Chapter Three: Examination of Dobbins' Works
As noted and discussed at length in the last chapter, Burks and Stefflre's (1979) criteria will be used to examine Dobbins' beliefs and writings as a theory of counseling. In the following analysis, each of the five criterion will be addressed separately, and a description of how Dobbins has addressed each will be made:
1. Assumptions regarding the basic nature of people;
2. Beliefs regarding learning theory and change in behavior;
3. A commitment to certain goals of counseling;
4. A definition of the role of the counselor;
5. Evidence supporting the theory.
It would be beyond the scope of this thesis to attempt to present everything Dobbins has said on each of these subjects. The writer will focus on the unique aspects of Dobbins' ideas as well as the beliefs he has adapted from other theoretical orientations so as to present a comprehensive understanding of his views.
Assumptions Regarding the Basic Nature of People
To understand the elemental nature of people, Dobbins has examined what might be considered a much larger picture, exploring what reality is for each person. These matters are regarded from the philosophical viewpoint best described as being "conservative evangelical." They are based on the following assumptions (Dobbins, no date, d):
1. God created the universe of spirit beings and matter (John 1:1-4).
2. Spirit beings are assigned jurisdictional responsibility in governing the universe (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ephesians 6:12; Daniel 10:12,13).
3. Lucifer, also known as Satan or the devil, has jurisdiction over Earth (Revelation 12:7-9; John 14:30).
4. Lucifer rebelled against God, became the father of sin, and is at war with God for control of Earth (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:11-15; Matthew 4:8-11; Revelation 20:1-10).
5. Man [used here, and elsewhere to mean both males and females] was created to fellowship with God and to reconcile Earth to God (Genesis 1:26-28; 2 Corinthians 5:17-19).
6. Man was tempted by Satan, fell under the influence of sin, and became disobedient--forsaking his divine mission in life (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 5:12-14).
7. Helpless to restore himself, man became the object of God's love in Jesus Christ; Christ has made provision for man to be reconciled to God and regenerated so that man can again walk in fellowship with God and resume his original divine mission in life (John 3:15-17; Romans 5:15-21; 1 Corinthians 3:5-10).
8. This redemption, reconciliation, and regeneration, provided by Christ's atonement, must be personally experienced by each individual who would benefit from it (Mark 16:15,16; John 3:1-15; Romans 10:9-17).
9. Each person's experience is a new birth of God-awareness, which may take place suddenly--as in a crisis conversion; or gradually--as one grows spiritually into a personal faith in Christ.
10. Regardless of how one's new life in Christ is begun, he grows towards spiritual maturity through a process of "putting off the old man" and "putting on the new man" (Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 6:11-23).
11. In mental health terms, "putting off the old man" may be understood as surrendering conscious feelings, thoughts, attitudes, and actions which are contrary to the Scripture and the believer's mental health.
12. "Putting on the new man" may be understood as consciously seeking to acquire and to adopt feelings, thoughts, attitudes, and actions which are consistent with the Scripture and the believer's mental health.
Dobbins (1990b) has gone on to state that his view on the basic character of people (founded on the above premises) holds that "reality for man . . . is comprised of a complex interaction between and among four sources of power: (a) God and those spirit beings aligned with Him; (b) Satan and those spirit beings aligned with him; (c) Nature--both animate and inanimate; and (d) Man." (p. 13)
God's Impact
God is viewed as one of four sources of power which has an impact on a person's life; the scope of this influence is not without qualification. At times God may intervene and supersede the normal laws He created. However, for Dobbins, this is not the rule, but rather the exception. That is why people call situations which seem impossible and yet happen, to be miraculous--if they occurred on a regular basis they would not be considered a miracle.
Therefore, Dobbins holds that God does not cause everything to happen. He sees God's role as influencing people's decisions in life. This is carried out by presenting or suggesting options to a person's mind which will help one to make wise choices that will have an overall beneficial effect in one's life.
Satan's Impact
The next persuading power that impacts on reality for people is from Satan, or Lucifer, the great angel who rebelled against God. As noted in the fourth assumption regarding the basic nature of people, this rebellion brought about the birth of evil or sin. This power, discussed in greater detail later, is the chief supernatural power that has an influence on every individual.
Satan's influence is also in the realm of a person's decisions and it is not all pervasive, either. Dobbins has stated that Satan tries to steer people into making "poor" judgments when they are faced with decisions in life.
The idea of supernatural powers influencing people is a very critical point. Dobbins (1987a) believes one way of helping a client is to enable him/her to correctly see the involvement of the supernatural. He points out that most people have a simplistic view of the roles of God and Satan in their life. One such common view is that God is the cause of all good occurrences and Satan is the cause of all negative events in life and an individual does not have any control over these events which happen in his/her life. This kind of perspective victimizes a person. However, Dobbins holds that disregarding the supernatural altogether does not solve anything, it actually ignores life's complexity.
The roles God and Satan have in a person's life and the choices one makes, are very important concepts which are an integral part of Dobbins' views. A further explanation and discussion of them will be made in the next section which will examine the learning issues and how behavior is changed.
Man's Impact
Although the supernatural forces play an important role over one's decisions, each individual's part is equally critical. In fact, this and the next source actually provide the greatest variable in determining what happens in one's life.
A main component of this complexity is born out of the freedom bestowed upon each person. For Dobbins (1987a), each person has in his/her reach a way to basically control what occurs in his/her life. One has this power through the freedom one has to make choices. He acknowledges there is little agreement among theologians as to how much freedom one has; however, consensus is found in the idea that people have enough freedom to be held accountable to God for their behavior. By accepting the existence of freedom, Dobbins maintains there is also the possibility of some chance or randomness in life.
Examples of freedom permitting fortuitous events are observable in nature. Various disciplines of science have gathered information to verify the existence of chance. Degrees of freedom is a concept talked about in relation to this idea. It means there are a certain number of times when something will not act in a predictable way. An example of the degrees of freedom often given by Dobbins (1987a) is that the behavior of atoms of the elements are known not to be absolutely predictable.
