentally after death. For therapists, therefore, must take care not to stray into philosophical deductions as clinical professionals must live amongst the Living and not the Dead.
A theaprist cannot be the caretaker of the Dead within clinical practice. In terms of attachment, however, a clinician can provide that secure base upon which the client derived such meaning from. But this is only a stepping stone during the grieving process.

Attachment and Loss

The process of grieving is multifaceted. (Kaprio, Koskenvuo, & Rita, 1987) found amongst a population of nearly 100,000 widows that bereavement not only caused emotional distress, but excess mortality as a cascade effect deriving from the psychophysiological hurt of the departing. Juxtaposed this against a child who had a beneficial and balanced relationship with the mother(Stroebe, 2002). In this instance the child will process grief differently than a child who was either distant by a lack of motherly receptibility or was succumbed by an overbearing and protective mother (Bretherton, 1985). Naturally, therefore, there is some relationship between what happens at the beginning of life and what occurs at the end.

The state of bereavement is sometimes called reorganisation (Mikulincer, & Shaver, 2008) this being a follow on state from Bolwby’s three stages of protest, despair and detachment, reorganisation “refer(ing) to a specific phase following separation, characterised by the termination of protest and despair,” (Gullestad, 2001, pg.9). Reorganisation, in an typical individual who experienced the ‘right’ quantity and quality of love and encouragement, comes as a difficult but manageable process in the realising of the loss of a secure base. Whereas, in a less ‘ideal’ relationship, whereby the secure base was dysfunctional, later bereavements may take on an extra layer of complexity, especially if the child was overly attached.

As noted by (Stroebe, 2002), the death of a maternal or paternal role model does not necessarily equate—if these can be so arbitrarily measured—to the death of a spouse. Nevertheless, the way that one related to the former greatly impacts upon how one griefs for the latter. Indeed, as noted by (Eagle, 2017) it is the capacity of the paternal/maternal figure which facilities self-exploration and the development of a self-concept as separate from the paternal/maternal figure. If a child is not gently pushed to explore his/her environment this can, “convey to the child that he is unable to manage on his own,” (Gullestad, 2001, pg.11).
 

Attachment Theory: Clinical Modalities

What is Grieving?

Internally, a child has developed an abstraction of their primary caregivers (Bowlby, 1973) the behaviour of which is acted out in the world in a manner that reflects the child's image of other people,” and, “the child's image of the self,” (Bartholomew, & Horowitz, 1996, pg. 226). In adulthood, as a result, how one deals with others is reflective of their formative years; the way a child related to him/herself as a unique locus of actuality in the world, as a consciousness, a consequence of their interactions with their primary caregiver during childhood. For instance a child who, through the dyad of the right amount of exploration and care will develop an attachment style that can bridge autonomy and intimacy. They will be securely attached.


In terms of the loss of a spouse, a client’s relationship to other—the support of their peer/family group—has a positive effect on negating social loneliness but not emotional loneliness (Stroebe, Stroebe, Abakoumkin, & Schut, 1996) an indication that the loss of a spouse, or even a loved one, leaves a hole in the psyche that, seemingly, cannot be entirely satisfied by the Living.
(Stroebe, 2002, pg.133) says, “excessively clingy, insecure child…will…respond to irrevocable loss by obsessive focusing on the deceased…with detrimental consequences for adjustment”—a preoccupied child attachment style. Whereas securely attached children would experience grief as natural phenomena without justification for intensive clinical intervention (Shaver, & Tancredy, 2001). In the latter example, we can see that the secure base, the ability to Amae and amayakasu, has given the individual the coping mechanisms to process grief. But in extreme cases, especially for clients who are dismissive or fearful (in terms of attachment styles) how can clinicians replicate, or generate with the client, a treatment that can fashion a safe, and secure, base?

Interventions

The example of amae is an epiphonema of Japanese sociocultural interdependence that is a consequence of the gestation of both evolution and local custom; it is impossible to replicate at least proscriptively. Similarly, replicating a maternal caregiver, on an ad hoc, case by case basis, will never be the same as having been loved as a child; and even if it were possible humanity is a temporal species and cannot totally revert to childhood. However, with this in mind, clinicians can provide “the next best thing” to aid a grieving client. (Gullestad, 2001) remarks that a therapist can facilitate this by allowing the therapy session, as such, to become the client’s secure base.

(Kam, 2018) recommends, in respect to divine attachment theory, that clinicians–in this case pastorally motived therapists—to, “help the client understand…their God image must be healed through corrective experiential encounters with a loving God,” (pg.346). Theological consideration aside, one possible postulation for intervention could be the facilitation of a curative secure base that, not replaces, but corrects a false concept of the secure base. In other words, retrospectively examining a relationship with a partner, or parent, that was distant or dysfunctional; recognising the possible hurt but, perhaps, coming to terms as to why things occurred as they did. Naturally, however, divine attachment theory has limited pluralistic applications in secular therapy.

(Stroebe, 1996) concedes that emotional loneliness is evident during bereavement. Finding ways to replicate this amongst the Living are, perhaps, ineffective, as in terms of childhood bereavement it is best to foster the relationship with the deceased symbolically through a continuing relationship (Howarth, 2011) and not replace it.

