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The whole experience of
discovering Creative Self and Creating Relationship by using Creative
Interventions is based on the foundation of my Growth Oriented Humanistic
Philosophy. I have discovered that philosophy while working in different
hospitals in different provinces of Canada in different clinical settings.
It is also in harmony with my Humanistic Philosophy that I try to practice
in my personal life. In a mysterious way they complement each other. Some
of the characteristics of such a philosophy are as follows:
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GROWTH IS A NATURAL PROCESS
I believe
that each child is born with a certain potential. The whole struggle and
enjoyment is to manifest that potential. Growth is a natural process. It
is like a seed of a plant; if it has optimum warmth, moisture, fresh air
and sunshine it will grow to be a healthy tree. In the same way if human
infants are provided with the optimum nurturing environment physically,
emotionally, intellectually and socially, then they will grow to be
healthy and mature adults. The problems arise when the environment is
either deficient or restrictive and growth is hampered or retarded. The
essence of humanistic psychotherapy is that two or more individuals are
involved in joint encounters to understand and change the restricting
factors, thereby minimizing the negative influences which are causing
unnecessary pain and suffering. At that point the growth of the client can
continue to its maximum. I believe that therapy is a process of growth for
both client and therapist. I have learned so much from my clients that I
dedicated my latest book to them. I feel most therapists generally do not
acknowledge how much they themselves grow in therapy with their clients.
2. HEALTH IS MORE VALUABLE THAN ILLNESS
It has been my observation that most
therapists and patients are far more pre-occupied with illness-related
issues than health-related issues. Most of the time in therapy is
utilized in discussing signs, symptoms, problems and weaknesses.
I feel that
if are trying to help our patients lead a healthier lifestyle, then
alongside trying to control the symptoms, we can also focus on the
healthier parts of their lives and encourage those aspects. I usually try
to explore the conflict-free areas of their lifestyles and creative
aspects of their personalities. I have observed repeatedly that as
conflict-free and creative aspects grow in a person, the unhealthy areas
recede and go into the background.
3. THE FUTURE IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE PAST
Most of the
therapists I have met who belong to the psychoanalytic school of
psychotherapy, seemed to be pre-occupied with the past while those
therapists who are inspired by the existentialist school of psychotherapy
emphasize the present.
I feel
tomorrow is as important as yesterday and we are always in the transition
from being to becoming. During my initial interviews I
usually inquire about my patients?? desires, wishes and dreams and then try
to focus of their future goals. I feel that once goals are well defined,
realistic plans can be made to achieve those goals.
In therapy
I like to deal with only that part of past which has become a stumbling
block in achieving a healthy future. I feel freedom for a happy
tomorrow is as important as freedom from an unhappy yesterday.
4. HUMAN BEINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT, PROFESSIONAL DISCIPLINES AND THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES
I am quite aware that most
of us as mental health professionals carry our personal and professional
biases with us depending upon which school of thought and discipline we
belong to and which techniques we are more comfortable and efficient
with but I firmly believe that if we have a humanistic attitude towards
therapy and an opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary team with a
democratic spirit, then we can transcend our biases and have treatment
plans that will be the best for our patients and their families. I feel
that if we combine different professionals from different orientations
with different forms of therapy, we can come up with unique programs to
serve our patients.
5. EXPERIENCES ARE MORE AUTHENTIC THAN
THEORIES
Although I am a great
admirer of those philosophers and theoreticians who offer conceptual
frameworks to explain different phenomena, I still feel that human
experiences are always ahead of theories. Human experiences are complex,
profound and multi-dimensional and any one theory can only capture only
certain aspects of those theories. Theories try to explain the present
in the light of the past while human life is moving forward all the time
towards unknown destinations. That’s why many theories become of mainly
historical evidence after a while. As the human condition evolves the
clinical pictures change. We need new theories to explain new phenomena
but I believe that human experiences will always be ahead of our
conceptual frameworks. Ideally both should go hand in hand but in
reality experiences lead the theories.