Dobbins holds that "if the behavior of the elements is not absolutely predictable, then the higher orders of creation [i.e., humankind] can be expected to be less predictable than the lower orders of creation" (his emphasis, Dobbins, 1987a). Again, though it can be argued how much freedom a person has (Dobbins, no date, a), in order to be held accountable to God, one has to have some freedom.
Why does God permit freedom of choice? Dobbins explains that humankind was created this way because God wanted His creation to serve Him voluntarily. A person without freedom to choose would be like a robot and would not have an option not to serve God.
The freedom people have enables them to make decisions which will determine their behavior, so each person is held accountable for his/her decision. This means one has a certain amount of control in determining what will occur in one's life, based on his/her wise or poor choices. Theologically, this is explained by the parable in scripture that a person's behavior is like seeds that are planted. One who sows poor choices will reap adverse situations in his/her life (Dobbins, 1987a).
Nature's Impact
Although it could be said that each individual is in the "driver's seat" of his/her life, there is another force which occasionally contends for control. Dobbins has said that the very same freedom each person is permitted means animate and inanimate things in nature also have that freedom and will interact to affect one's life. This kind of freedom, which is observable in nature, was noted above as evidence for humankind having a certain amount of autonomy.
A degree of independence in events of this world means that the rule is for natural disasters to occur because of the element of freedom which exists in creation. This issue framed in theological terms has to do with the question of providence. As with the issue of how much freedom people have, there is no agreement about the limits of the freedom in nature. Common acceptances among theologians are that safeguards are provided for the Church and the universe (Dobbins, no date, a).
Dobbins (1987a) summarizes the impact of the four variables of God, Satan, nature, and man while discussing the puzzling issue of the existence of an undetermined amount of freedom in one's life: Where there is freedom, there is risk and chance. And where there is freedom there are decisions to make, over which the devil does not have absolute power, nor God. But human beings make judgments for which God will hold them accountable. So, you have chance [events occurring in nature], you have good judgment, you have poor judgment, you have the devil and you have God.
Of these four sources of power which interact to define a person's reality, each individual (Dobbins uses the term "man") is distinctive among them in many ways. Not only is one both spirit and matter, temporal and eternal, but being undefined on one's own, one "seeks to define his ultimate meaning by interacting with and among God, Satan, nature and his fellow man" (Dobbins, 1990b, p. 13).
The effort to discover and define meaning for an individual takes place in his/her mind. Dobbins believes that a person is comprised of three components: body, brain and mind. The brain and the mind are two separate elements. This idea, which Dobbins draws from the Bible, has some support in the scientific community. Though not all scientists hold to such a division, Penfield (1975), before his death, was a leading advocate of this perspective. The analogy used by Penfield is that the mind is the programmer and the brain is the computer. Dobbins (personal communication, July 1990) contends that Penfield's work supports his belief that mind and brain are not equal. The Bible also uses other terms for the mind. Spirit and heart are words used that generally refer to what is called a person's mind.
Therefore, God's and Satan's impact (i.e., the influence of the supernatural) is upon the mind, the "programming" part of the person. The programmer (each individual) has direct control over what he/she will do, the decision he/she makes. Whichever power people let influence them in making choices (God, Satan, self, nature) becomes evident by the resulting actions and consequences of those decisions (Dobbins, 1987a).
If one allows his/her life to be guided by the power of Satan (a complete definition of this power is given in the next section), then the outcome of his/her choices will eventually detract from and steal from the greatest possible potential in his/her life. Moreover, those who allow the power of God to govern their life decisions will find they ultimately are living to their best capability.
Unfortunately, everyone does not have the benefit of the influence of both powers. Dobbins argues that the Fall of Man, as recorded in Genesis changes that possibility. One's understanding was darkened by the fall. Also a person's will was weakened. This put God's power out of direct reach of every individual, (See assumption number seven at the beginning of this chapter). This came about as the result of Adam and Eve's yielding to the temptation in the Garden of Eden. They succumbed to Satan's suggestion to put material things above spiritual matters. According to Dobbins (no date, b) this is what separated humankind from God. Yet, he clarifies that material things are not unimportant; rather, spiritual realities are to be the most important in a person's life.
Since the fall, no one is fully sensitive to God's divine suggestions. That source of power is not an option for people; all are ignorant of it. One can be re-sensitized to this power by being redeemed to God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is called a new birth experience. Dobbins (1987a) believes the impact of the fall can be practically seen in two ways upon each person: (a) it impacts on the developmental process of an individual and (b) it impacts on his/her environmental surroundings.
In summary, the author has found that Dobbins answers the question of the basic nature of people by stating it comes about by the interaction of four sources of power: God, Satan, nature and man. The acknowledgement of supernatural powers is said to avoid simplistic explanations of life and uphold its complexity. Dobbins also has set forth 12 suppositions which are critical to understanding his views on human nature, as well as the rationale for the remainder of his beliefs.
Beliefs Regarding Learning Theory and Change in Behavior
A key scripture verse for Dobbins which hints at learning and why change in behavior is difficult is Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (NKJV).
Dobbins (1987a) explains that, physiologically speaking, there are many practical ways to observe why Jeremiah stated that a person's own heart is difficult to know. These observations have been discovered from various disciplines of science and have to do with the developmental processes of a person.
Prior to birth, at least three of our five senses are functioning. They are the touching sense, the hearing sense, and achromatic sight. The brain (computer) of a person records in the original intensity these early sensory experiences (Penfield, 1975), but because the memory is not adequately organized until one is about three years of age, one generally does not consciously remember these events (Dobbins, 1987a).
There are various ways these findings have been discovered and verified. The work of Penfield (1975) has shown that when certain parts of the brain are stimulated, a person will "experience" a memory in its original intensity. Additionally, it is now known that a baby is able to recognize immediately after birth the voice of his/her mother better than other voices. In response to the introduction of a tone through the abdominal wall of the expectant mother, the unborn can even be conditioned to kick (Dobbins, no date, d).