Following on from this, (Shear, 2010) recommends a 16 week treatment plan that involves items such as a grief monitoring diary/ revisiting avoided places / working with memories and, “conversation(s) with the decease(d)” (pg.5) for older adults. Further still, (Shear, 2010) found that complicated grief therapy (a derivative of attachment theory) was effective in treating symptoms as opposed to standard interpersonal psychotherapy. Medication for complicated grief, antidepressants, play a role in mediating some symptoms (Simon, 2013); individuals presenting with an attachment avoidance schema being prone to depressive like symptoms (Meier, Carr, Currier, & Neimeyer, 2013; Maccallum, & Bryant, 2018).

Attachment theory can also be used to navigate the formation of new paternal/maternal bonds in cases of early childhood loss (Zelenko, & Benham, 2002) although in the aforementioned case this cumulated in jurisdictive intervention; in these instances the attachment figure can often be decided judicially and not clinically, only highlighting that clinicians must work within a legal and sociocultural framework.

This being so, perhaps the treatment of bereavement should not be the management of grief at the end of a life, but the fostering of life at its beginning. Current methodologies place great emphasis on symptoms and the clinical facilitations in the therapy room, but this, usually occurs well after the natural gestation of a child and their primary caregivers’ alliance. Future considerations, prescriptive treatment plans, could examine the nurturing of the holistic interdependence of both child and mother during the formative years. So that, when death finally occurs, clients—humanity as a species—are not left without having never Amaeru-ed.
 

Conclusion

The Amae, the sweetness, will be terminated by a corporeal demarcation known as mortality. The ephemerality of clients loving relationships can be better understood through the prism of Attachment Theory; that clients’ primary caregivers are not only foremost in the development of their relationships across time, but, in death, nurture an internalised image that aids individuals during bereavement. While treatment plans, psychoanalytical/humanistic/pluralistic therapy and pharmacological interventions are shown to be effective, the successive nurturing of a strong child/caregiver bond, aids perspective clients with the grieving process without severe symptoms or long-term clinical treatment as seen in more complex cases.  

References

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Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1996). Attachment styles among young adults: a test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(2), 266–244. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351153683-17

Behrens, K. Y. (2004). A Multifaceted View of the Concept of Amae: Reconsidering the Indigenous Japanese Concept of Relatedness. Human Development, 47(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1159/000075366

Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss." Vol. 2. Separation. New York: Basic Books.

Bretherton, I. (1985). Attachment Theory: Prospect Retrospect. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1), 3–35.

Bretherton, I. (1997). Bowlby’s legacy to developmental psychology. In Child Psychiatry and Human Development (Vol. 28, Issue 1, pp. 33–43). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025193002462
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Howarth, R. A. (2011). Promoting the adjustment of parentally bereaved children. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 33(1), 21-32. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/851298146?accountid=149453

Jacobs, M. (2003). Sigmund Freud. Sage. London

Kam, C. (2018). Integrating Divine Attachment Theory and the Enneagram to Help Clients of Abuse Heal in Their Images of Self, Others, and God. Pastoral Psychology, 67(4), 341–356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-018-0817-1

Kaprio, J., Koskenvuo, M., & Rita, H. (1987). Mortality after bereavement: A prospective study of 95,647 widowed persons. American Journal of Public Health, 77(3), 283–287. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.77.3.283

Kumagai, H.A., & Kumagai, A.K. (1986). The hidden ‘I’ in amae: ‘Passive love’ and Japanese social perception. Ethos, 14, 305–320

Maccallum, F., & Bryant, R. A. (2018). Prolonged grief and attachment security: A latent class analysis. Psychiatry Research, 268, 297–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.07.038
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Ware, T. (1993). The Orthodox Church: an introduction to eastern Christianity. Penguin. UK.
Yamaguchi, S. (2004). Further Clarifications of the Concept of Amae in Relation to Dependence and Attachment. Human Development, 47(1), 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1159/000075367

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This was an essay I did for my half completed psychotherapy degree. Someday I may talk about it, why I think psychotherapy has an end date, but more likely I'll talk about happier things.

Enjoy,

Religious Mania As seen through an Integrative, Multicultural approach utilising Person Centred Therapy and Choice Theory

Intro

Creating a Working Definition

For the purposes of this essay, and namely the type of psychological issue on discussion, the author would firstly like to make a categorical distinction between Religious Mania and Religious Experience. After which we will introduce the theories of Person Centred (PCT) Choice theory (CT) and Multicultural Therapy (MCT).

In addition, a distinction is also required to notate the actual corelates between an example of religious mania and the traditional understanding of religious experiences (Ware, 1993). As we will touch on later, wisdom traditions have been aware of religious mania for some time and have methods to address it (Trungpa, 2002).

For instance, (Bar-El, et al, 2000) notes that while Jerusalem syndrome can be apparent in visitors to Jerusalem with or without a prior psychiatric condition, not all patients identify with a biblical character or deliver a “sermon…based on an unrealistic plea…to adopt a more wholesome, moral, simple way of life,” (pg.88). This reveals a variance in the severity of the mania, and, more interestingly, highlighting a difficulty at labelling what is a pathological experience and what is a benign experience.

