Peter Strong PhD

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PeterStrong, PhD

MMT can be defined as:  the direct application of mindfulness to the present felt-sense of an emotional complex to facilitate transformation, resolution and healing.

DIRECT APPLICATION means that theindividual trains to establish and sustain a quality of relationship with theinner experience of an emotion, called the Mindfulness Based Relationship. Thequality of the MBR is the key factor that will determine the successful outcomeof MMT.

MINDFULNESS describes direct attention andawareness that is best described by the term ENGAGED PRESENCE. When we aremindful, we are fully awake and aware of what is happening as it is happening,without any thinking about the experience or anyemotional reaction to the experience. We simply “sit” with the experience andobserve it with a keen interest as we might have when listening to a favoritepiece of classical music. But mindfulness also has a quality of engagement inwhich we investigate the structure of the experience. All mindfulness involvesmoving beyond the superficial and initial appearance of experience anduncovering the finer and more subtle inner structure of experience. When welisten to an orchestra with this sense of rapture and keen interest, we arelikely to become aware of individual instruments and gain a new appreciation ofthe piece of music that exceeds our previous experience. When this kind ofmindfulness is developed, then every time we listen to the music we alwaysdiscover it anew, even though we have heard it a thousand times. This is thekind of attitude and approach to experience that we are attempting to cultivatein our practice of The Path of Mindfulness and MMT.

The term PRESENT FELT SENSE of an emotionalcomplex is the general quality of feeling that surrounds the emotion. Anemotion is different than a feeling, because it has form. An emotion is aconstellation of thinking, physical sensations, actions and speech. If youthink of anger as an example, to be angry requires changes in facialexpression, tightening in various muscle groups throughout the body, anincrease in heart rate and changes in behavior. These actions are aggregatedaround a collage of different feelings, beliefs and patterns of thinking. Allof these components are part of the emotional reaction we call anger. A feelingdoes not have form, but is a property in the same way that the color yellow isa property of a lemon. An emotion has a certain felt sense, a certain qualityof feeling energy, called vedana. In Buddhistterms, this general undifferentiated feeling energy can be positive, negativeor neutral. The negative form is called dukkhavedana and is the feeling sense that accompanies dukkha or emotional suffering and agitation.

What the Buddha discovered over 2500 yearsago, is that this very process of listening with mindfulness and opening to theunfolding orchestra of our own experience, including the experience ofemotional suffering, or dukkha, creates theright conditions for transformation. All emotional suffering is comprised ofpsychological feeling energy, vedana that hasbecome locked into specific mental formations, sankharas that take the form of an emotional reaction, a behavioral reactionor even a bodily reaction. Dukkha is a state ofpsychological instability and the psyche will always move in a direction thatleads to the resolution of this instability, if given the freedom to change.This automatic tendency towards resolution, I call Psychological Homeostasisand which corresponds to the same principle of physiological, biochemical andimmunological homeostasis that occurs spontaneously in the body. However, theabsolutely essential factor required for homeostasis to work in either the bodyor the mind is FREEDOM: the freedom to move and change in an intelligentdirection that leads towards the resolution of instability and the cessation ofdukkha. Mindfulness is the perfection ofrelationship to our experience that brings this essential quality of freedom todukkha and creates the ideal conditions in whichemotional conflict can transform and resolve itself. A therapeutic space opensaround the dukkha and the dukkha responds by changing, transforming in a direction that leadstowards resolution. We can feel this process transformation as it is occurringby monitoring changes in feeling tone. When transformation leads to resolutionthere is a felt shift from dukkhavedana to sukhavedana, the more positive form of feeling energy. Eventually, whenresolution is complete, the feeling energy changes further into a state ofgreater stability in which the felt sense is neutral, balanced and inequilibrium and this is called upekkhavedana.This latter quality of feeling is accompanied by a sense of well-being andvitality as energy is released back into the psyche.

The mechanism of transformation andresolution is primarily experiential, which means that changes evolve from theimmediate present experience of the emotion, rather than from our views andbeliefs about the experience. Of course, mindfulness, or sati is all about being present for our experience as it arises andunfolds in the present moment. The path of experiential transformation andresolution is unique to each person and each session of MMT. Typically, therewill be a differentiation of feelings, memories and word-symbols that seem tofit with the feelings that are experienced. Almost all clients will notice someform of experiential imagery that seems to resonate with the felt sense of theexperience. The mind thinks in pictures and uses visual representations toorganize experience. Many of us are not aware of this internal imagery, butwhen we focus mindfulness on the felt sense of an emotion we create the rightstate of awareness and sensitivity in which imagery will arise. Experientialimagery is imagery that arises from our present felt experience, rather than avisualization that we create and it provides an extraordinarily powerful mediumfor promoting the transformation and resolution of dukkha.