A person's emotional development is also influenced by his/her physiological maturation. A growing pool of information and feelings is recorded by the individual's brain (Dobbins, no date, c). This recording forms what Dobbins calls one's "past history", or a person's conscious and unconscious memories of previous events in his/her life. While growing up, one makes choices to meet his/her increasing needs. Such choices, though very elemental, come out of (i.e., are influenced by) the past history recorded in the brain and one's present environmental influences. When all of these factors are combined, Dobbins believes the baby learns a certain emotional bias toward life from what he/she has experienced.
This bias will become noticeable when one's verbal abilities appear. Because of the inability to verbally process one's encounters prior to learning to talk, achild's world is one of "total experience" because of the inability to verbally process his/her encounters. At this young age, one either experiences total pleasure or total pain (Dobbins, 1985). Dobbins (1987a) summaries this point by indicating: When verbal abilities appear . . . [they] are already biased to describe a world that the child has affectively known for two to three years. Will the child who has [had] more pain than pleasure . . . think about and talk about the same kind of world that the baby whose parents have given him more love and pleasure in the first two or three years of life? No . . . those children are going to be verbally predisposed to use words differently.
Additionally, Dobbins (1989a) espouses that a person's brain associates pain and pleasure with people and places. However, because much of what one experiences in early life is usually not consciously remembered, he/she is not aware of the associations that were formed when younger. The functions of words, according to Dobbins, is to magnify or diminish the state of one's emotional being. Words will either decrease one's pain or increase one's pleasure.
Thus, one's early environment is seen as leaving an imprint on that person and is the determining factor of one's emotional development. Dobbins (1987a) charges that the environmental factors everyone has to overcome would not have been there if the fall of man, as recorded in Genesis 3, had not taken place. He believes Adam and Eve lived in a place that was risk-free before the fall.
Therefore, one who has grown up in an environment which is marked by more pain than pleasure, will generally expect life circumstances to be more unpleasant than enjoyable. The opposite would be true for those who grew up experiencing more pleasure than pain. A model Dobbins uses to illustrate this point was developed by Horney (1945). Her model underscores three ways people react to one another. They either have a tendency to move toward people, away from people, or against people. Dobbins (1987a) contends that those who move toward people experience more pleasure than pain in growing up and those who perceive their life as more painful than pleasurable will either move away from or against people. Dobbins (1987a) avows: You are not born angry, and you are not born scared, and you are not born in love with people. You learn to be afraid of people, you learn to be angry at people, you learn to love people. And the roots of that are very, very deep in the earlyparts of our lives.
Dobbins goes on to say that human nature is not so hard to change. He believes a major difficulty lies in the fact that the environmental input from the home of a two to three year old is likely to be at least the same (or worse) when he/she is fourteen or fifteen years old.
Dobbins (1987a, 1987d) concurs with the ideas about birth order that has been advocated by Adler (1924, Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1979) about how it influences a person's environment. The fear of being replaced will only be experienced by the first born child as this is the only child who has the sole attention of his/her parents. The youngest child is the freest of this fear.
The first born has the greatest tendency to be depression-prone, super responsible, guilt-prone, achievers and somewhat bossy. The last child is inclined always to be the baby. He/she usually acts as though other people exist to take care of their needs.
Dobbins suggests that a middle child who has one brother and one sister does not have the same predispositions as a same sex sibship of three. Most parents wish to have at least one of each sex and their disappointment is either deliberately or indirectly communicated to the child. He believes it is very easy for this child to be literally "caught in the middle" in so many different ways and to be emotionally insecure.
The client who is an only child may or may not have difficulties because of a lack of siblings. It will depend largely on how the parents reacted to having only one child. If they made sure the child had plenty of interaction with other kids their age, then few of the common problems associated with an only child are seen. Typically, however, parents are overprotective of an only child and, henceforth, that individual tends to be overly anxious about life.
Because of influences like birth order, Dobbins suggests there is no way parents can possibly bring their children up all alike. Neither, does he say, is it a necessary goal--because each child will have his/her own way of perceiving how he/she was raised.
What about the emotional state of a person? How can one recognize it? Dobbins (no date, c) holds that one's conversation will reveal one's emotional state, even though one may not be aware of his/her mood. The Biblical concept which Dobbins believes supports this idea is Matthew 12:34; "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." He points out that Jesus was not saying a person believes everything he/she says; it means that "you can infer the content of a person's heart or mind from the sample of their conversation." So, if two people are honest with each other, then both can know what is on each other's minds.
Yet, as discussed already, one may not be fully aware of the influence of his/her past because the memory of an individual is not fully functioning until about the third birthday. Therefore, an individual is not always aware of what is really going on within oneself. Dobbins (1987a) believes this unawareness can make counseling very difficult. By the time a person comes in for counseling, he/she has already developed numerous habits to cope with life; such habits take time to change.
A difficulty in helping someone learn new coping methods lies in the fact that an individual will often use his/her inner speech to fight against what the counselor is saying. Dobbins (1984) bases this notion on the fact that one's internal rate of speech (self- talk) is about ten times greater than the speed at which one person can speak to another.
The Wheel of Experience
Dobbins adapts a model which puts many of the preceding concepts into a clearer and more systematic perspective. The Wheel of Experience (see Figure 1) is a modification of the Awareness Wheel (Miller, Nunnally, & Wackman, 1976). Those familiar with the original figure will notice that the main difference is the addition of the "Past History," (segment two). Other differences have to do with a variation of the original name. Dobbins' fifth segment (fourth on the initial wheel) has a modified spelling. In his label "'In'-tension," which is a variation of "Intention," Dobbins states the reason for the change is because one's intentions usually arise when one is in a state of tension (Dobbins, 1990b). The final section was called "action," and Dobbins calls it "behavior."
As the name implies, being a wheel, each of the segments impact on the next. The sixth section, behavior, influences the beginning of the wheel, sensations, and so the process continues endlessly.