Obviously, there is a difference here between a psychiatric condition and an issue that would appear in a counselling room. Hence, for the purposes of this essay, religious mania will be defined as a maladaptive overinterpretation of religious tenants that impinges upon one’s ability to operate in life but is not of a psychiatric nature.

This is an imperfect definition. Given the variety of belief in the counselling world one may consider the definition as too nuanced or too vague. However, it is not as simple to call all religious values as maladaptive, as belief is predictive of commitment within drug recovery programs (Sung, & Chu 2013) and greater psychological wellbeing (Plante, Saucedo, & Rice 2001). Nevertheless, as the early 21st century polemics Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett have noted, albeit poorly (Pigliucci, 2013) and the child abuse scandal have shown, as sociocultural phenomena, religious adherence can lead to abusive and domineering behaviours.

Nevertheless, western centric culture can designate an illiberal behaviour that may also have religious presupposition, such as the wearing of the veil in Islam (Ajrouch, 2007) offering us an insight to how religious expression is seen cross-culturally. Given the rise in the Islamic community in Ireland, rising 96 percent from the years 2006-2016 (CSO, 2020), is it possible to apply a western epistemology that says any discordance with a person’s QWP is a form of mental ill health even if it comes from a religious presupposition (Glasser, 1998). Indeed, as noted by (Sabry &, Vohra, 2013) family is of extreme import in the Islamic faith, meaning outside, or state backed, intervention may not only cause harm to the client but to the family structure itself.

How then can a multicultural therapist offer an intervention where there is a relationship with a family member that is, if not of any criminal intent, causing harm to the client? Furthermore, how does one intervene when this intervention causes fiction against a fundamental belief within an Islamic family relationship?

To give another example. In (Habib, 2013) Conner Habib details the interesting readoption of Christianity through a Queer or LGBTQ lens, notably coalescing around Christ’s revolutionary ideas such as slavery, justice, and forgiveness. If one countenances this movement against the adopted opinion of the traditional church, one could understand how Conservative Nigerian Christians could view a Queer Christianity as a form of religious mania (Ojo, 2005) in that it is a form of satanic, or demonic possession in the extreme few.

Is Religious Mania Manic?

Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, is a phenomenon observed in biblical literature and has been the subject of some psychological research. It is also a significant part of Pentecostal Christianity. Of note to this essay is the following: Glossolalia, a, does not seem to correlate to any malfunctioning of the language centre of the brain (Newberg, Wintering, Morgan, &, Waldman, 2006); b, is not uniquely a psychotic disorder; and, c, may in some individuals be beneficial (Hempel, Meloy, Stern, Ozone, & Gray, 2002).

As westerners, practicing western medicine, how do we operate in this scenario and how do we incorporate spiritual experiences without resorting to terminology such as mania and psychosis? Indeed (Hart, 2012) describes the negative of therapeutic effects interventions can have upon individuals experiencing what could be termed as Religious Mania.

As we will discuss later in this essay, nurturing a client who is experiencing some kind of spiritual experience can be compatible through a Person centred or Choice theory approach, but there does appear to be a cultural reticence at dealing with this issue given the limitations of our western centred, rational locus of evaluation. As Jung notes, a discussion of religious belief is strangely taboo at the dinner table (Jung, 2001) whereas in other communities talk of spirits, magic and the paranormal is quite common. This, it seems, is a personal choice amplified by the general removed nature western society has become from its mystical and religious grounds. But as we will touch on later, an obsession on the platonic form of a reason centred epistemology can not only lead to disastrous consequences for clients (Hart, 2012). It also may create a world where, in the same way Japanese fiction gives energy to the abstraction of a nonhuman female in lieu of the true female (Kawai, 1988), western therapy gives energy to a nonhuman client in lieu of the true client.

However, if religious mania, if it is not a psychiatric disorder, how best can we integrate examples of religious expression without either disregarding our theories or disregarding the experience of our clients?


An Overview and the Intent of this Essay

We have explored how religiosity when expressed in a western worldview can appear to be problematic. For the purposes of this essay we attempt to adopt a positive integrative light on such experiences, being also cognisant of varied cultural epistemologies as well. Furthermore, we will also explore from a psychoanalytic orientation as to the deeper consequences of treating religious experiences when they are hermetically sealed within an integrative model.

The theories: A Brief Overview

In this section, we will briefly outlay the basic outlines of PCT, CT, and MCT counselling, with a view to bring our client, Yacob, through the precise therapeutic interventions and theoretical interpretations of personality in the next section.

Person Centred

Perhaps the greatest contribution of Carl Rogers to the psychotherapeutic world is the core conditions of congruence, Unconditional Positive Regard and Empathy (Rogers, 1967) these being the foremost conditions that lead, when utilised in a Rogerian model, to psychological change. Whereas psychodynamic theory places great emphasis on the Psyche/soma model of psychological disorders, namely that mental illness as such is the maladaptive adaptation of somatic behaviours rooted in childhood, Roger’s theory emphasised the inbuilt potentiality of a person towards the Good (Rogers, 1957). In essence, it is not by an interpretation of trauma by analysis that “cures” mental illness but through the genuineness of a relationship between client and therapist which, mediated by UPR—which Roger assumes is a requirement that all humans need— “activates” a clients inbuilt ability for self-actualisation.

