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:
- 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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