The Psychology of Our WorkThe field of psychology is broad and far reaching, and there has been a vast amount of theoretical and applied research integrated into current therapeutic practice. Our desire is to highlight the varied and numerous sources of psychological study and practice that underpin Prime Potential®, and to acknowledge the work of some of the great pioneers who have contributed so much to our knowledge and work with people.
Choice TheoryChoice Theory, developed by Dr. William Glasser, provides a powerful understanding of how the human system works. Glasser identified that we have specific genetic needs which we are trying to meet on an ongoing basis, and that each of our behaviours is simply an attempt to meet those needs. Because those behaviours are goal-oriented, intended to "get us what we want," they are always internally generated. Even when someone is doing what you want them to do, it will be because it is need-satisfying for them to do so. This challenges the way many people think and many institutions operate. It is still very common to believe you can "make" someone do something, or not do something, and that external rewards or punishments work.
The diagrams below show the needs that we each have.
In this diagram, the needs are orbiting around the need for "Survival," which at first glance would seem to make sense. Survival—physical or psychological—is often perceived as the "fundamental" need. There are many examples, however, where humans will actually put other needs ahead of survival (a parent protecting a child, high-risk fun activities, etc.)—or we opt to not survive at all (suicide, eating disorders, etc). What actually happens when survival takes center-stage is that the nervous system is constantly on alert for anything that appears to threaten any of the needs, and then re-codes that threat as an attack upon basic survival. When we feel our survival is at risk, we often look outside ourselves for the solution and a sense of control.
Dr. Glasser has written extensively on the destruction that occurs when people try to control others in order to meet one's own needs, be it parents and children, teachers and students, husbands and wives or bosses and employees. This trajectory always ends in misery, yet people often feel there is no other option.
In this diagram, the needs are orbiting around "Authentic Identity," survival having been shifted from the central focus of life to simply "one-among" the cluster of basic needs. Once the centre of your world, so to speak, is your own core essence, rather than a constant fight for survival, you are on much more solid ground. No longer does your sense of safety, value, and well-being rest on the external world. It’s now an inside job. This is the shift that Prime Potential® assists people in making.
Satir Family TherapyVirginia Satir, through her pioneering work with families, recognized that we begin to form an identity starting as very young children, which she called the "ideal self." This is the "good" version of ourselves that we are trying to live up to. Ultimately, we all fail because it's actually impossible to live up to this idealized version of ourselves. Failing then propels us into shame and guilt, and the never ending cycle goes on.
Prime Potential® builds on this understanding of the manner in which we form our identity. The work goes further into identifying the way in which all of our experiences are coded into the central nervous system, and, subsequently, from these varied experiences, the "constructed" identity is built layer upon layer. Anything that triggers fear in our system will then activate our coping patterns and we move into protection mode, be it fight, flight, or freeze. Stepping out of the "constructed Identity" is only possible if your system knows there is something else—something safe—to take its place. Experiencing your Authentic Identity is the reassurance the system needs to begin releasing its grip. Helping the body do this releasing is also an essential part of Prime Potential®. It is not enough to know intellectually that you are safe; you need to experience this in your body.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)The field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, provides rich resources in helping us understand the way in which experiences are stored in the brain, and the manner in which those experiences effect how we create our personal reality. The timeline technology, the process of tracking through time how your experiences are recorded, provides the amazing tools to locate points of shock or trauma in the nervous system.This is a critical part of the Prime Potential process, in which trauma is located and released in the nervous system.
The BodyTalk System™"BodyTalk," developed by Dr. John Veltheim, pioneered new ways of working with the body to assist it in deeply realigning into healthy, life sustaining patterns. Dr. Veltheim believed that, "the key element in maintaining health in the body is reestablishment of communication between all systems and parts of the body." His work opened the door to a different way of understanding healing, and Prime Potential® has incorporated some of this new perspective in its powerful process of releasing trauma in the system. Once this release occurs, the system has an opportunity to shift to a new foundation for the identity, an identity not based on lack or neediness, but rather based on wholeness and peace.
The Power of Prime Potential®The power of Prime Potential® exists in the incorporation of multi-modalities into a powerful and truly holistic process. Clients have an opportunity to cognitively understand "why their system is holding onto fear" and "how they are sabotaging themselves," (constrictions) even as they try to move forward. Releasing these constrictions in the body, along with all the coping patterns they have developed to keep the fear in check, allows the body to finally reset it's way of operating to one of ease and flow. This sets the stage for clients access their own authentic identity and unique essence.
Many people have experienced moments of ease, flow, and grace, and even a sense of who they authentically are, but have been unable to stabilize these moments into a true way of being. Even profound moments of transformation or bliss will not integrate into a solid foundation if there is fear in the nervous system continually reactivating the old coping patterns.
The experience of resetting the nervous system is needed, to provide the space into which the authentic identity can truly take root, and become the ground upon which they stand and experience all of life.
Prime Potential's® reliance upon solid psychological models is one of our greatest strengths. We'd love to show you more about how this exciting technology can impact a wide range of emotional barriers and constraints that hold us back from living the life we've always of which we've dreamed.