Choice Theory

Choice theory considers therapy from a different, but not entirely foreign, perspective. Glasser says, “we can only control our own behaviour,” (Glasser, 1998, pg.98) and that all behaviour is Total Behaviour comprising of acting, thinking, feeling and felt sensation. For choice theory, mental illness, as such, usually lies at the foot of dysfunctional relationships to others and ourselves (Glasser, 1985) and that behaviours are influenced by the basic needs, survival, fun, love and belonging, freedom and power, or rather attempts to satisfy our quality world picture, the personal Shangri-la (Glasser, 1998). Hence choice theory is far more direct and focused than PCT, with the client’s past actions being secondary to how they are acting in the present, for it is in the present can behaviour change.

Multicultural Psychotherapy

It is not as simple to say that all culture is totally different from each other, but one can argue that when engaging in a western form of psychotherapy it is not as easy to transfer western treatment modalities for mental health as it is for physical health. For example, (Tanaka-Matsumi, 2011) notes that “Latino adults in the United States chose to engage in allocentric (other-oriented) relaxation imagery exercise more frequently than idiocentric (self-oriented) imagery” (pg.277). This gives the reader a brief but hopefully cogent understanding of a single difference between culture, particularly on an issue that appears to be minute. Yet the disparity between self and other, and what these terms mean cross culturally, can present problems in Multicultural Psychotherapy. Therefore, MCT states that all cultural ways of looking at the world are valid; that the counsellor, themselves, is rooted in a culture, and as a result, counselling should be viewed as both a result of and influenced by the wider sociological and cultural strata outside the therapy room (Mcleod, 2016b).

3.0 How best to Understand Yacob: An Integrative Approach

Yacob: The Client

Yacob is a young man in his late 20s from the Midwest area of the United States. He was brought up catholic but left the faith after entering college. Having studied Security Systems and Analysis and worked in the field for three years, Yacob made contact with a Santo Daime group in the United Kingdom in early 2018 and moved to Ireland with his girlfriend and experimenting with Ayahuasca in Brazil. He is coming to therapy to find himself, and find a new career perspective, but during his first session starts talking about his use of Ayahuasca in Brazil. We will use the ways paradigm as described by (Stewart-Sicking, Deal, & Fox) as the basis for our examination.

Yacob: The Way of Understanding

During his therapy Yacob introduces the subject of his adventures with Ayahuasca, notably the so called “visions” he received. He is in part inspired by the experienced, but still has not, in his words, fully integrated the experience.

From a Rogerian viewpoint, notably when we consider the organismic valuing process (Rogers, 1951), one can consider this event as an external control process and could be damaging (Jones, Butman, 2011); the inspiration for his move to Ireland came from the psychoactive and not from an internal valuing process. However, the experience has “activated” his self-actualising tendency in that it has brought him to seek therapy, which as noted by Roger’s is the tendency within all humans to strive towards the good (Rogers, 1967).

Using choice theory, the Ayahuasca experience is not the focus of this analysis. Humans have control over their behaviour and not their past (Wubbolding, 2015b). However, what is revealed is Yaacob’s relationship with his girlfriend, who has also taken Ayahuasca. Unlike Yacob she had no experience when she consumed the psychoactive. This has been causing fiction in the relationship, as she is finding Yacob distant and in the clouds and he has felt the spark in the relationship dim. Here we can see that Yaacob’s “religious experience/mania” has caused a discord in both Yaacob’s and his girlfriend’s Quality World Picture (Glasser, 1985; 1999) in that Ayahuasca is present in one and absent in the other. Further still, we could propose that while his girlfriend’s basic need of love and belonging is being undermined by Yaacob’s behaviour, Yaacob’s overreliance on his power need is getting in the way of his relationship.
It is obvious that Yaacob is still in love with his girlfriend, and still wishes to stay with her. As the conversation deepens, we learn that Yaacob’s has not been in contact with his father since he renounced his catholic beliefs in college. Here, one could propose a similar pattern in the way Yaacob is behaving to his girlfriend if a less extreme example. Given his father’s adherence to his beliefs, we can assume that Yaacob’s current relationship problems is a consequence of his upbringing in a strong, conservative part of the USA (Mcleod 2016b) However, it has been noted that religious adherence is, “associated with optimism and low anxiety,” but that, “a high degree of religious faith (is) was un-related to self-righteousness and social desirability,” (Plante, Saucedo, & Rice 2001, pg 411). Therefore, in this instance this assumption is not born out by the empirical evidence.

When we integrate these theories, one arrives at three separate conclusions as to the actual cause of his religious mania. Hence, from an integrative viewpoint, in this instance, it is better to use PCT CT and MCT as different diagnostic tools to get to the underlining cause of why Yaacob has come to therapy.

