by Tim Brunson, PhD
Within the arenas of genius, mastery, and brilliance lay the seeds of evil and destruction. Understanding this is vital to the practice of any healing or helping profession. Consider two medical doctors who could easily be considered extremely capable and effective in their chosen endeavors. One was Albert Schweitzer, who won the 1953 Nobel Prize for his "Reverence of Life" philosophy; the other, Josef Mengele, the Nazi SS physician, who was called the "Angel of Death." Despite the good achieved by the former and the despair caused by the latter, it is very easy to recognize that both had a high level of competency. What I wish to explore is whether the achievement of mastery facilitates the simultaneous probability of significant good and bad outcomes and what we can do to influence the results. Hopefully, the recognition of dichotomy will increase the likelihood that transformation will benefit an individual and mankind as a whole.
As a somewhat arm-chair-neurologist, I equate mastery as a physical state in which the requisite areas of the brain are enhanced with thicker neural networks. This increased capability allows violinists to play at the expert level, golfers to improve their handicaps, languages to be mastered quickly, and culinary delights to be produced on a regular basis. On the other hand, when these substrates are enhanced, all of the capabilities related to that substrate become available at an increased level. These capabilities are functional tools. There is no assurance that the end result will always be desirable. The problem is that the increased level of functioning provides the potential for both positive and negative results.
This is true both at the individual and at the cultural level. Over the years I have frequently realized that great things seem to coexist with troublesome occurrences. For instance, I gladly and willingly live in an area that is commonly recognized as being part of the Bible Belt. Church parking lots are regularly filled not only on Saturday morning, but also frequently on Wednesday nights as well as at many other times during the week. My neighbors generally see themselves as loving parents, community-oriented, and as having strong family values. This makes the area a wonderful place to work, live, and raise a family. However, not everything is as fantastic as it appears on the surface.
Over as a member of various civic clubs and having served as a juror on numerous occasions, I've become aware of another aspect of our beautiful community. Simultaneous with the statistic that shows that we an extremely high Church-going propensity is another fact that is very disturbing. Several years ago while attending a civic club meeting the speaker, who was the local director of the state's Department of Human Resources, which is essentially a social welfare agency, reported that our county was leading the state in the number of child molestation incidents per capita. While I would hope that the family-oriented spiritual nature of the community would tend to prevent these atrocities, I started wondering if increased religiosity and the more frequent incidents of child abuse were merely a statistical coincidence or perhaps a significant correlation. Indeed, even the thought was troublesome.
On an individual level, another phenomenon in which I began seeing a potential correlation was in regards those who seek to use their minds to memorize volumes of information and the commission of acts of violence. What immediately came to my awareness the relationship between fundamentalism and extremism that had been reported repeatedly by the Western media in regards to the Islamic madrassas in the Middle East. The implications were that there was a association between the extensive memorization of scripture and the level of indoctrination that leads to terrorist acts. Of course, the media could be accused of bias, as they are potentially overlooking the relation correlation between strong identity indoctrination and scripture memorization and white-on-black crime in the American Deep South in the 1960's. While this seems to imply there is a correlation between a masterful-level of religiosity and terrorism and child molestation, it is important to realize that a significant level of goodness comes out of the same situation. My concern here is how can we increase the likelihood that a society-wide or individual achievement will result in a positive outcome?
Strangely enough I come back to my interest in the superhero concept that has been with us since Greco-Roman mythology. An analysis of the comic book heroes that became popular in the last century – and are frequently depicted in recent television shows and movies – reflects our awareness of relationship between the struggle between the enhanced powers that mastery provide and the resulting ethical struggle. Indeed, it is not the existence of the super powers that really described specialness of these characters. Rather, it was their ability to overcome the temptation to misuse them that justified their classification as being true superheroes. I remember the statement in the first Spiderman< movie when the dying Uncle Ben told young Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spiderman) that, "With great power comes great responsibility." This ability – which I call "character" – to channel our abilities toward compassionate and beneficial aims is what defines us as individuals and as a society. This is why responsibility and choice should always accompany mastery-building.
Let's take this a step further. Psychotherapists are in the business of facilitating transformation. This leads us to the possibility that while attempting to free a subject from the ravages of their perceived limitations that we may just unleash an undesired result. Here is a disturbing example. In October 1918, Edmund Forster, a psychiatrist, was treating a young soldier who was suffering from hysterical blindness. The hypothesis was that he used hypnosis to help resolve the issue and provided increased motivation and confidence. Apparently, the good doctor was very successful in his efforts. Unfortunately, the name of his patient was Adolf Hitler. He had unleashed a monster. This is a dilemma for any counselor or therapist who seeks to benefit a client. The possibility that we may create an unanticipated result is a risk that we take everyday. This is why I always simultaneously emphasize compassion and empathy when I attempt to assist a subject in transcending their illusory concepts of self-limitation.
Fortunately, while the risk that mastery-building may result in unintended consequences, there is actually a positive side to all of this. When someone comes in with an anxiety, phobia, or compulsion, I recognize that they have already achieved mastery. These types of pathologies are almost always linked to enhanced anticipation and simulation capabilities in frontal lobe. The presenting problem therefore represents that undesirable alternative. However, by using choice and responsibility the subject can employ the same enhanced powers to resolve their issue. For example, they can be taught how to apply their expert-level imaginative abilities to automatically react to the onset of an incident by using thought-stopping, dissociation, etc. In short, many mental pathologies represent the existence of a well-developed ability that is habitually misused. Once recognized, it is possible to reframe these powers and turn them into healing tools.
When thoughts and actions are repeated sufficiently we strengthen the neural structures related to those behaviors. When they become internalized and reinforced, they allow us to access all of the functions of that substrate as we begin performing at higher levels. These uncovered potentials do not come with a moral and ethical compass that directs them toward the best alternatives. That is a matter of taking responsibility for the appropriate choices in our lives. When we fail to realize this responsibility or make the right choices, pathologies and the possibility of harming others is increased. Clinicians should recognize this. As we seek to transform others into a happier person and one who is more congruent with the ideals of love and compassion, we need to realize that the great powers that we trigger also have great responsibilities.
The International Hypnosis Research Institute is a member supported project involving integrative health care specialists from around the world. We provide information and educational resources to clinicians. Dr. Brunson is the author of over 150 self-help and clinical CD's and MP3's.
Posted: 06/12/2015