THE PROCESS OF MMT

The first phase of MMT is primarily aboutlearning to recognize reactions as and when they arise and replace ignorancewith awareness. This is the first function of mindfulness, the factor ofRECOGNITION. Without this most basic first step nothing can change, but withawareness comes the possibility of change. Recognition is the beginning of thetransformational process and often this skill alone is sufficient to totallychange the whole reactive dynamic between two people.

The next phase of MMT involves changing howwe view the reaction and associated emotional energy. This is called REFRAMINGand is one of a number of skills that is taught in the psychological science ofNeuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and which is another chief modality used inMMT. Normally, (ie when we are unaware) we blindly identify with emotionalreactions and literally become the reaction. When a reaction of feeling hurtarises we become the emotional reaction of hurting. Anger arises and we becomeangry. We say “I am upset,” or “I am angry” because we literally take on theentire identity of the emotion. During reframing, we learn to stop thisautomatic process of subjective identification and see the reaction as simplyan object that is not self, but simply a phenomenon that has arisen in ourconsciousness due to various causes and conditions. When the reaction offeeling upset arises, we now see it as an object within us, rather like abubble rising in a pond. The bubble is not the pond, but simply an object thatarises within the pond and the emotion is not our self, but simply a small partthat arises within our experience. After reframing the emotion, we learn tosay, “I notice a feeling of hurting within me” or “I notice anger arising in mymind.” This is a very important step, because it counteracts the habitualtendency to react and opens up a sense of space and choices around the emotion.You cannot relate to something with any sense of presence and engagement if youare gripped by reactivity: reactivity inhibits relationship. Only when you canform a pure and direct relationship with an experience, including emotionalsuffering, will presence and engagement be possible and without completepresence, nothing can change.

The third phase of MMT, after RECOGNITIONand REFRAMING is the most important step of forming a RELATIONSHIP with theinternal felt-sense of the emotional reaction. Let us explore this in moredetail. Once you have recognized a reaction and made it into an object that youcan see and experience, then you begin to see the emotional reaction as anobject to be investigated and known in its own right, rather than gettingentangled in the storyline of the emotion, which is our usual tendency. Thestoryline may be very compelling and you may feel very offended or hurt, but indulgingin negative, emotionally charged thinking is seldom an effective tool forresolving emotional conflict, internally or externally. This is the firstfunction of mindfulness: learning to recognize a reaction, seeing it as anobject and not getting seduced into further reactivity.

            Thekind of relationship that we cultivate in MMT is called the Mindfulness BasedRelationship. This relationship has certain unique qualities. The first andmost important quality is non-reactivity. By learning to recognize reactivity,we can stop the tendency to proliferate further reactivity in the form ofreactive thinking, or further emotional reactions of aversion and displeasure.The second characteristic of the mindfulness-based relationship is aboutopening our heart and mind and developing a quality of genuine caring towardsthe inner pain of our anger or resentment. Instead of turning away, we turntowards our suffering or the suffering of others. This does not mean that weindulge in feeling sorry for ourselves and certainly it does not mean that weindulge in reactive thinking, such as worrying. Rather, we learn to be fullypresent with our inner felt experience of an emotion with a keen level ofattention. The third quality of mindfulness is investigation. We turn towardsour pain, we become attentive and then we take this further step andinvestigate the deeper inner structure of the experience. This has a profoundeffect on whatever is observed and the observed responds by differentiatinginto its component parts. What seemed like the solid emotion of anger orresentment, fear or anxiety begins to unfold into a complex interior landscapeof subtle feelings and memories and very often, some form of experientialimagery.

This is the fourth phase of MMT:EXPERIENTIAL TRANSFORMATION. The term “experiential” is a very important termin mindfulness work and MMT and has a very specific meaning. By “experiential”we mean that we allow experience to unfold in its own way and in its own timewithout any interference or agenda or beliefs about what should happen.Mindfulness provides the ideal therapeutic space in which experientialunfolding can occur, because of its open and non-judgemental quality. Whatunfolds is often unexpected and unpredictable, but has a very clear feltmeaning and felt sense of being relevant and important. The exact nature ofwhat unfolds is unique to each person and cannot be predicted. There is noattempt made to interpret what arises, only to fully experience it withmindfulness and full presence of mind. The effect of becoming aware of thisinner detailed structure that arises naturally as we focus mindfully on anemotion is highly transformational. Often, beneath anger there is sadness andbeneath resentment there is fear. These more subtle feelings may give rise tofurther feelings and experience. During the process of transformation, emotionsliterally dissolve into many small parts, which can be more readily digestedand re-integrated by the psyche and our innate intelligence into something morestable.