Yacob: Way of Being

For Rogers, the cause of mental friction is the incongruence between a client’s self-concept and their ideal self. Furthermore, (Rogers, 1967) notes that conditions of worth, the factors (good or bad) that the clients absorbed from childhood that it believes correlates with its ideal self, are also extremely important. They construct, simply, the latent self-concept. For Yaacob, his conditions of worth are in a negative state given his religious mania. Yet, this was not always the case, and he reports a substantive and warm childhood.

One could argue here that Yaacob’s way of being, from a PCT perspective, is in discordance with his ideal self in that he is not getting the positive regard he got from his father as a child (Mcleod, 2016), that relationship being a positive condition of worth that was of benefit to him as a child. As Rogers notes, “when an individual discriminates himself as satisfying another's need for positive regard, he necessarily experiences satisfaction of his own need for positive regard.” (Rogers, 1959. pg.232) Therefore his need of religious belief is a factor of his childhood relationship with his father, who would bring him to church every Sunday.

The choice theory viewpoint would again focus on how Yaacob is acting in the here and now, building on the PCT interpretation of Yaacob’s conditions of worth. According to (Larry, 2013, pg. 43) “people who do not have their needs fulfilled…may turn to negative and destructive activities.” Could Yaacob’s need for love and belonging be a consequence of his father’s paternal religiosity, which was disrupted by his entry into college? While it may not be true to say that Yaacob’s religious mania was caused by his Ayahuasca experience, the coming home to a spiritual exercise could be an attempt to regain his basic need for love of his father. Hence, Yaacob, within a psychoactive induced experience, is feeling in accordance with his QWP, but is not thinking or acting in a manner that is creating good relationships, which is what Glasser notes is a primary cause of mental disturbance (Glasser, 1998)

Adopting a worldview that incorporates different types of treatment modalities allows a MC therapist to comprehend Yaacob’s current belief view. For instance, its been observed that incenses and ointments brunt in Jewish Christian religious ceremonies have “a broad range of enzyme inhibitors and psychoactive components with mood-altering…properties” (Nemu, 2019, pg.127), indicating that there is some synergy between Yaacob’s Ayahuasca experimentation and his traditional catholic upbringing; namely the rights of passages of the catholic sacraments. A MC therapist can also interpret Yaacob’s Religious Mania, or over committal to his Ayahuasca experience, as a form of spiritual materialism (Trungpa, 2002); this being where a client co-opts “spiritual meanings and practices in the service of the material life of the self” (Gould, 2006, pg.65)

Yacob: Way of Intervening

For the PCT therapist, and in simple terms, therapy is the application of the core conditions which allow the client’s organismic valuing process to orientate themselves through a positive locus of evaluation (Rogers,1959; Mcleod, 2016). The therapist should not judge or contradict Yaacob’s religious experience; one could argue that the experience is positive as it connects Yaacob to his father. Indeed, during the therapy, Yaacob lets slip that his girlfriend “kinda already figure that out,” indicating that he is aware that his experience, while important to him, is out vetoed by his broken relationship to his partner.

Again, choice theory can be integrated into this reasoning too. While (Glasser, 1998) would not focus, in the session, on the Ayahuasca experience, CT would focus on Yaacob’s current behaviour (Wubbolding, 2015). Namely, the religious mania, which, as offered above, is an inflation of a spiritual experience with one’s self-worth (Trungpa, 2002). Indeed, while CT is a purely behavioural therapy, the therapist’s interpretation that Yaacob could be obsessing over the Ayahuasca while concurrently disintegrating his relationship with his girlfriend. Indeed if Yaacob’s need for Love and belonging is the cause of his attachment to the experience of Ayahuasca, his goal should be his need for love and belonging (Glasser, 2005) and it would follow that the therapist and Yaacob would strategize how to reconnect with his father (Glasser, 1998).

In choice Theory (Glasser, 1998) and Person Centred (Rogers, 1957, 1959, 1967) the idea of external control is of extreme import; the proper functioning of an individual comes from being guided by the I and not the other. However, we must be cognisant of the limitation of CT and PCT’s explanatory power. Furthermore, in treating Yacob through a MC lens we must be deeply aware that he is still a religious individual and, after pursing a reunification with his father, still pursues his worship albeit without fixation upon the Ayahuasca experience. It is also worth mentioning that the wisdom traditions notably Buddhism (Trungpa, 2002) and Christianity (Ware, 1993) have methods of dealing with what Buddhism would call spiritual materialism or what may be described as Glossolalia (Hempel, et al, 2002). While it is beyond the reach of a MC therapist to possess God like omniscience in intrinsic detail pertaining to all religious, cultural, and mystical forms of healing, one final observation in the case of Yaacob could be that, within the proper theological setting, under the right guidance, his religious mania may not have spiralled out of control. The question that follows for all MC therapist to ask is can they, or should they, replicate this type of spiritual mentorship?

