The BE Methodology

Introduction

You will read about a series of techniques that appear to many to be unusual, yet they are effective. I did not start out to create a bizarre set of techniques in order to attract attention. I began by establishing a goal to create a process that would get a result, particularly for people who experienced a childhood that ranged from upsetting to traumatic. The goal reflected the presenting issues of a majority of people in my practice.

The creation of the process was spontaneous. Minutes after establishing my goal, I began writing and the entire process flowed onto page after page of a legal pad. The order and basic process has not changed since it was created in less than two hours in 1982. It has been streamlined a bit and one new technique that facilitated accomplishing one step has been added. Otherwise, the original handwritten "script" could be utilized today.

Remember, as you read this, I lived in California for twenty-five years (and returned in 2001). When I left California in 1989, I passed a sign at the border with Arizona that read, "You are now leaving California, resume normal behavior."

A View of Counseling and the Counseling Process

I am an affective/cognitive/behavioral counselor, focusing first on an affective approach and particularly on a single treatment model. If the specific techniques I commonly employ do not work or are inappropriate, I move to other affective techniques or to a cognitive/behavioral approach.

Early in my experience I was a certified Hypnotherapist and not a licensed therapist. I focused on specific techniques so I would not stray outside the bounds of my process. Another reason for focusing on specific processes is because I worked with Psychotherapy Associates of San Diego, as well as maintaining a relationship with other therapists in San Diego County. They referred people to me based upon their knowledge of the Breakthrough Experience process. A substantial number of licensed therapists and future therapists attended the Breakthrough Experience. One was president of the San Diego Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and another was president of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. The latter subsequently co-facilitated several Breakthrough Experiences and sent his student interns.

What is a Problem?

The presenting problem is what the client says it is. We may redefine the problem in one of two ways. In conversation, I will assist the client to be more specific and concrete. We also continue to redefine the problem each time we meet by asking for assistance from the person’s "unconscious, " which will be explained. The problem, when it is specifically defined, is a discrepancy between the way a person is feeling, thinking and/or behaving, and how they want to feel, think or behave.

The Goal of Counseling

The goal of counseling is to help people function more effectively in the circumstances they are in, unless the circumstances are destructive/dangerous. The goal of my own counseling process is to assist the person to transform their perception of life and living from a view that does not work to a view that works (a view that works helps them stay on purpose in how they have chosen to conduct their life; a view that is viable, not self-destructive; and a view that nurtures their being. The shift in perception leads to a shift in self-esteem (according to research conducted over a six month period in 1985, by Dr. Jo Ann Dewey) and a shift in behavior.

The Counselor’s Role

The role of the counselor is to utilize his/her professional and personal resources to assist the client to arrive at their own result. I believe it is the counselor’s role to structure the treatment process and to follow the lead of the client within that structure. It is also the counselor’s responsibility to recognize when that structure does not work and either help change the structure or refer the client. When following the lead of the client, the counselor should also help the person over barriers and rough spots without redirecting the treatment process nor the client’s goals. A loving shove in the client’s direction can appropriately move someone along their chosen path to recovery or transformation.

The counselor is 100% responsible for the results of counseling. The client is 100% responsible for the results of counseling. Like any relationship, 50-50 does not work (1/2 times 1/2 equals 1/4). Each has a role and total responsibility to perform their role with all of the skill, sensitivity and commitment available at the moment.

Effective Counselor Behaviors

Relationship behaviors are the first consideration. Although I am far from a person-centered therapist (as a model, that is), I do subscribe to Carl Roger’s core conditions of therapy. Empathic understanding, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard are the ingredients for creating a supportive and trusting therapeutic climate.

In addition to establishing a warm, open and accepting environment, the counselor must leave the accurate impression of her/his expertness without communicating that (s)he is a superior person with all of the answers. The counselor should serve as a model of communication in all respects.

In the process I use the most, the counselor is quite active in the course of treatment. This will be evident when I discuss the process in the next section.

Sharing tears, reaching out to touch or to hug (with prior permission), are all appropriate behaviors. Prior permission for any type of touch is always a requirement. I witnessed a woman in a group session jump backwards over the back of a couch when another person approached her with the intention of giving her a hug. It was her first meeting with a "huggy" group. A counselor, with permission, should exchange physical contact in a manner that is comfortable to the counselor. A counselor who is not comfortable sharing a hug, for example, may convey a "withhold" message to someone they hug as a matter of form.

Attentiveness communicates interest in people and in their concerns. Nonverbal behaviors, such as eye contact (with appropriate side glances to avoid staring), leaning toward the person, and smiling and nodding lets them know you are engaged in what they are saying and feeling. Occasional feedback or paraphrasing is appropriate in order to let them know you are on the same track. Some disclosure also communicates you understand them and you can empathize with them.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is dynamic, evolving, and mostly up to the client. The client makes the first diagnosis by committing themselves to the treatment process, or at least showing up at the counselor’s office (unless, of course, they were coerced into seeking treatment by somebody else who made a diagnosis). I listen to their initial diagnosis, ask questions about it, challenge them on it, if appropriate (for the sake of clarity, not for space to impose my point of view), and help them state their issue(s) in very specific terms. From a practical point of view, I eventually discuss a possible label if third party payment is necessary. We also discuss other uses of a mutually agreed upon diagnosis. Together we choose the most appropriate label.

We discuss possible alternative diagnoses as a method of creating a focus on the appropriate issues and setting a goal. However, as soon as we contact the "unconscious" (see the next section) the diagnosis is verified and clarified. At least once during each process and sometimes more than once I check with the "unconscious" to determine if we are still on track.

Diagnosis concerns me because I believe it may be responsible for a measure of mental illness -- or, more accurately, for behavior associated with a particular disorder. Some clients study their label very thoroughly and could unconsciously (or consciously) act out the defined behaviors. "As a man (or woman) thinketh, so is (s)he."