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Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Steven Hoskinson, MA, MAT (pictured at left)\u00a0is a consultant and trainer who employs and teaches a mindfulness-based approach to trauma treatment called Organic Intelligence. His\u00a0continuing education presentation for GoodTherapy.org, titled <\/em>Organic Intelligence and Exposure Therapy: Implicit Memory Integration Without Flooding, is scheduled for 9 a.m. PDT on July 24, 2015. This event is available at no additional cost to GoodTherapy.org members and is good for two CE credits. For details, or to register, please <\/em>click here<\/a><\/u>.<\/em><\/p>\nI remember in grad school in clinical psych, there was a change in the way heated discussions took place. In particular, ways of winning such discussions became more psychologized. Like the spells cast at Hogwarts, the \u201cYou\u2019re PROJECTING!\u201d was one of the more common attacks. The pejorative nature of projection stems from the understanding from Freudian<\/a> perspectives of projection as one of the more primitive defenses. In his authoritative review of the topic, Vaillant (1992) describes how:<\/p>\n \u2026 for Freud, the defenses of denial, distortion, and projection were the defenses of psychosis<\/a>. At the opposite end of the continuum, sublimation, altruism, humor, and suppression were the defenses of maturity. Between these two groups of defense mechanisms were splitting, hypochondriasis, turning against the self, phantasy, dissociation<\/a>, repression, isolation, undoing, displacement, and reaction formation\u2014defenses that Freud believed to be the hallmarks of neurosis. (p. 9)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Steven Hoskinson, MA, MAT<\/p><\/div>\n In the understanding of Organic Intelligence\u00a0(OI), projection\u2014rightly encountered\u2014is instead a uniquely potent means toward reassociation. The protective value of projection from OI\u2019s perspective is honored and respected. Instead of interpreting or unveiling the unconscious process, OI proposes to build state-specific ego-strength until the projection\u2019s value becomes ego-syntonic, and integration becomes a matter of course. It\u2019s the difference between a person feeling vulnerably exposed, and feeling supported and self-discovered.<\/p>\n Rather than providing insight, per se, OI aims to shepherd observable physio-emotional states according to a protocol which aligns with subtle but naturally occurring organismic trends toward increased coherence (a \u201cshaping\u201d paradigm of positive reinforcement). Toward this end, one of the most helpful aspects of Organic Intelligence (OI) as a clinical approach is that, as a systems approach, it clearly defines the three actual and distinct organizational phases of the nervous system: chaos, complexity, and coherence. (This will be discussed during the webinar, and is also covered at OrganicIntelligence.org<\/a>.) This is important for clinicians because in-the-moment nervous system phase determines the intervention that\u2019s needed. We can see the three phases in this diagram:<\/p>\n The main question, therefore, becomes attunement. For instance, an ego-strengthening comment, such as, \u201cSo you were able to set that boundary with your partner,\u201d could be a helpful reflection when the system is in Phase II\u2014 it may support a more positive affective state appropriate to that Phase. In Phase I, such a reflection\u2019s effect would be nullified in the system\u2019s disorganization and tendency to associate things with negative affect or increased intensity. In Phase III, it would create a particular state extrinsically, when the system is intrinsically processing, and thus disrupt all-important intrinsic reorganization. As well as emotionally, interventions must thus be systemically attuned in order to be effective, and OI helps clinicians identify the recognizable signs of these phases in order to provide this deep, organismic attunement.<\/p>\n In particular, the above graphic suggests that ego-strengthening must go hand-in-hand with fundamental mindfulness<\/a>: that of a basic orientation to reality. This certainly includes the capacity for affect regulation through various mental, physical, or psychological actions\u2014like tools of helpful thinking, behaving, and attentional focus, such as is found with proven tools of cognitive behavioral therapy<\/a>, dialectical behavior therapy<\/a>, yoga, moderate exercise, medication, etc. However, the fundamental context for a person\u2019s use of these proven tools is the fundamental awareness of oneself in the moment. On a practical level, OI promotes the particular aspect of mindfulness: attention to the environment through the senses\u2014simply coming back to our senses!<\/p>\n In contemporary psychotherapy\u2014with notable exceptions like those found here, positive psychology, and Ericksonian utilization approaches\u2014the focus of attention most often lands in pathology or the preoccupation with \u201cwhat\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In contemporary psychotherapy\u2014with notable exceptions like those found here, positive psychology<\/a>, and Ericksonian<\/a> utilization approaches\u2014the focus of attention most often lands in pathology or the preoccupation with \u201cwhat\u2019s wrong.\u201d Elsewhere, I discuss this as a biological reflection of trauma<\/a>\u2014when the amygdala creates a self-stimulating loop of emergency alert and priming for what\u2019s wrong: \u201cthe what\u2019s wrong attention.\u201d Organic Intelligence says: Trauma means unintegrated resource<\/em>. In other words, what\u2019s wrong is the priming of the attention toward what\u2019s wrong\u2014and this is what\u2019s wrong<\/em>. However, our neurophysiological system is actually making self-organizing efforts to bring us back to balance all the time. These obvious efforts are mostly missed due to the compulsion to see what\u2019s wrong. Self-soothing remains conceptual until\u2014with the right knowledge and accompaniment\u2014one can change the concept into the lived experience of good feeling in the felt sense. This is the aim of many traditions, including the initial conditions of OI treatment protocols.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/timthumbnail-200x200.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
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