The Strengths and Weaknesses of this Approach

Strengths

What is of note, from an integrative perspective, is the ability for each theory to support the other. While CT and PCT place diverse emphasis on the treatment within the session—(Glasser, 1998) would note that humour and the present moment are at the foremost for example—both theories were able to highlight the maladaptive nature of religious experience. Indeed, the external nature of the experience was masking what was, we could postulate, an inherent childhood condition of worth. A Freudian view would support this, albeit designating the attraction towards religious beliefs “an illusion…little more than a symptom of alienated needs,” (Kirsner, 2006, pg. 361)

We can go further and say by the amalgamation of CT/PCT and MCT through an integrated model gives therapists several explanatory tools to diagnosis and treat clients, whereas a psychoanalytical viewpoint is limited a, by its time and b, by its treatment modalities. Indeed, Integral Theory, as espoused by Ken Wilber (Wilber, 2005) is one such example of how taking a multidiscipline view can offer a particular perspective that is not limited by the epistemological frame inherent in any one theory. Indeed, an understanding into the auspices of spiritual materialism was key in helping Yaacob see past his religious mania/religious experience.

Weakness

There is however a problem with this integratory field, namely its assumption that the human being is oriented towards Good. Indeed, as (Freud, 1963) observed, the ego is not the master of its own house let alone is a civilisation the master of its own soul. Although Yaacob was able to realise that it was his father’s love that was missing, CT, for instance, was limited by its fixation on the future. It was never revealed why Yaacob broke with his father, as it is only an assumption that the fracture occurred because Yaacob lost his faith during his college years. From a psychoanalytical point of view, if a condition of worth is based upon a shared religious faith then is that not a factor of external control? If through PCT, Yaacob returned to this relationship because it is a positive condition of worth, where does the girlfriend fit into the equation? Indeed, one could offer the interpretation that the religious mania is a neurosis, and the integrative model facilitated a regression back to the father figure (Sandler, & Sandler, 1994).

There is also the question of Yaacob’s finding himself? Is this a function of his behaviour, or is it the result of his organismic valuing process? How in this integrative system is homeostasis measured? Further still, the focusing on Yaacob’s childhood left open his relationship to his mother. Why is it that he never mentioned her?

The Most Basic of Needs

To return to Yaacob’s girlfriend, where is she now in this integrative model given that Yaacob has replaced her with his father? Following a conceptual image of bliss, or wherever the organismic valuing process leads to, may be a form of “healing” but what about the other? One of the failings of this integrative excessive was addressing the girlfriend’s, and Yaacob’s basic desires. In other words, Yaacob’s sexual partnership with her.

One must wonder if the integrative model lacks this basic aspect of human biology, namely that the conditions of worth and the QWP are rooted in human sexuality and not it within them. One cannot overlook basic instincts and replace them as being secondary to a QWP or an organismic valuing process. To quote (Lamarre, 2006, “The solution to the constituent lack of human sexuality is Platonic sex, that is…sex with images, a kind of safe sex in which people don’t touch…a play with surfaces” (pg.58).

This is not to say that CT and PCT lack explanatory power. This essay gives one such example as to how both can be utilised to bring a troubled soul home, and the speculation above is still conjecture. However, humans are biological entities first and foremost, not just behaviours and not just oriented towards good.

Conclusion

While, as expressed above, there are problems with the integrative model, it was noted that a greater awareness of multicultural ideas was paramount in conceptualising the root of Yaacob’s religious mania/experience. Uniquely, CT and PCT were able to bring to awareness Yaacob’s conditions of worth which and set him on a better path, reconciliation with his father. PCT and CT worked successfully with each other, aiding each other and highlighted a possible framework whereby PCT and CT can serve as worthwhile theories of integration.

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Isn't it funny how the things in life we want most are those we objectively find time to avoid?

Endless hours browsing facebook/twitter/youtube for interesting and altogether pointless how to videos.

Like a car alarm going off in the distance, the gnawing motive to move and to create is an unending clamor...until silenced.

So to move ahead. Find peace. Make joy and happiness flow from the tip of a pen, the hair of a brush, or the point of a blade. Whatever floats your boat.

Do it!

This is the text of an essay I did a while ago back on the topic of Persona 4 and role playing. I'm posting this here to give you an idea of how think fantasy characters offer us an intresting doorwary into playing with the imaginal world. Looking back on it now there is a lot I'd change about it. First being flow, given I had to cut a lot of stuff out for word count. But maybe in my next post I'll take this apart from my view 5 years in the future.

Please note that I've had to remove the images from this essay. Enjoy.

Homosexuality, Gender Identity and the Japanese Persona: A Case Study into the Engagement of Players by LGBTQ subject matter within Persona Four (Golden)

This case study looks as the particulars of player engagement surrounding the characters of Persona4 that demonstrate LGBTQ elements. An in-depth examination of player’s engagement with the homosexual elements of Kanji Tatsumi and the gender identity of Naoto Shirogane was enacted. Conclusions drawn indicate that the player was not engaging with LGBTQ subject matter but with a Japanese value system that rested beneath the LGBTQ elements. Further examination into the area of Japanese games and player engagement was recommended.

Engagement?

The word “engagement” is a difficult term to apply to a subjective field, such as video gaming, made ever more arduous when we consider that no two players “engagement” is similar (Schønau-Fog, and Bjørner, 2012). However, there are two observable selves partaking in the engagement, the actual-self (the inherent state of mind) and the ideal-self (the fantastical state of mind) (Przybylski et all, 2012). Or, in simpler terms, the person the player is and the persona the player wants to be.

