FullOfEmpathy
Patron
Many of you have been asking me to get to the "meat" of this discussion, and I thought a good way for me to do that would be to introduce a fairly simple, intuitive, and well-researched concept in cognitive psychological theory, and discuss how it applies to Scientology's practices. This post is in no way meant to be broad, in fact, it is just a small slice used as an exemplar.
OK. So In a previous post, I mentioned Aaron Beck, widely considered to be the father of cognitive psychology. I was trained in a cognitive-behavioral orientation, but for the purposes of this discussion, I will be limiting things to just the cognitive piece.
Beck proposes that the genesis of some psychological disorders (his work spoke specifically to depression, but these concepts can apply to other psychological constructs as well) stems from what he refers to as a 'cognitive triad'. The triad consists of negative thoughts/beliefs about the self, the world, and others.
When someone has thoughts that fall into these three clusters, they can produce depression; depression can be characterized as a cluster of symptoms that cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning. These may include (to varying degrees, and to be depressed, you need not have all of them--you can refer to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for further clarification) the following: significant increase/decrease in sleep, anhedonia, guilt, significant decrease in energy, poor/decreased concentration, appetite changes (significantly increased or decreased), psychomotor agitiation, and suicidal thoughts.
From what I have read, Scientology encourages thoughts/beliefs in all three of these clusters, and I have given some brief examples below:
1) Negative thoughts/beliefs about self:
"If I'm not improving/getting wins/FN'ing/etc., it's all my fault",
"I must have done something wrong to cause these bad things to happen"
"If I'm not promoting Scientology/getting recruits/giving enough money, I'm not doing what I need to do/I'm not good enough/I'm a disappointment"
2. Negative thoughts/beliefs about the world:
"The world is going to hell in a handbasket, and the world (if it is not Scientology-based) will surely be doomed".
"The world (outside the realm of Scientology) cannot be trusted".
"The only way for the world to get better is to get everyone on board with Scientology, otherwise there is no hope"
3. Negative thoughts/beliefs about others:
"Anyone who doesn't believe what I do is an enemy"
"Even my family members must be disconnected from, because they do not share my beliefs, and they are toxic to me"
"Non-scientologists are out to get me (us), because they have an evil agenda"
Obviously, I'm taking some liberty with these statements, having never been a Scientologist myself, but based on my readings, these seem like plausible thoughts/beliefs.
I will pick up again later. There are many, many more facets to this, but I think this is a decent starting place.
OK. So In a previous post, I mentioned Aaron Beck, widely considered to be the father of cognitive psychology. I was trained in a cognitive-behavioral orientation, but for the purposes of this discussion, I will be limiting things to just the cognitive piece.
Beck proposes that the genesis of some psychological disorders (his work spoke specifically to depression, but these concepts can apply to other psychological constructs as well) stems from what he refers to as a 'cognitive triad'. The triad consists of negative thoughts/beliefs about the self, the world, and others.
When someone has thoughts that fall into these three clusters, they can produce depression; depression can be characterized as a cluster of symptoms that cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning. These may include (to varying degrees, and to be depressed, you need not have all of them--you can refer to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for further clarification) the following: significant increase/decrease in sleep, anhedonia, guilt, significant decrease in energy, poor/decreased concentration, appetite changes (significantly increased or decreased), psychomotor agitiation, and suicidal thoughts.
From what I have read, Scientology encourages thoughts/beliefs in all three of these clusters, and I have given some brief examples below:
1) Negative thoughts/beliefs about self:
"If I'm not improving/getting wins/FN'ing/etc., it's all my fault",
"I must have done something wrong to cause these bad things to happen"
"If I'm not promoting Scientology/getting recruits/giving enough money, I'm not doing what I need to do/I'm not good enough/I'm a disappointment"
2. Negative thoughts/beliefs about the world:
"The world is going to hell in a handbasket, and the world (if it is not Scientology-based) will surely be doomed".
"The world (outside the realm of Scientology) cannot be trusted".
"The only way for the world to get better is to get everyone on board with Scientology, otherwise there is no hope"
3. Negative thoughts/beliefs about others:
"Anyone who doesn't believe what I do is an enemy"
"Even my family members must be disconnected from, because they do not share my beliefs, and they are toxic to me"
"Non-scientologists are out to get me (us), because they have an evil agenda"
Obviously, I'm taking some liberty with these statements, having never been a Scientologist myself, but based on my readings, these seem like plausible thoughts/beliefs.
I will pick up again later. There are many, many more facets to this, but I think this is a decent starting place.