Sensations refers to a person's five senses: touching, smelling, seeing, hearing, and tasting. One uses each of these senses to interact with one's world. Sensations are neutral when they are received by any of the sense gates. However, they will not remain impartial after one's brain enters the picture.
The past history is the segment which houses all of one's former experiences. It can be likened to one's memory. Generally speaking, one does not have a great amount of control over his/her past history, yet, if an individual has had any traumatic events (unresolved emotional incidents) in his/her life, the person's memory of the event will impose a bias on the next segment of the wheel.
A bias is created because one will naturally tend to expect present or future events to result more like they have in his/her past. Such a bent can actually be true for any kind of emotional experience; it is just that traumas are more likely to stand out (at least unconsciously) in the mind to have a more significant influence on the remainder of the wheel. A bias created by an individual's past history may not be as simple as it seems. Dobbins explains that as a person is growing up, he/she does not always know what to expect from life. Thus, a young child does not know if what is happening is normal or abnormal. He/she does not have the ability to compare his/her life experiences like an older person would. Therefore, a child does not know how to cope properly or process situations which are obviously (to others) traumatic or dysfunctional. Dobbins (1990b) holds that traumatic events, of any kind, distort the way one sees life. The traumas of a person's past have deep and infectious roots, becoming the filter through which one interprets his/her sensations (Dobbins, 1990a).Dobbins believes many people become disappointed with the Christian life because they expect their conversion to automatically change the influence of their past history. He contends this change takes time and a certain amount of effort on the part of the individual.
Interpretation, the third segment of the wheel, is a very important component of a person's life. Dobbins suggests that one does not live with the events of one's past. He believes one lives with the story (interpretation) that one tells oneself of those events. A person remembers past occurrences based on the way he/she has interpreted those previous events.
One's feelings are the next station on The Wheel of Experience and result from the previous three segments. The way a person interprets stimuli will influence how he/she feels. An illustration Dobbins (1987a) uses is how one might feel if one were giving a speech and someone from the audience, quietly, but very noticeably, left in the middle of the presentation. The speaker can devise at least three explanations or interpretations of that event. The person making an exodus might have needed to make a phone call, was upset or insulted by the lecture, or had an urgent need to use the restroom. The speaker would obviously not know why the person left, yet how one interpreted those sensations will have an influence on how one feels in this situation.
The fifth segment, "in"-tension, arises out of one's feelings. This is simply what a person intends to do in the future. Various options are defined as potential ways of responding to present situations.
Behavior, the final section, is what becomes observable. It is a choice arising out of the options defined in the previous segment.
The Wheel of Experience represents how one filters what occurs in one's life. Behavior is not the "end" of the wheel. A person's behavior will impact on his/her sensations and the wheel continues to rotate, constantly, at such a rapid speed that most people are unaware of the individual sections of the wheel (Dobbins, 1990a).
How two different people react to the smell of fire demonstrates how the Wheel of Experience operates differently for each individual. At the smell of smoke (a neutral sensation), one panicked (a behavior) while the other person reacted more calmly (a behavior, also) by proceeding to find out the source and deal with the matter. What could explain the differences of their actions? Given that the two individuals' olfactory systems are functioning normally, the past history of the two individuals would be the best explanation. The one who panicked had previously experienced a very traumatic loss of home as the result of a fire. When this person received the stimulus of smoke, before instantaneously reacting (i.e., segment six, the behavior) the person filtered the sensation through the past history (the memory of the trauma of another fire) which, in turn, impacted on the interpretation ("Oh no! This place is burning down!"). This influenced the person's feelings and 'in'-tensions, resulting in the hysterical behavior.
Concerning the note on the bottom of Figure 1, the Wheel of Experience, Dobbins (1990a) comments it would be more accurate to say at point #1: "You implement control at segments three and six." Therefore, once a person has tried to control one's interpretation, that person has automatically modified his/her feelings and "in"-tensions.
Healing of the Mind
To address how change in a person's behavior can come about and how such a change in behavior is best accomplished (Burks & Stefflre, 1979), an understanding of the "Healing of the Mind", another model Dobbins uses is necessary (see Figure 2). This model is the core of Dobbins' theoretical ideas and sets the groundwork for comprehending his main therapeutic techniques used to accomplish change. Dobbins (personal communication, July 11, 1990) declares that the Healing of the Mind model is "a theological model that accommodates psychology" and not vice versa.
As noted before, the mind is a term used by Dobbins which is distinct from the brain. The mind, however, is also equal to what is theologically called the spirit of a person. Using Penfield's (1975) terminology, one could also call the mind the "programmer," and the brain would be the "computer."
Looking at the Healing of the Mind Model, Sin and "Zoe" are terms equivalent to the impact of Satan and God, which were examined under the discussion of the basic nature of people. These supernatural forces are impacting on the mind of the person (see large oval on Figure 2).
Dobbins (1990a), drawing upon his 26 years of experience as a pastor and on his training and experience in psychology, claims to have come up with a way to include the three classical positions in psychology, showing how each perspective has an influence on a person. Elements of the dynamic school of psychology are recognized by the inclusion of the unconscious, subconscious, and preconscious. The conscious aspect of a person, via the fantasy, imagination, and thoughts, gives credence to the Cognitive school. The Behavioral school is acknowledged by Dobbins' "life choices" category.
The scripture, Jeremiah 17:9, given at the bottom of the model under the Unconscious segment, is one of the verses Dobbins (1987a) believes gives Biblical support for the idea that a person has an unconscious. He avows that in Matthew 26:33-34, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 139:23, and I Corinthians 2:11, the Bible already recognized what is known today as the unconscious. In fact, Dobbins (1990b) contends that he is not actually borrowing from psychology when he discusses concepts such as the unconscious and many other "psychological" terms. He believes that the field of psychology has actually created new terms for several principles found in the Bible. Part of his reason for believing that psychology contains many concepts from the Bible is that numerous psychologists, like Freud, Jung and Rogers, were raised in a religious household.