It is the engagement by this ideal-self—which is metaphorical construct created by primarily by the game—with two characters Persona Four characters that are of particular intrigue.

LGBTQ: The narrative, or a narrative device.

Homosexuality, and a lesser extent Gender Identity, remains difficult subjects to discuss without some element of hostility, especially within Japanese media and society (Hidaka, and Operario, 2006) even though Yaoi, Yuri and other such LGBTQ sub-genres are present within Japanese media (Gingold, 2015). Nonetheless, within Japan and Japanese main-stream video game and media production, LGBTQ inclusivity is still an area of great contention. (Mackin, 2016)

From western viewpoint, LGBTQ matters have, such in the case of J. Edgar Hoover, been used as a method of weaponizing civil distaste (Potter, 2006) In modern times the decry for more inclusive “spaces” has been the catalyst for a quantum leap in representation within media, music and political life. The current representation for the LGBTQ community is around 6.4 percent and 7.3 percent, for Fox and ABC for in-house productions (Sidahmed, 2016). It is with this mindset that we must approach this subject matter with a level of brevity, and an element of understanding, for Asian values that are not comparable with western beliefs.

Methodology

For this discussion, we are making a clear distinction between in-country Japanese games, that often have LGBTQ content, and mass market games that are exported to a wider audience outside of Japan of which P4 is a member. This case study will examine the homosexual elements of Kanji Tatsumi and the gender identity of Naoto Shirogane with a particular focus on the type of engagement by the player. We will study the players engagement and the context of that engagement by asking, “Do players engage with the LGBTQ content presented by Persona Four.”

Research: Kanji Tatsumi

Presentation of Argument

Persona 4 is both a dungeon crawler, such as the “Binding of Isaac” and “Pokémon”, and a social simulator (a mix between a visual novel such as Steins;Gate and “The Sims.” The player’s personas, his weapons to fight the shadows within the dungeons, are created by fusing to particular personas together to make a stronger “persona.” Each persona is attributed a trump card of the tarot deck, ie, the Fool, Death, Strength. Each trump card is attributed to a NPC with which the player can increase his social link for an increase EXP bonus when fusing his personas. The social link, which can be ranked up by choosing various dialogue options after “making time” to see a respective character, levels up from naught to ten.

By “levelling up” the personas the player’s gaming experience becomes more engaging. This “power creep” is often linked to a higher sense of enjoyment (Hamari, & Keronen, (2017) and narcissism (Kim, Namkoong, & Kim, 2008); a higher-level character is, statistically, better than a lower level character and rewards the player with easier game play. However, as with all social links in P4, the player must engage socially with the NPCs to increase his social link level. The “motivation” of developing an engaging dialogue, however, which is required to advance Kanji’s social link, is not necessarily linked narcissism.


Players have the choice to talk to Kanji and have to seek out contact with Kanji as his social link, unlike previous characters, is not activated without player approval indicating a certain amount of prior interest in his character (Christy, and Fox, 2016). Of course, Kanji’s social link involves him navigating his “supposed” sexuality through a narrative format which brings a level of subjectivity that is difficult to research but being able to identify with a fictional character similar to oneself has been correlated with narrative enjoyment” (Van Looy et all, 2012).

There has to be a level of interest in Kanji’s story as Kanji’s sexual questioning is left open after the completion of his dungeon. The player must therefore seek him out to discover the end.

Persona 4 is a persuasive game in a persuasive medium that engages players by its deep social interactions and having “that what which the player can identify with” to captivate the player (Christy, and Fox, 2016, pg.xx). In this case, Kanji’s sexual identity, is an obvious identifier of which players can be motivated to engage with as their ideal self (Przybylski et all, 2012). The player and Kanji spend time together, reflecting on his sexual identity until, at the end of Kanji’s social link, Kanji accepts his thanksgiving and thanks the player “for being there for him.”

Rebuttal of Argument

The disagreement is as follows: How do we know that players have engaged with Kanji because of his sexuality?

The rebuttal is as follows. It is difficult to discern a good narrative experience objectively without incorporating another scale outside of engagement. For example: In the case of P4, what makes Chei Satonaka’s (a primary P4 heroine) social link—her story of her disillusionment with her femininity—a less engaging experience than Kanji’s?
Kanji’s popularity, in some quarters, is because of his deviant sexuality (Youngblood, 2013) but when viewed through the prism of engagement, there is little evidence for this summation as P4 is an archetypal narrative of traditional Japanese values (Dwulecki, 2017).

Video games are engaged, if not exclusively but to a large extent, as a form of entertainment (McGonigal, 2011) through which a story is told. The ideal self is, fundamentally, an ideal which is illusionary in real life and only pseudo real within the game world, “…players who felt a wide distance between who they were and who they would like to be…” (Przybylski et all, 2012, pg.74). The ideal-self, in relation to the player, is a construct by the game developer rather than the player’s perceived self.

