College, University and Post- Grad Lectures. During
my time teaching and working with people I have encountered several areas
associated with counselling, psychology and medicine that is not widely taught
in the western construct. These aspects have led to people turning to
alternative ways of seeking help in the healing process sometimes to their
detriment. Western
countries now have a large number of different nationalities and people of a
mixed genetic ancestry contained within their population. Many have come to
western countries as refugees from war torn and or culturally repressive
societies. Many have deep seated trauma as a result and are placed within the
health system that in the past has not had the need arise to deal with these
types of traumas and cultural boundaries. With this many misunderstandings have
arisen and have led to these people separating themselves from society and or
perpetrating violence upon themselves and those around them. One
example I can give is when I was asked to guest lecture a group of counselling
students in their second year of studies in Tasmania. I asked the question of
how they would start the counselling of a female refugee from South Africa who
had severe physical and emotional trauma as a result of rebel fighters
attacking and mutilating her with a machete. They could not answer but the
teacher stated that the likelihood of this happening was extremely remote. My
answer was that the day before I was approached by a friend in the local
counselling service that had to deal with just that. The Australian
government have placed nearly 2000 refugees from
South Africa and the Middle East in and around the local area and the local health system was asked to help
these people deal with these health and psychological issues and many of these
students were to start to work within this area's health services. This is
just one of many situations facing people who work in the mental health field
today. We also have a large number of indigenous people living in our country,
not just Australian Aboriginals but from many other countries. This also
presents a need for different approaches to helping these people as their
perception, interpretation and thought processes are widely different to the
western mindset. There are many different aspects of society's needs not widely
being taught or understood within the western medical construct but the need is
there. With
this in mind I would like to offer my services as a guest lecturer to your
students. Over the years I have taught many people in the areas of.
An understanding of Indigenous
based healing and counselling Intuitive aspects of counselling
and human nature Hereditary, Genetic and
Subconscious Memory and Their Influence on Perception, Learning and Understanding Genetic relationship with Nature
and environment Subconscious influence of
ancestry on life outlook and direction Emotional - limbic Synaptic brain
functions in relation to perception and learning Adapting the counsellor’s approach
to the client in regard to cultural perspective and understanding The
lectures I conduct revolve around the participant’s knowledge and understanding of
their respective fields of study. This creates a natural evolution of ideas
culminating into an understanding of the concepts being presented. An Understanding of Indigenous Based Healing and Counselling Indigenous
peoples think in a different way to western people. Our thought processes, the
way we assimilate and perceive information is different to the western mindset.
This affects dramatically the way the healing process is approached. There is
no better example for this as with the way the government and health system has
in the past approached helping indigenous communities deal with their health
and social issues. After 50 years and millions of dollars the results are that
in many ways they are worse off than before. It is not that the government’s
motivations are wrong but it is in the differences of perception and
understanding that need to be understood. Indigenous people approach the
healing of a person in a different way than the common approach of western
medicine. One of the differences is that western medicine tends to only deal
with the cause and symptoms present at the time of the consultation. Indigenous
peoples look at every aspect of the person’s life not just at the present time
but for their entire life to that point as well tracing back several
generations. They also look at what that illness or trauma can teach them to be
prepared for the future. Indigenous people see that everything is connected not
just as a concept or idea but in every aspect of life. I have found that even with a person
with little on no knowledge of their indigenous traditions this belief still
runs in the subconscious. Intuitive Aspects of Counselling
and Human Nature Human
beings have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years and we have through
invention and technology separated ourselves from our natural environment. In
the past our natural senses were a lot stronger than they are today. We used instinct to survive, to feel our
surroundings to sense danger etc. Today those senses lie dormant or suppressed and
sometimes when they surface are dismissed or forgotten. I believe for those who
choose to do so, these senses are a vital tool in the understanding of a person seeking
our advice on an issue or trauma. The human mind has many subconscious ways of
protecting itself and can lead a psychologist or counsellor down many
conversational paths till the truth starts to surface. Many times the client
will stop treatment rather than face the truth and move forward. One of the
skills I endeavor to bring out in people is working with the ability to sense the client, to follow your instinct in your
approach and questions. To use this tool to lead the conversation on a journey
so that the client starts to see their own perception of the truth and to start
to understand the processes that have led them to this point in their lives. Human
kind in now only just starting to understand the amount of information stored
within a single strand of human DNA. DNA
not only creates all the different parts of the human body but also provides
the brain with vast amounts of information. To date it is my understanding that
western science in now starting to believe in genetic memory. I have also found
that there is sufficient evidence to substantiate the existence of hereditary and
subconscious memory as well.