Dobbins elaborates on the brain-mind mechanism by discussing the ways psychologists have divided it in an attempt to understand what takes place in the brain. The unconscious has been said to be comprised of the collective unconscious and the personal unconscious. He calls attention to the fact that, based on the text by Freedman et al. [sic] (cited in Dobbins, 1990b), Jung suggested that everybody came from the same brain stem. Dobbins (1990b) states that Jung defined the collective unconscious as "images of the unconscious not originating in the personal acquisitions but rather in the inherited brain structure" (p. 14). In theological terms, this, for Dobbins, gives credence to the idea that Adam's fallen nature is transmitted genetically to his descendants. The personal unconscious, of course, is the place where each individual's memories are stored.
For a definition of the subconscious, Dobbins (1990b) uses the one given by Hinsic and Campbell (1960). He quotes them as stating the subconscious is "the state in which mental processes take place without conscious perception on the individual's part" (p. 15). The preconscious includes the various mental elements, such as thoughts and memories, which are momentarily out of reach to the conscious, but can be brought to the surface of consciousness by focusing attention on the information desired.
Dobbins (1990b) also accepts Hinsic and Campbell's (1960) definition of fantasies being "day dreaming and night dreaming" (p. 15). One's imagination is being used when a person brings together a variety of ideas in a unique way to manage a current experience. For a definition of thoughts, the final form of the conscious, the definition by Freedman et al. [sic] (cited in Dobbins 1990b) is used. It says thoughts "refers to a broad range of psychic phenomena, including abstract and concrete thinking, judgment, orientation memory perception and imagery" (p. 15).
All of these levels mentioned above, from the unconscious to the just discussed thoughts, are influenced by the natural potential, divine potential, and demonic potential. These are listed just above "life choices" in Figure 2.
Natural potential. The natural potential consists of two basic forces: human impact and nonhuman impact. Human affect can be broken down into three divisions: physiological, psychological and sociological influences. The physiological factors include such things as "genetic endowment, diet, exercise, health, [and] illness" (Dobbins, 1990b, p. 16). Psychologically, human impact is made "through birth order, love and affection, [and] discipline" (Dobbins, 1990b, p. 16). The sociological factors include one's "interaction with parents, siblings, [and] peers" (Dobbins, 1990b, p.16).
Nonhuman impact includes those things such as meteorological events and accidents in life which affect each person's conscious and unconscious mind. The meteorological events would include droughts and storms. Accidents would be anything traumatic involving such things as animals, trees, buildings or water (Dobbins, 1990b, p. 16).
Divine potential. This is the first of two supernatural forces. "Zoe" is the Greek word in the New Testament for the word meaning eternal life. Dobbins (1990a) defines eternal life as "an invisible force emanating from Jesus, to which the unregenerate are insensitive. It impacts on the mind of the Christian to stimulate the brain to think in terms of life choices which enhance and develop one's divine potential [italics added]."
Demonic potential. Sin is the other supernatural force which impacts on a person's "life choices" and conscious and unconscious life. Dobbins is quick to point out that most Christians "mistake the manifestation of sin for sin" (Dobbins, 1987a) and thus easily offer legalistic definitions of sin. Within this model he defines sin as "an invisible force emanating from the person of Satan. It impacts on the mind to stimulate the brain to think in terms of life choices which detract from and destroy one's divine potential [italics added]" (Dobbins, 1990a).
Dobbins (no date, d) readily admits that the invisible nature of supernatural forces is a very difficult concept for most people to grasp. However, he is swift to add that "forces are no less real because they are unseen." The easiest way to demonstrate how real intangible matters are is to consider the many forces in the physical world which are invisible. Examples of these are: electricity, light waves, sound waves, electromagnetic fields, vacuums, and atoms.
Exactly how do the supernatural forces of Eternal Life and Sin affect a person? The best way to understand this phenomenon, according to Dobbins, is by recognizing that each person has a presence (Dobbins, 1990a). Whenever one walks into a room and joins a group of people, one changes the feeling within that group. That feeling will depend on how each person reacts to the newcomer's presence. Respondents can be either indifferent, delighted, or reluctant about seeing the newcomer. The essence of one's presence is invisible, but the manifestation of one's presence is visible.
Is there any difference between the presence of one person from another? Yes. "Some people have a more powerful presence than others" (Dobbins, 1990a). Sociologically, when one person's presence is greater than another's, it is said that one has more charisma.
An example Dobbins often uses when talking with young people is to ask them to imagine the largest stadium in their area filled to capacity. With the platform empty, everyone will break down into small groups. But, when the lead singer from their favorite group hits the stage, everybody's behavior is changed.
If an individual can have that much power, then a powerful personality such as Satan could have stronger influence. That influence is made through Sin. The target of the impact is the thoughts of an individual (Dobbins, 1987a). How can one tell if his/her thoughts are being stimulated by Sin? Dobbins believes that if one were to weigh in one's mind what the results of acting on the thoughts would be, and they would be negative, then the thoughts originated from Sin--a phenomenon people commonly call temptation.
Likewise, if following through on one's thoughts were to result in a positive impact on one's life, then its source is Eternal Life. The quality of one's choices is, therefore, improved by one's following through less frequently on the options suggested by the demonic potential.
One's life choices, in turn, impact on the conscious and unconscious parts of a person. Likewise, the conscious and unconscious have an influence on one's choice--this process goes on continually, at a very rapid rate as represented by the arrows in Figure 2 (Dobbins, 1990a).
Accomplishing Change
How does a therapist enact change in a client using Dobbins' orientation? Two models developed by Dobbins is "Praying through," and "Putting Off the Old Man/Putting On the New Man."
Praying through. A method of change for Dobbins in handling past hurtful events is a technique called "praying through" (see Figure 3). It is a form of insight counseling involving four steps, which a client would be given to do between sessions (Dobbins, no date, d): 1. Focusing intellectually on the event or relationship that is causing pain. 2. Focusing emotionally on the painful event or relationship. 3. When the emotions have been discharged, [one meditates] for a new interpretation which hurts less than the old one. 4. Replacing old, hurtful interpretations with new interpretations gained in meditation.