Therefore, the distinction between engagement and entertainment is derived from that which motivates the player to partake in Kanji’s story and not necessarily the content of his story. This is further complicated by P4s romancing system which allows the player, as a Japanese male, to choose which of his social links to date; a system within which it is impossible to date a male character. This is further complicated by the slanderous—though typical—presentation of gay-culture in Japan (Hidaka and Operario, 2006) of Kanji’s dungeon “Steamy Bathhouse” within which Kanji sexuality is treated quite viciously.

(Youngblood, 2013, pg.xx) describes Kanji as disrupting, “the normative homosocial space inhabited by the player avatar and his friends.” This argument is difficult to maintain when Kanji’s sexuality is treated so poorly. This is the anthesis of what is perceived to be the progressive nature of the LGBTQ movement (Piercestream, 2014). Therefore, it seems peculiar how one can engage with Kanji along LGBTQ values when this ludonarrative dissonance—whereby the game mechanics are mismatched against a game’s narrative—is occurring (Seraphine, 2016).

Naoto Shirogane (Engagement of “Gender Identity”)

Presentation of Argument

As mentioned above, P4 allows the player to romance female characters. Yet, Naoto appears, in the beginning sections of the game as a male detective investigating the murder cases in Inba. Further in the narrative she is revealed as being biologically female. Naoto’s social link details her confusion over her gender identity and her use of a male persona to carry on the family detective lineage.

Naoto’s gender questioning is not unusual. Children and gamers do engage with identity exploration in video games (Olson, 2010; Kafai, Fields, and Giang 2009) From a Jungian perspective, which is a major theme of P4, it possible to explain the experiential “playing” with a different gender as the conceptualisation—or the creation of a persona that has the characteristics—of one’s ideal partner, be it male or female (Kast, 2006). This is often expressed in fiction. The creation, and engagement with that fiction, wherein which the characteristics of the anima or animus ideal self can form via a gender-neutral character. This is very much the case from the viewpoint of Naoto’s route. Indeed, from a LGBTQ standpoint, the representation of gendering questioning characters has increased in recent years (Cole, Shaw, and Zammit, 2017).

Naoto, like Kanji, is rated highly amongst P4 players (SmashStrike, 2014). But the level of engagement the player can enact with her is wider in scope than Kanji. Players can romance her and choose her over all other female NPCs to be “their girlfriend.” Again, a deep—though fictional—motivational attachment to Naoto motivates the player to develop his/her skill points until Naoto will start to engage with them allowing for a level of engagement along relationship grounds (Dalisay et all, 2015)

Rebuttal of Argument

While the argument has been made that Naoto represents a form of “gender fluidity,” Naoto only adopts a male “persona” because, from a narrative perspective, she must be a man to be a detective.
Again, gender-bending in video games is quite common (Lee and Hoadley, 2007). However, Japanese media is targeted towards young women as a method of presenting their traditional places within society (Saito, 2014). Japanese media is, to some degree, a reflection of “not what you want to be” but what “society wants you to be” (Dwulecki, 2017).

This is where the perceived sense of her gender questioning is oft-set by the player’s eventual engagement with Naoto. Indeed, by completing Naoto’s social link the player unlocks the ability to see her in female school clothing and become her girlfriend. Regardless of this “reinforcing gender stereotypes” or not, it is an archetypal narrative of traditional Japanese values (Ono, and Yamada 2016). Japan values conformity over the individual, the traditional marriage over same-sex marriage (Brewer, 2014).

This is hardly a message of an “gender identity” but direct engagement with the Japanese zeitgeist (Barancovaitė-Skindaravičienė, 2013), a direct transferal of Japanese values onto the player or Japanese soft-power in action (Chambers, 2012). In essence, the engagement is not with LGBTQ values, it is with Japanese values. Again, another case of ludonarrative dissonance (Seraphine, 2016). Again, players are not engaging with the LGBTQ content, (Piercestream. 2014) but—by completing Naoto’s route—partaking in the game’s inherent goal which is to “communicate persuasively Japanese values,” (Dwulecki, 2017, pg.109).

Discussion and Conclusion

Naoto Shirogane

Our hypothesis is proven wrong in this case. The player is not engaging with LGBTQ content, rather they are engaging with the inherent value system espoused by traditional and conservative Japanese values, which run contrary to the progressive policy of the LGBTQ movement (Equaldex. 2017). In summary, the ideal-self—in this respect the player acting out in the game world through protagonist of P4—is not a construct of the player, but of the game.

Kanji Tatsumi

The term engagement is difficult to apply in this sample. Homosexual men cannot engage with Kanji to the same extent, ie via the romancing system, as heterosexual men can with the contingent of female characters. Indeed, if they have engaged, it could be merely a result of the game mechanics and not of Kanji’s sexuality. Our hypotheses in this regard is unclear. Yes, engagement has taken place. Yes, engagement has taken place with Kanji. But because of his sexuality, or lack thereof, this remains unanswered.

Limitations and Conclusions

Our research is limited by its method and its scope. Examining a topic as wide as LGBTQ thermology and engagement is too broad an experiment to be properly examined in this case study. Further research into the area, particularly between the link between Japanese media and a western audience, is required.

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