My
education, understanding and training is the result of years of study in these
and many other areas connected with cultural and indigenous societies as well as
traditional ceremony and healing techniques. This is the result of my own
search for healing and understanding as a mixed blood indigenous person growing
up separated from his culture and natural way of being. I have spent a lot of
time learning from elders of many different cultures with their understanding
of their ways and their connection to all that is around them. With this
knowledge I feel that I am able to help teach people how to bridge the gap
between these cultures and their own. To adapt the techniques and to enhance
their knowledge and understanding of the many cultures they will work with.
Hereditary, Genetic and
Subconscious Memory and Their Influence on Perception, Learning and Understanding
Genetic
memory gives the person an ability to understand environmental perception and
need for purpose. It also runs the autonomic systems of the body which is all of
the body’s processes that run without our awareness, breathing, heartbeat etc. Genetic
memory also can give us an internal knowledge source that most of us are
completely unaware of. The easiest example I can give is that of the internal knowledge
a mother has to raise her children. I have personally witnessed many examples
of this in action. One time a friend of mine who is a young single mother who
would become physically ill at the sight of any amount of blood. She also had
no first aid knowledge at all. But when her four year old son, doing what four
year old boys do, split his head open as a result of a major fall, this young
mother instinctively knew what to do. She very calmly grabbed a clean dishcloth
and towel wrapped it around her son’s head and got him off to the emergency
room without any reaction to the injury or the blood. Her “motherly instinct”
kicked in. I have heard many stories like this where the mother has had no
formal first aid training has saved their child’s life. It also amazes me how all
women know exactly how to create a safe environment to raise their children in
if they honestly listen to themselves.
Hereditary
memory adds to this but also creates issues for the person to address in their
life. The evidence for this is that people
are often born predisposed to emotional tendencies present in their ancestry
even though they were removed from and raised separate from their immediate
family. Studies have shown this with children born from veterans of the Vietnam
War that have been fostered or adopted out and have had no contact with either parent.
They have a large understanding of and sometimes have knowledge of specific
events their fathers had experienced in the Vietnam conflict. They are also predisposed to
Social and environmental issues as well as being prone to Post- traumatic stress
disorders, anxiety and depression. Subconscious
memory is created in the first four years of a child's life and gets fed with
the child's experiences over the next three to five years or until the child
learns to understand the emotional situations present within his or hers
surroundings. These experiences are retained as memory but are difficult for an
adult to understand as they are seen from a child's perspective. However, they
have a profound influence on that person’s perception, assimilation of
knowledge, social and academic interaction within their adult life. An example
of this is several years ago I had a lady come to me seeking advise on an issue that
she had most of her adult life. Whenever she saw a bottle top lying on the
ground she became almost catatonic. Over the past twenty years she had undergone counselling and psychiatric treatment, been
medicated, and hospitalized with no lasting results. After spending some time
talking we journeyed to a point in her childhood when she was around three
years old. Her father was an alcoholic so her parents were having difficulties
with their relationship. On night shortly before dinner her father returned
home drunk and her mother confronted him. He became aggressive and struck her
mother with the beer bottle he had in his hand. The broken glass slashed her mother's face badly. Blood was everywhere and the
bottle top spun in the air till it hit the high chair top in front of the
child. She remembered the light reflecting off the top as it spun through the
air. The police and paramedics arrived and she was removed from her mother for
a time. She never saw her father again. He left the state after he had finished
his jail term. This was a pivotal moment of change in this person’s life but as
she did not have the life experience to explain this event it was subsequently lost to the
subconscious and had lasting affects on the person well after the event.
Therapists had asked her about her childhood in numerous sessions but before this time she was unable to
recall the memories. The brain has a powerful ability to protect itself. With the realization and understanding of this event, even though it is extremely painful, has helped her tomove on with her life. After a long search she found her father and gained closure through understanding.
I have seen the affects
of emotional choices made by small children seriously affecting the adult’s
life.
Many
cultures still retain today a strong genetic connection to the land their
ancestors lived upon. Not just in the way of a place to live but as a means of
understanding themselves, of learning to understand the way they feel and interact
with the world around them. The land also provides the security of belonging, a
very necessary part of a person’s life if they are to achieve their goals. The
land also provides the way of expressing their culture through ceremony held in
specific locations and times of the year. This is never more important than for
indigenous people regardless of their knowledge of tradition or culture as the
subconscious need for this process is a fundamental part of their existence. Our
society today has a large number of displaced indigenous peoples living within
the towns and cities. Many of these people have emotional and social related
issues because they themselves do not have an understanding of this nor do the
have access to traditional lands or teachings. This is an important
understanding for someone in the fields of psychology and counselling to have
as counselling them in the western perspective can often do more harm than good
because they will simply not understand fully the western concept of life and
will always feel that there is something missing. I have also found that once a
person starts to recognize this need felt within and seeks out a basic
understanding of their people's traditional way of life, even if they choose not
to live that way, it will help them to better understand themselves and their
perception of the world around them. Science
today recognizes that it takes around twelve generations for the human body to
fully adapt to a major change in its environment. In most cases that is around
seven to eight hundred years. This I believe also relates to the way the human
brain functions on many levels. Not just in the way of its physical functions
but also the way it perceives and absorbs knowledge. Many people today have
ancestral lineages that go back to a tribal way of life. These tribes lived in
a completely different way to the ways of today. Many of these tribal peoples
lived their traditional ways of life undisturbed within the seven to eight
hundred year time frame. Through simple observation you can see the subtle
influences this has on the society today. With the innate ways in which people express
themselves and also in the way they search for belonging. Many people I have spoken
with express the desire for something they cannot put into words. This desire
has shaped their life in such a way that they have walked away from family and
friends because their needs weren’t understood. They did this not through a
willingness of choice but as a driving force questing to fill that hole inside. Many
people have tried to fill that hole with relationships and or career only to
find that the feelings are still there. The risk of this not being recognized
for what it might be can become extremely detrimental to a persons life as they will
continue to search for something but they are unaware of what that something
actually is. They will move from relationship to relationship trying to fill
that void inside. There are many reasons for this but I have observed that for many it is the influence of the ancestral ways of their people.
