Autumn - Winter 1950-51
also provided a pattern by which they were able
to work on solving problems by themselves both
during the session and after they returned home .
It is not enough, as one would expect from a
non-elementalistic point of view, for clients
to merely verbalize about non-identity, i . e .
learn the principles of general semantics and
discuss their application . The clinic program
itself, i . e . materials, teaching procedures,
etc ., must be so structured as to demonstrate
their application . Specific examples from
actual interpersonal relationships within the
clinic should form the core for discussions
about semantic reactions in group class as well
as in individual conferences . Working through
such actual experiences enables the clients to
develop real insight into their behavior, as
well as to see the changes that must be made .
More recently we have been experimenting
with the application of these principles to
therapy for younger age groups . In pre-school
groups, which mothers as well as children at-
tend, we have become increasingly aware of the
extent of identification on the part of parents :
effects which such identifications produce in
their behavior ; forces thus engendered in the
child's environment ; consequences in his be-
havior .
The mother of a four-year-old boy born with
cleft palate had labelled him 'a handicapped
child' ; not only she but also other members of
the family over-protected him, excused him from
participation, tried in various ways to 'make it
up to him,' etc . ; in consequence he was not
using speechh to any great extent, had difficulty
relating to other children, had developed few
social skills for a child of his age . Another
mother had great anxiety that her child who had
hearing loss was 'mentally retarded' because
the neighbors on her street had so labelled him;
she showed marked anxiety with him, over-
protected him in some ways, in others forced him
beyond his ability ; he had strong fears, inse-
curity in relating to people or in trying new
things . A mother of a boy of four who had not
developed much use of speech kept identifying
him with other children of that age who talked
fluently, rather than recognizing gains made
within his own pattern of development ; she
showed a great deal of rejection in her rela-
tionships to him, was not giving him the support,
the affection he needed ; h e . in turn lacked
confidence, felt insecure, tended to withdraw
from people, etc . Undoubtedly extending in-
struction in non-identity to parents must con-
stitute an important aspect of therapy for
children .
Our own identifications have been so deeply
ingrained that we have had difficulty in rooting
them out . Th3 identifications in clients are
27
ingrained at least as deeply, perhaps with more
critical consequences . We have so recently been
experimenting to find better ways of helping them
that we realize this .only constitutes a beginning .
What we have done so far, however, has convinced
us that problems involving identifications are
inextricably bound up with problems of speech
therapy ; has convinced us further that the de-
velopment of more effective ways of teaching
people to achieve an orientation to non-identity
offers challenging possibilities to us in reach-
ing our goal of helping clients to use speech
normally .
'Scientific Method'
is an ambiguous
notion without stating where applied
and of what date . Mathematical phys-
ics may be considered the most exact
and reliable science (high predicta-
bility, etc .) . If we want to speak
seriously about 'scientific method'
we must consider mathematical physics
as the prototype of general modern
scientific method . It involves,
among others, space-time considera-
tions, which when applied oA human
levels brings about ordering of our
reactions, delayed reactions, auto-
matically leading to neurological
(thalamo-cortical) integration .
. Life is known to be an
electro-colloidal process-' which
means a physicochemical affair,
and so if the method can be extracted
from mathematical physics, it can be
applied beneficially to human prob-
lems . It is obvious that in a world
built up by modern science, modern
scientific method comes prior to any
individual sciences, medicine and so
psychiatry included . . . .
--from Alfred Iorzybski's
unpublished writings .