In CMT, psychopathology stems
from pathogenic beliefs that typically
originate from traumatic childhood
experiences. Pathogenic beliefs are believed
to be an attempt at adaptation to the life
circumstances of the given moment. A person's
response to trauma, no matter how dramatic or
subdued, and his or her propensity to develop
pathogenic beliefs in response to it, is
influenced by a variety of factors. These
factors include the basic personality of the
individual, the well-being of those around
them, the specific nature of the trauma, and,
of course, and social context. Pathogenic
beliefs are powerful, emotion-laden, painful
belief structures that can cause severe
emotional distress.
CMT theory believes that people are highly
motivated to relinquish or disconfirm their
pathogenic beliefs, but are impeded from
doing so by their perceptions of danger.
Pathogenic beliefs are conscious and
unconscious 'anticipatory ideas' that derive
from traumatic childhood experiences which
then are constantly repeated in new
relationships throughout a person's life.
However, disconfirmation of pathogenic
beliefs can happen in love relationships,
friendships, work relationships or the
therapeutic relationship (Silberschatz, 2005).
As we turn our attention to the Depth
Psychology theory of the complex, we will see
many similarities that allow for a beautiful
'in tandem' use of the two theories. For
Depth Psychology it is the complex that
blocks our connection to the healing and
fulfilling feelings redolent in the psyche.
"They are instigated by interpersonal
traumata like emotional abandonment, sexual
abuse, and lack of adequate mirroring, and
then they grow by gathering associations of a
similar nature around themselves and by
binding them to the core of the complex with
emotion" (Stein, 1996). It takes no stretch
of cognition to see the clear link with CMT
theory.
The complexes can result in an eventual
build-up like a psychic barrier between the
ego and the deeper, instinctive/archetypal
levels of the psyche. It is this barrier
layer of complexes that can severely block
the healing compensations of the natural
psyche from reaching ego consciousness.
According to Jungian theory, 'compensation'
is the "self-regulatory dynamic process
whereby ego-consciousness and the
unconsciousness seek homeostatic balance,
which also foster - - - the progressive movement
toward wholeness" (Stein, 1998). For example,
if we are too stressed and over-worked, but
continue to forge ahead and consciously deny
that we are out of balance and overly
stressed our unconscious might send us a
dream wherein a murderer is blowing up the
office and we must flee for our lives away
from work and towards an ocean beach. This
hypothetical example suggests that we are not
paying enough attention to emotional,
non-work related aspects of our lives, and
thus the dream attempts to create a balancing
effect in the psyche. The intent of which is
to be made conscious and compensated for in
the waking life. Much like CMT pathogenic
beliefs which can cut one off from a
naturally fulfilling outlook and functioning
in life, complexes can create 'fracture
points' in the structure of the developing
ego. In these cases, developing consciousness
is disturbed and the integration of
experience is blocked. This may foster the
chronicity of defensive and neurotic psychic
patterns, and block the client from the
fuller, balanced expression of the underlying
archetypal power, the expression of which
leads one towards health, wholeness and
balance of the psyche.
Again, complexes and pathogenic beliefs share
many attributes. Complexes are the result of
"life", and the more pathological and
disturbing are usually caused by early
childhood trauma or thwarted developmental
experiences. Complexes can arise out of the
relationship between the experience, context,
feeling of safety and an attempt to
understand and adapt to the life situation.
The form a complex takes varies from person
to person depending on several factors. Some
of these factors are shared with CMT theory
and, again, some move beyond it to postulate
a deeper vision of the psyche beyond just the
function of psychotherapy. These shared
factors include: the personality of the
individual, several temperamental variables
(including Jung's typologies), the specific
nature of the trauma, and, of course, the
familial, social, geographical, cultural and
temporal contexts (Stein, 1996). Where Depth
Psychology moves beyond CMT theory is in its
more philosophical type of psychological
theorizing. Complexes engender intense
emotions and are mental and "spiritual" by
nature since they connect us to the larger,
underlying archetypal pattern that goes
beyond the individual.
Depth Psychology theory also supports the
belief that people are highly motivated to
resolve complexes. Among several aspects of
the psyche, two prominent aspects are the
'ego' and the "Self'. The "ego" is the center
of consciousness, the "I", and the "Self" is
the center and the source of all archetypal
images and of innate tendencies toward
structure, order, and integration. Since the
ego and the Self are on the same axis, it is
the nature of the psyche to compensate for
unhealthy behaviors, thoughts, and feelings
by moving the person towards the
rectification and healing, and thus the
empowerment, of the archetypal pattern and
experience. However, the complex is not
necessarily viewed as "negative" per se, but
as mythological, even mythopoetic in some
Depth Psychology theories, but it is always
an integral part of the healing and journey
of individuation. In this instance
'mythopoetic' is the exact opposite of the
medical model 'pathological'. Where
pathological means something is wrong or
diseased and needs to be fixed or healed,
mythopoetic respects the hardships and
mental/emotional struggles as a divine and
intended part of the individual's journey
towards individuation and life fulfillment.
Where pathological is seen as purely
negative, mythopoetic views struggle as
inherent and necessary. Thus our difficulties
are used to compel us towards betterness, not
to mark us as evil, broken or diseased.
Thus, like pathogenic beliefs, the complexes
are conscious manifestations of unconscious
experience. The negative behavior of a
complex can be repeated over and over again
if the individual does not become aware of
the sometimes subtle messages from the psyche
in dreams, synchronicities and relationships.
Depth Psychology believes we are constantly
presented with opportunities to move towards
individuation which is, "the process of
psychic development that leads to the
conscious awareness of wholeness" (Stein,
1998). Also, similar to CMT, Depth Psychology
emphasizes that these opportunities to
resolve the negative complexes and neurosis
are available at every moment. However we
must learn how to become aware of and utilize
the tools that the psyche provides.
Next time I will wrap up the discussion with
a look at CMT "testing" and Depth
Psychological "countertransference" types.
This will give us a little deeper window into
how the therapist can use both of the
theories together in a harmony that helps
define the nature of the work as well as
create a safe and positive healing space for
the client.