Those that I have spoken with that have explored this and have found the means
to learn their traditions have found a sense of peace and fulfillment within. Over the
years of working to understand people and human nature, what I feel is the
governing force in every person. I have found through speaking with and
observing people that there is a lack of understanding in the physical aspects
of emotions and perception on a general level. I am aware that the means to
learn this is available but it is a very specific field of study. When a child
is born there are many centers of the brain that are for want of a better term
a blank slate. The creation of the synaptic pathways in these areas of the
brain comes from all the senses the child has i.e. sight, smell, touch, taste
etc. These senses provide the information for the base line programming of the
child’s mind. Learning the basic ways of perception or the way experiences are
interpreted and expression of the child’s personality. Parents shield the child
from bad experiences as best the can by censoring what the child is exposed to
but many of the senses cannot be shielded. We as adults have the ability of
using life experiences to interpret emotional events external or self felt a
child does not. Many parents believe that because a child does not have the
ability to understand an emotional event, for example, an argument between the parents,
that it does not need to be fully or truthfully explained. They feel that this
is the right thing to do and in many cases it is but it does have a price tag
attached. In the developmental stages of a child's life the foundation of all
means to perceive life is laid. If a child is told to go out and play during a parent’s
argument then the likelihood that the child will associate that playing is a
negative thing is high. Later in life as an adult, because of that baseline
association that play is a negative pastime, the adult can create social and
emotional issues in their perception of how life should be. These perceptions
are often challenged by those around them, especially if they seek therapeutic
help. Often a therapist will advise them to go out and play more, to find
activities that involve emotionally letting go and have fun. This unknowingly can contribute to the stress and
confusion in the adult as they have no concept of, or an inability to go out and
play. This is just one simple example
but there are many. Though it may be difficult to change the baseline
programming of the human brain in regards to emotional development I have found
that in many cases that the understanding of this has helped many move forward
in learning to lead a more productive life. Adapt The Counsellor’s Approach To The Client In Regard To Cultural Perspective And Understanding One of
the many lessons I have taught over the years to practitioners is that there
are many levels to an understanding. Most teaching methods through their own
nature can only teach from one perspective. The research done to create these
teachings comes from the societal need that those teachings are created to fulfill. Society today is made up of a large demographic of cultures, beliefs
and customs. When people are placed in a position to advise others in ways of
healing they need to take into account the client's culture and customs. The
example I give for this is an Islamic man was ordered to attend anger management
counselling at the local health care facility by the courts in answer to a
domestic violence situation. The nature
of counselling is that most counsellors are women as they are drawn to that role by
their nature. The first step to
begin advising someone is you need to build a rapport between yourself and the
client. An Islamic man by belief and custom cannot accept advice from a woman;
it is offending to his honor and beliefs.
The female counsellor is placed in a position that is very difficult to
manage as her role is to not only help the man but also to advise the courts of his
progress. Having an understanding of this man's culture is an important first
step before you even meet the client. The way you dress and speak in the first
ten minutes will dictate the Islamic man's openness to receiving help. Granted that he is
in a non- Islamic country and needs to accept certain things but he formulates
his perspective from the influence that his culture has. Through building up a
rapport you may be able to adjust his understanding enough to make a difference
in his life and the lives around him.
Genetic Relationship with Nature
and Environment
Subconscious Influence of Ancestry
on Life, Outlook and Direction
Emotional - Limbic Synaptic Brain Functions in Relation to Perception and Learning
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<[~]>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
These are a just a short overview of the subject information available. As I usually don’t have a defined teaching method as each group’s needs and questions are different. I always encourage audience participation and questions. The outcome I find are always fulfilling for all involved.
I am more than willing to discuss the subject information in more detail if you are interested and look forward to hearing from you.