Primary Elements:
Control-Mastery was formulated by Joseph
Weiss, M.D. in the 1960's. The theory Weiss
created is about the origins of
psychopathology and how the patient works in
psychotherapy to overcome his or her problems
and concerns. He proposed that in attempting
to adapt to unhealthy psychological
environments people develop invalid, negative
beliefs about themselves and others that make
them unhappy and prevent them from living
effective and satisfying lives (Weiss,
1993).It is these beliefs that form the basis
of psychopathology.
There are many main ideas in CMT, but the
top two salient elements in this theory are
that people have unconscious control over
their defenses and that people have a wish to
master their problems and unconsciously
organize their behavior in an attempt to do
so. Hence we see the origin of the words
"control" and "mastery" in the title. CMT
assumes that the person has an unconscious
plan to rid themselves of these self-limiting
thoughts. Thus in psychotherapy the
therapist's task is to understand the
patient's unconscious plan to solve his or
her problems and help the patient to carry
out that plan. Most important, CMT is a
theory about psychotherapy, and how, from
this stand point, psychotherapy "works"
(Weiss, 1993).
Depth Psychology has many different
off-shoots and relations. Depth Psychology
comes from the gathering of psychological
theories that refer to the school of
psychology originating from the ideas of
Swiss psychiatrist, Carl G. Jung. Depth
Psychology has been advanced through the
years by others both following and being
actively creative with the theory. Like CMT,
it is distinct from Freudian psychoanalysis,
but also shares many similarities with other
psychoanalytic theories. Depth Psychology
refers to any approach that examines the
depth and the subtle or unconscious parts of
human experience. Depth Psychology explores
underlying motives and approaches various
mental disorders with the belief that these
frames of reference are intrinsically healing
and can lead to wholeness. It seeks the deep
layers underlying behavioral and cognitive
processes.
There are many elements to this theory. The
following are what I believe to be the top
four salient elements of Depth Psychology.
The first is that the psyche contains
conscious and unconscious elements. The
unconscious contains personal, collective and
transpersonal elements and complexes. In this
case the "collective" elements are "more or
less invariant universal fantasies and
patterns of behavior (the archetypes) in an
area of the deep psyche" (Stein, 1998).
Transpersonal elements are those which go
beyond the personal spheres of interest and
move to affect the whole of humanity and our
continued existence. While CMT does not
necessarily concern itself with collective
and transpersonal levels, it certainly meshes
with the Depth Psychological idea that our
psyche is made of conscious and unconscious
elements working sometimes in harmony and
sometimes not.
The second Depth Psychology idea is that
along Jung's proposed continuum of instincts
and archetypes, the psyche is both
"spiritual" and "instinctive" in nature. In
this case the 'instincts' are defined as,
"innate, physically based sources of psychic
energy (or libido) that are shaped and
structured in the psyche by an archetypal
image" (Stein, 1998). The archetypal image
then is, "a psychic pattern, mental or
behavioral, that is common to the human
species. Archetypal images are found in the
dreams of individuals and in cultural
materials such as myths, fairy tales and
religious symbols" (Stein, 1998). Therefore
the psyche naturally generates
mythico-religious symbolism, that is,
symbolism in conjunction with the
above-mentioned archetypal image and related
to the myths and religions of humanity
developed through the ages. The choice is not
whether we are a spiritual person or not, but
where we put our spirituality. Here
spirituality is defined as the connection to
the transformative numinous, not by
religio-dogmatic practice. The transformative
numinous is that emotion and experience that
makes us 'feel' connected to the divine,
however we define it, and changes or
transforms us for the better and towards
wholeness. CMT supports the Depth
Psychological perspective that we have
instincts that allow us to adapt to
situations for better or worse. Depth
Psychology then moves beyond adaptation and
into transformation and wholeness. By
utilizing good CMT approaches in
psychotherapy, the therapist can begin to
unravel the underlying myths that lie at the
core of the client's unhappy and unhealthy
attitudes and behaviors. While Depth
Psychology may frame this as a question of
"spirituality" and/or "individuation", CMT
may frame it as that unconscious knowledge of
each client that leads them to heal
themselves. This is the "mastery" part of the
theory where people have a wish to master
their problems and unconsciously organize
their behavior in an attempt to do just that.
The next two aspects of Depth Psychology
move farther afield of the CMT theory itself.
However, by adopting a therapeutic stance
from a CMT practice of psychotherapy, we are
still able to activate and engage these two
healing aspects. One Depth Psychology belief
is that all people are embedded in
myth-making. Mythology is not defined as old
explanations and worn out stories, but as the
collective richness of human experience. Many
therapies, including the two we are
discussing, are involved in the attainment of
a new perspective and the gaining of insight
into the myths and stories of our lives. With
the help of the therapist, the client can
feel empowered to turn traumatic stories and
events into the living and evolutionary myths
of their endurance and lives. Depth
Psychology would then include a connection to
transpersonal and collective mythologies that
are, again, the shared psyches of humans from
the beginning of our cognitive reality.
Finally Depth Psychology offers the
weltanschauung that we are not separate form
the world/universe around us. Indeed we are
only really whole to the degree that we care
for ourselves, our environment and tend
responsibly to the world in which we live.
For Depth Psychology, analysis is a way to
experience and integrate the unknown,
unconscious material. It is a search for the
meaning of behaviors, symptoms and events.
The therapist's task is to identify the
archetypal complexes that are present,
attempt to assist in the conscious
integration of their meaning, and keep the
client held in a "transformative" and healing
therapeutic relationship. The complex, then,
is defined in the next section on pathology.
While we noted that CMT is a theory about how
psychotherapy works, Depth Psychology is a
theory about fulfillment of potential. Like
CMT, it is concerned with how we can heal
ourselves personally and subjectively.
However Depth Psychology moves beyond CMT,
but not contrary to it, in that it includes
the collective and transpersonal level of the
human psyche and how we can heal the world
beyond ourselves as well. In the next section
we will compare and contrast the idea of
"pathology" from both CMT and Depth
Psychological perspectives.