This tool utilizes the concepts set forth in the Wheel of Experience Model (see Figure 1).Specifically, it focuses on the third segment of the wheel--interpretation. As noted previously, Dobbins holds that one does not live with the facts of past experience. Instead, one lives with the subjective interpretation that he/she tells him/ herself over and over about what has happened. This idea obviously draws heavily from cognitive theorists such as Ellis (Ellis & Grieger, 1977).
Dobbins (Angelo, 1987) holds that a person's brain basically has two different kinds of memory--semantic memory and historic memory. Facts like the multiplication table, are stored in a person's semantic memory. This type of memory is highly resistant to change. Historic memory, however, is flexible and very easily changed. This kind of memory is where events of a person's past is stored. Recalling the Wheel of Experience discussion, one notes that such previous events are given a partisan interpretation. The idea behind praying through, is to edit, or reinterpret, the events or relationships of the past. Otherwise, the traumas from one's history will continue to cause difficulties because of the biased meaning given to those experiences (because one's interpretations influence one's feelings, etc. . . .).
Control is, therefore, being made at the point of interpretation in the Wheel of Experience, which corresponds to the unconscious aspect of the Healing of the Mind Model. Most people try to exercise control over the fourth area on the wheel--feelings. This is done when a person tries to suppress or repress his/her feelings which are the natural outflow of one's interpretations. Ulcers or neurosis may eventually result if one only attempts to control one's feelings (Dobbins, 1990a). Trying to control feelings without dealing with interpretations may have the appearance of working for a time, but a person who can be honest will eventually see how ineffectual such a task becomes.
Do people really transpose their own view of the facts of their past experiences? One way of demonstrating an answer to this question would be to ask a couple to describe their wedding day. This activity vividly shows how people interpret the same objective facts of an event differently. Both the bride and the groom will come up with actions that the other does not remember, yet each will swear that such events "really" took place. The couple has put their own subjective interpretations on the events. If the ceremony were taped on video, then yet another interpretation would be available (Angelo, 1987).
Within counseling, because a person's past cannot be changed, the therapist works to help the client feel and think differently about his/her past events or relationships. This is what is being changed using the technique of praying through, helping the person change what can be changed--his/her painful interpretations of past experiences (Dobbins, no date, d).
Of course, if a client does not find prayer meaningful, or does not know how to pray, this approach would not be used. However, a client who does not know much about prayer and expresses interest in the technique, would then be instructed how to pray by the therapist. At this point the method of praying through would be reconsidered as a homework assignment to effectuate change.
A closer examination of the steps of praying through will provide a better understanding of how it deals with a client's past history. The first step, intellectually focusing on the event or person that has caused the pain, involves talking to God honestly about the hurt(s). Such transparency can be very difficult for people who are accustomed to talking only to God about how they know they should feel. It is the proverbial small, but giant step. Of course, if questioned, one immediately recognizes the fact that a person cannot hide anything from God. So, it is no shock for Him to hear a person verbalize how he/she feels, and being honest with God can be a relief in itself. After all, God is hopefully one who can be entrusted to keep one's true feelings secret (Dobbins, no date, d).
A specific way to accomplish praying through is to have the client write a letter he/she never plans to mail, stating his/her honest feelings. This homework is given to assist one in overcoming any mental block which is preventing him/her from remembering how he/she really feels. Ideally, the individual will write this letter over the span of several days or weeks (as one may not recall everything at once). Later, once all four steps have been completed, the client will destroy the letter in some way that is meaningful to him/her.
Dobbins (1990a) relates that from a scientific point of view, it has been shown there are two elements to any experience, an ideation component and an affective or emotional component. If a person does not properly process the emotional aspect when he/she experiences something, the ideational or intellectual part disengages from the emotional component. Thus, in common terms, one forgets why one feels or reacts a certain way. This phenomena shows how selective one's conscious memory often is in regards to painful events in life. Despite not being able to consciously remember (or admitting to) such experiences, one will continually be influenced by them to some degree.
Focusing intellectually on the experience which is the source of pain enables the client to reconnect the emotional element with events that caused it. Therefore, the client will be able to handle the experience the way it could have been properly dealt with at the time it originally occurred.
The second step in praying through which is focusing emotionally on the painful event or relationship, helps in the reunion process. One can focus better by permitting the feelings that were initially produced by the hurt to re-surface and then be expressed. During this step, it is not unusual for a person to pray very loud, cry or convulsively sob (Dobbins, 1987c). Prior to engaging in this technique, the individual has been told that it would be best to pray through at a time when no one else is around in order to avoid distracting them. Even though it may be very painful for a person to let his/her feelings re- surface with such intensity while alone, it is also true that one will likely hold back from an intense expression if others are around for fear of disturbing them or wondering what they might think (Dobbins, 1990b). Such a catharsis is done until there is some emotional relief (Dobbins, no date, d). It is not too uncommon for clients to have difficulty with this second step. Therefore, as with any of the steps, if the client is having a hard time accomplishing the goals of this segment, the counselor is available to assist and/or model possible ways of succeeding.
The next step, waiting for God to comfort you by meditating for a new meaning from Him for the old hurtful experience, is crucial. Dobbins (1990b) laments that many people stop before coming to this important point. Even before trying this method of change, some question the presumption of this step. They may ask, "Are not the facts of my life, the facts? I cannot change what happened to me." This is true. But, it is also true that a person does not live with the facts of his/her life. Rather, one lives with the memory of the events, the way one has subjectively interpreted those events. This is what a person remembers and thinks about whenever one recalls a past event. The goal, then, is to enable the client to find a new way to think and feel about a painful experience.
Previously, the point was brought out about two basic kinds of memory and how historic memory can be edited. Meditating for a new meaning is the editing process. Dobbins (1990a) proclaims that, given any set of events, numerous meanings can be obtained ranging from a very destructive interpretation to a very creative interpretation. For Dobbins, the process of waiting for and receiving the most creative meaning or understanding of one's past experiences comes as the result of the spiritual warfare similar to the battle for choices described earlier.