6. A CRISIS CAN BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GROW
Working as a part of Crisis
Intervention Team for a number of years and assessing hundreds of men
and women in crisis I became aware that most people associate the
experience of crisis with pain, suffering, turmoil and heartache. They
usually have a negative view about it. I believe that if people are
strong enough emotionally to recover from the crisis or they have
friends, relatives, colleagues or therapists to help them go through the
turbulent phase, a crisis can become an opportunity to grow. Since the
conventional methods of coping do not work, people find creative ways to
deal with their problems. I met quite a few people who had a higher
level of existence and a better quality of life after the crisis than
they had before.
7. WORKING TOGETHER IS MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN
WORKING ALONE
Working in the mental
health system for a number of years, I have realized that administrators
of the hospitals, therapists, patients, their families and social
agencies are interconnected with invisible threads. On many occasions I
have noticed that a lot of time and energy was wasted when the lines of
communication broke down and different parts of the system started
functioning in isolation. I feel that coordination and cooperation is
crucial to set the priorities for the system. There are always
differences of opinion but if an atmosphere of genuine dialogue
prevails, time and energy is wasted and the system provides a better
health care involvement.
Such an
atmosphere is extremely crucial for difficult to manage patients and the
ones that are historically called ‘ revolving door patients’ because they
are quite needy and their needs are not met by one system alone whether it
is family, hospital, addictions, legal or social services. That is why
until there is coordination of services and continuity of care, such
patients keep on suffering, costing the system a lot of money, time and
energy.
8. LIVING IN COMMUNITY MORE NATURAL THAN
LIVING IN INSTITUTIONS
It appears as though in the
last two hundred years North America has gone through a number of phases
in caring for the mentally ill. In the nineteenth century when a large
number of mentally sick people were living on the streets and were
without food and shelter and proper care, concerned citizens, health
care professionals and politicians agreed to build Asylums. So a number
of psychiatric hospitals were built all over the country and thousands
of patients were looked after there. But gradually it became apparent
that asylums were becoming institutions where only custodial care was
provided. With the advancement in treatments for seriously mentally ill
and human rights movements there was a phase of de-institutionalization
and thousands of very sick patients were discharged. That phenomenon led
to new problems and now once again a large number of ill people are
wandering around in the downtowns of big cosmopolitan cities with
inadequate care. Many of them get charged with petty crimes and spend a
lot of time in jail.
I
believe that although mentally ill people should be cared for in the
community close to their families, that is not possible until housing,
career training programs and social and recreational activities and home
care networks are established. Discharging patients without a better
alternative in unwise. I feel that there will always be a number of people
who would need institutional care, but if community health care services
are well established the number of institutionalized patients will come to
be minimum.
9. CULTURAL SENSITIVITY IS IMPORTANT IN
DEALING WITH IMMIGRANTS AND PEOPLE FROM OTHER CULTURES
Being born and brought up in one culture
and living and practicing psychiatry in another culture, I was always
aware of the cultural differences at a personal and professional level.
It
has been my experience that the training programs of most health care
systems are still not culturally sensitive and that leads to many
unfortunate incidents at work and in therapy. I believe that if students
are trained from a multi-cultural perspective the social and professional
interactions can become not only more productive but also more exciting
and enjoyable. We can all learn so much from people of other cultures.
10. A CHAIN IS AS STRONG AS THE WEAKEST
LINK
I strongly believe that
whether we are patients, family members, health care professionals or
politicians, we are all part of a communal chain and in any society the
chain is as strong as the weakest link. As a Humanist I believe that
people with physical and mental disabilities and illnesses are one of
those weakest links and it is crucial for our society to strengthen
those links. I feel community education and political will to provide
universal health care system are steps in that direction.
I
feel proud working in Canada where some of those values are cherished. I
feel sad to know that In Unite states of America, one of the richest
countries in the world, there are thirty million people without any heath
care insurance and thousands of mentally ill people are in jails because
of the petty crimes they committed during their illness.
I feel
food, shelter, education, voting and free health care are the rights of
all citizens. It is our communal responsibility to look after the sick and
provide the most compassionate and humane treatment that we can offer. I
believe nobody should suffer because of his or her gender, class, ethnic
or religious orientation. Health care should be provided free to all
citizens of he country.
Dear Bette
! I am quite aware that it is not easy to describe one’s philosophy in a
few pages but I wanted to share with you some of the highlights, so that
you can share with me the similarities and differences in our practices
and philosophies. Affectionately Sohail Mar 2002
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