A Simplified Theory of Healing

From the day we are born our brains attempt to make predictions and generalizations about who we are, what the world is, what’s our place in it and how we should then act in it in order to create some sense of predictability and ultimately a greater sense of security. The problem comes down to the fact that the brain doesn't have direct access to reality. It doesn't actually know what “the real world” is. It only knows its inherently biased interpretation of the world. Since feeling safe and secure is the goal, it wants the ability to make predictions about the future. Unfortunately, the data it uses for future modeling are past experiences, primarily the negative, confusing, shameful and scary experiences. That’s because fundamentally this system exists for survival, and it’s these types of experiences that we associate with the lack of survival.  These biases become the filter through which we see life happening in the moment. So instead of experiencing the present, we experience the present through the lens of our negative past experiences. 

To our brains, it doesn’t matter that this system contains errors. It simply matters that we are still alive. So whatever dreams, goals and happiness you wish to achieve quickly becomes secondary as the negative experiences stack up. This becomes problematic in recent history because our negative experiences are rarely life threatening, but our brain still reacts as though our stress is life threatening. So overtime our model of the world becomes the amalgamation of our beliefs, generalizations and mental constructs about who we are and what the world is like. These constructs drive all of our thoughts, emotions, decisions, actions and habits which in turn results in the suffering we experience. 

In my experience, most of the changes that people try to make are on the conscious level, whether it is changing thought patterns, your feelings or using will power to change your behaviors. Most of the time this is  unsuccessful because what's really driving our choices, thoughts, actions and feelings are perceptions. These perceptions are derived by core false beliefs based on negative past experiences. They begin to act like bad coding or malware in our operating systems.  Some of the problems I’ve helped people with are mechanical or biochemical in nature, but the vast majority of problems I’ve seen people struggle with come from  inaccurate perceptions or beliefs about who they are or what the world is. Perceptions and beliefs that limit what they're capable of. Healing comes from changing these belief systems from ones that limit us to ones that empower us. That means transforming your perception of yourself and your attitude about what the world is to one that's more true and more empowering and ultimately more healthy.

Healthy people integrate their past experiences physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually which results in having a more accurate perception of reality and a more edifying view of themselves.