Dobbins (personal communication, July, 1988) often uses his own life to illustrate how a person can change the meaning of one's past. Shortly after Dobbins' birth, his mother died as the result of complications from giving birth. Growing up, he had to come to terms with this fact. As a young child, not knowing the seriousness of what happened, Dobbins would ask his aunt, "Why couldn't I have a mommy out of whose tummy I came?" By the time he became a teenager he began to feel a heavy load of guilt for his mother's death. He was somewhat mischievous and got into trouble. He thought his bad behavior was easily explained; he was basically a bad kid. After all, his birth killed his mother. By the time Dobbins was 19, he had begun to make periodic trips to his mother's grave. One day in particular, he suddenly noticed that his mother was the same age when she died as he was then. He began to think about how that was too young for anyone to have died.
As he thought about this fact, Dobbins believes God suggested a new way to interpret it. "Not only did Jesus give His life for you, but your mother gave her life for you. How valuable your life must be. Be sure you make it count for something" (Dobbins, 1987c). As a result, Dobbins began to have a very high level of motivation to help hurting people (personal communication, July, 1988).
Had the fact that Dobbins' mother died as a direct result of his birth changed? No. The story he told himself about those facts had changed. In fact, Dobbins now had three stories to choose from--all of which were true. He chose to remember the version which was most beneficial to his mental health.
So, change in a person can come about when a less debilitating interpretation of his/her past experience is found. It is up to the individual to choose from an almost endless possibility of interpretations. Satan wants a person to live with the most destructive interpretation, while God wants a person to live with the most beneficial. Therefore, one is made aware of his/her ability to make a choice as to how to think and feel about his/her past (Dobbins 1987c).
How does a person know if the new meaning is healthier? When one can more comfortably think and talk about what has happened to himself/herself. One way this may occur in a person is for him/her to "realize how much pain was present in the life of the person who hurt him or her" (Dobbins, no date, d, p. 12). When this realization transpires, the client is actually developing compassion towards the one who harmed him/her.
The final step to praying through is to replace the old, hurtful, interpretations with new interpretations gained in meditation and to thank God for providing the new meaning (Dobbins, no date, d). Otherwise, what is the use in discovering a new interpretation of one's past if one does not apply it? Besides repeating the new interpretation to oneself, writing it down and recording the date the new meaning found, is a helpful way to remember.
With intrusive thoughts, Satan will try to remind the client of the old meaning. If the new interpretation is written down, then the person can more easily hold on to it by being reminded of the time which was spent in prayer.
How often will a person need to pray through a past experience before he/she knows that the interpretation is the most positive it can be? It may (miraculously) be in only one session. However, it more often takes several times. In fact, it often will probably take the individual more than one time to get through each of the four steps. Dobbins (1990b) has not so jokingly said, "Praying through is like pealing an onion, it goes a layer at a time and you cry a lot."
One will know he/she has prayed through a past event adequately when "the latest meaning of an old event or relationship will be sufficiently comfortable to permit the person to behave appropriately and productively in his/her daily life" (Dobbins, no date, d, p. 13). That is to say, "the event or relationship from the past would not hurt him enough to interfere with his future" (Dobbins, no date, d, p. 13).
The technique of praying through is best accomplished with clients who have a healthy God- concept and self-concept (Dobbins, 1987a). Both of these ideas are discussed in the next section, addressing the third criterion of a counseling theory.
Dobbins warns that a counselor will want to determine the answer to the following questions before deciding to use the praying through method: "1.) Is the person able to engage in introspection (i.e., can the person view his/her behavior with some measure of objectivity)? 2.) Is the person able to control his/her impulses? 3.) Is the person verbally bright?" If the answer to any of these is "no," the counselor will want to wait until they are affirmative, or choose another method of intervention (Dobbins, no date, d).
Putting off the Old Man/Putting on the New Man.
Another method of change for Dobbins is a technique he bases on Ephesians 4:22-24. He entitles it "Putting Off The Old Man/Putting On The New Man," but the author will refer to it as "Old Man/New Man." It corresponds to intervening at the sixth segment of Figure 1, the Wheel of Experience Model. This technique is behaviorally based and also correlates to the area on the Healing of the Mind Model (see Figure 2) labeled "life choices." It is useful for compulsive or addictive behaviors. This includes managing addictions to pornography, homosexual and bisexual behavior, alcohol and destructive anger.
The plane of rest (see Figure 4) represents the amount of time when a person is free from the temptation to act out his/her compulsion. The plane of intensity, on the side of the diagram, characterizes the magnitude of the temptation's intensity.
For Dobbins, a person is dealing with an obsession when the issue which is brought into counseling interferes with one's daily activities. That is, oneis unable to cope with one's obsession until some kind of behavior is acted out. This behavior is the person's compulsion (Dobbins, 1990a).
Examining Figure 4, one's compulsion occurs at what is labeled the "Point of Inevitable Acting Out," a point when the intensity has become so great that for the person to be able to break free of the obsession there has to be an acting out of some behavior to relieve the tension. When the acting out occurs, the plane of intensity decreases and begins to return toward the plane of rest. As this process is [Figure 4] occurring, one also reflects on his/her behavior or comes to the point of "evaluation" (see Figure 4).
Between the time a person becomes aware of the temptation and the apex of intensity is a "window of control." This is the period of time an individual has between the initial moment he/she is aware of the obsessional thoughts and the time one loses control over them and acts out (Dobbins, 1990a). Often, a person is so overwhelmed with the guilt of his/her behavior that one will try to conquer it by denying and repressing the temptation of the behavior until the intensity becomes too great to be able to manage it in a way other than the compulsive behavior (Dobbins, 1989f).
