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Here's a whole reddit thread of people freaking out about this https://t.co/afbjfNqvS3
Okay, what I think the book is really saying here is that *etiological* trauma does not exist. That is: it's not the case that some very specific event/trauma in the past can meaningfully explain for your behavior in the present
The belief still has to be serving (part of) her, though, if she still has it. Maybe the belief is something that she (on some level) thinks keeps her safe, even if in many everyday situations it causes unwanted effects.
For example, maybe Alice learned that if she speaks up her mind then she will be hurt. But now in the office she doesn't share her mind.But the belief is still useful for as long as she believes that "If I speak up, I could get hurt"!
Put another way: if you believe in etiology (if you believe you don't have free will and that your present behavior is unavoidably determined by trauma in the past and you will always be traumatized) *that belief* is ITSELF teleological
Again, notice the self-fulfilling prophecy: If you ever conclude "I can't get past my trauma", you will never get past your trauma until you get past that (self-sustaining) belief. And there might be other benefits, e.g. others might take better care of you
But it's true on some level that "That person didn't make you upset by insulting you— you got upset because you (your brain) interpreted what they said as something that should cause suffering"Graphically, here's how I think cognition works: https://t.co/YrPG0rCGVC
And this is another graphic for that Also this video https://t.co/XCyv51kbs6 https://t.co/Qq46HBAQYf
My favorite answer for how to do that is something called Coherence Therapy! I've been practicing it for more than a year, it's excellent. My favorite explanation is all of this post by @xuenay : https://t.co/ZbX7Curvvb
Basically: your brain is running mostly in parallel. Different parts are making different predictions. Sometimes those predictions conflict. Usually these conflicts are resolved automatically, but sometimes they get stuck
For example, your beliefs might get stuck if you believe "I'm a boring person". If you believe this (and also that it matters), then you might talk to some people, say less things, they might think you're boring, and you'll get *more evidence* for the fact that you're boring
But I have to say I think Alfred Adler and Adlerian Psychology are right about this: I don't think the subconscious mind exists (in the way most people think it does). It's too easy to blame one's trauma/feelings/actions on the subconscious
Also I'm writing lots more about this, I've been thinking about things like this all year. To be posted on my substack (eventually) https://t.co/XRVC9mpErt