Thus, the behavior is actually a tension reliever. The acting out is a defense against the build up of the tension brought on by the obsessional thoughts. Once a person commits the behavior, there is an experience of momentary satisfaction because the level of tension recedes. Also, the individual now has more conscious control of his/her behavior. However, as already noted, the person also begins to reflect on the action taken. There will be a negative (-) evaluation if one has a desire to change the behavior/compulsion (Dobbins, 1990b).
If a person can implement some kind of substitutional behavior before the level of intensity becomes too elevated, then one will be able to return to the plane of rest prior to reaching the point of inevitable acting out (see Figure 4). Again, this is the "window of control." When a person performs the substitute behavior instead of the original, he/she will feel positive (+) about the action taken at the point of "evaluation" (Dobbins, 1990a).
In all likelihood, when a client comes to a counselor, he/she will be unaware of the "window of control" that is possible to deal with the compulsive behavior. The client's mode of behavior will lack any substitute behavior(s) (see Figure 5).
Two skills will need to be developed for the client to eliminate the compulsive behavior (Dobbins, 1990a). The first is to discover what is activating or tempting the obsession; another term for this is "triggering mechanisms." Dobbins contends that "it is very important to deal with the origin of the problem and not just the problem of the moment" (Dobbins, 1990b). Otherwise, he believes, the only deterrent will be the fear of embarrassment or the humiliation of getting caught for acting out the behavior. This is not an adequate barrier to eliminate the behavior on a [Figure 5] long term basis. Dobbins also believes that although a person may be able to define the triggering mechanisms on his/her own, it is helpful for one to pray for wisdom from God to discover all of them.
One needs to be tuned into the increasing tension which builds up when a certain stimulus begins to tempt one to act out the compulsive behavior. This is best accomplished by having the client reflect on the times he/she has acted out the behavior targeted for change. When this is done over the period of several days or weeks, the client should be able to discover several commonalities in the behavior that is acted out. It may be similar places, people, states of mind or moods. One comes to discover whether the behavior occurs most often when the client is alone, exhausted, with certain individuals, or in specific places (Dobbins, 1990a). Until this point, the client has most likely been concentrating his/her energies on denying the existence of the tempting triggers which kick off the obsessions.
When the client has defined his/her triggering mechanisms, one way of extinguishing the behavior is to avoid, as much as possible, the people, places, or circumstances which activate the behavior. For example, if the client has a problem with alcoholism, it would be unwise for him/her to go into a bar, even for lunch (Dobbins, 1989f). If the activating stimuli are not defined and avoided, one will needlessly be putting oneself into situations or places when the behavior is most likely to be triggered (Dobbins, 1990a).
The second skill the client will need to develop is to define what behaviors can be substituted for the compulsion when he/she is tempted to act out. When these substitutionary behaviors are pinpointed, the client will be aware of other activities that can be done to remove himself/herself from the temptation (Dobbins, 1989f).
When one successfully substitutes a behavior, then the client will be able to avoid the inevitable point of acting out because he/she will not have reached the apex of intensity (see Figure 4). The client is reinforced by the fact that he/she does not lose control and finds that the tension decreases. One will also end with a positive (+) evaluation of one's behavior.
Possible alternate behaviors will vary but will likely include finding a person whom one can be honest with and can call on when the temptation is first recognized, so he/she can help the client pray for strength not to act out the behavior. Additionally, if one were having trouble with alcohol, he/she could distract oneself by drinking a coke or coffee when tempted to drink (Dobbins, 1990b). Scripturally, Dobbins notes that the substitutionary behavior is "a way of escape" as defined in I Corinthians 10:13 (see Figure 6).
A client is not necessarily free from ever acting out the compulsive behavior again once these two skills are developed. Nor does it mean the client will never be tempted to act out. There will often be times, even after several weeks of successes, when the client may fall back into the old behavior (Dobbins, 1990b). Dobbins (1990a), based on his clinical experience, states that a client will need approximately 60 days of not acting out before he/she should consider the problem to be under total control.
Therefore, change takes place by focusing on progressively having increased success toward overcoming the compulsive behavior. This change is made possible by learning to recognize what triggers the temptation and learning to define substitutional behaviors and putting them into practice (Dobbins, 1990a). As the counselee masters this goal his/her behavior will look more like Figure 7.
How does Dobbins' methodology differ from what may be considered "Behavior Modification"? Dobbins (1990b) indicates the chief differences are the use of prayer, and reliance on strength and insight from Christ. He notes further that "Behavior Modification" is a secular term for concepts contained in many passages in the Bible.
The first skill, involving avoiding people, places, or activities that trigger the obsession, is found in scriptures such as I Thessalonians 5:22 and I Corinthians 6:18. These verses tell a person to "avoid every kind of evil" and to "flee from sexual immorality" (NIV). The Biblical principles contained in these verses are giving an individual a practical way of avoiding situations which may tempt (i.e., the triggering mechanisms) a person to behave in a certain way (i.e., the compulsion) (Dobbins, 1990b).
The second skill, substitutionary behaviors, which often involves contacting another person, is also encouraged in scripture. James 5:16 says "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another . . ." (KJV) and Galatians 6:2 says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (NKJV). A practical way of how one can apply this scripture into everyday life is to contact another person one can be honest with when one is tempted to engage in an activity that one knows should be avoided. After all, whether or not a behavior is a compulsion, the temptation to do something harmful thrives on secrecy and a person finds it easier to cope with it by denying it exists than by admitting and dealing with the difficulty (Dobbins, 1990b).
Dobbins points out that the institutional Church is often times the hardest place for people to admit there is something wrong in their lives. Although the norm is for Christians to cover up their struggles, he contends this is going against what the Bible teaches, and one will enhance his/her emotional and spiritual life by practically applying Biblical principles. Unfortunately, most people lack practical how-to's for what they know they ought to do in their life. That is the goal of these two methods of accomplishing change.
In summary, Dobbins addresses the issue of learning theory and how change in behavior takes place by an exposition of the scripture in Jeremiah 17:9, and has developed or expounded on several models about how change results, including the Wheel of Experience, Healing of the Mind, Praying Through and what he calls Putting Off the Old Man/Putting On the New Man.
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