            Besidesthe differentiation of feelings and associated memories, people will frequentlyencounter some form of experiential imagery. It may be in the form of a memoryimage, a picture from the past. Experiential imagery often takes on a more abstractform of shifting colors and shapes. Whatever form the imagery takes, the approach is always to “sit” withthe present experience and felt sense associated with the imagery and allow itto unfold and change in its own unique way. One person focusing on anger firstnotices a red color, which takes on the form of a hard, rough rock. Withcontinued mindfulness, the rock begins to change shape and color and dissolvesinto a pile of white sand. This is not visualization, because there was nodeliberate effort to create the imagery; they arose experientially. The processof unfolding and transformation of experiential imagery is one of the mostpowerful events that can occur during MMT and is one of the most effectivemeans of producing change at the deepest level of our emotional suffering. Howthis works is not well understood, but it is generally agreed that the mindthinks in pictures and organizes memory and particularly the affectivedimension of memory through visual imagery. Why the anger took on the form of ared colored rock is interesting and of course red is often associated withanger, as is hardness. Why it changed into white sand is also interesting andsimilarly we can make interpretations of what it means: white sand symbolizestranquility and fluidity. However, interpretation is not the purpose of MMT;what is important is the full conscious experience of this process of change inthe inner structure of our experience. It is this conscious awareness of theprocess that is transformational, not an understanding of the contents thatarise.

The final step of MMT is RESOLUTION.Resolution is said to have occurred when the emotional energy that powers apattern of emotional reactivity has dissipated and returned to the psyche,providing energy for new and more positive responses. Resolution is the stateof equilibrium, accompanied by a felt sense of upekkhavedana, which although neutral can lead to very euphoric feelings that canbe simply described as the taste of freedom. Any form of emotional suffering,or dukkha, as it is called in Buddhism,represents a state of instability and conflict in the psyche. The psyche hatesinstability and will always try to resolve dukkha if given the freedom to change. Mindfulness provides thetherapeutic space and freedom in which transformation and resolution can occur.The guiding principle throughout MMT and the process of transformation andeventual resolution of emotional pain is called satipanna, which means the “wisdom-intelligence that arises with mindfulness.”This is our innate intelligence that we all possess and which is unique to eachmoment of experience. Just as water seems to have an innate intelligence in itsrelentless journey to be united with the ocean, so the psyche has an innateintelligence that will always move towards the resolution of dukkha in all its forms. Mindfulness provides the conditions of freedomand openness in which satipanna will naturallydirect and guide all the subtle changes at the experiential level that lead tothe resolution of dukkha. This is also describedin Buddhism as the awakening or living real-time insight into the Four NobleTruths: Awakening to dukkha, the cause of dukkha, the state of non-dukkha and ThePath of Mindfulness that leads to the resolution of dukkha. We start with recognizing dukkha,we form a relationship with the dukkha withmindfulness and we allow the dukkha to unfold,change and transform itself in the direction that leads to its cessation. Thisdirection is literally encoded in the internal structure of the state ofinstability of dukkha in just the same way thatthe path that water will take is encoded in the very process of creatinginstability when we pour water on the top of a hill. The direction of change isalways towards greater and ultimately final and absolute stability. Thisapplies to dukkha just as much as to the watertrapped on top of a hill. Given time and the freedom to change, that water willreturn to the ocean and the psyche will resolve dukkha and reach a place of stability.

Peter Strong, PhD is a scientist and Buddhist psychotherapist who specializes in the study of mindfulness and its application in Mindfulness Meditation Therapy. He teaches mindfulness meditation (vipassana) and works with individuals and couples using Mindfulness Meditation Therapy for resolving anxiety, depression, phobias, grief and trauma, and the management of anger and stress. Besides face-to-face work, Peter also works with individuals and couples online using Skype. Visit http://www.counselingtherapyonline.com.

Email inquiries welcome.

On my website are posted a series of blog articles which will give an introduction to the psychology of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a big subject with many levels of meaning and subtleties and that is why I describe it as a Path rather than a technique.

Visit https://pdmstrong.wordpress.com and watch the introductory videos on my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/pdmstrong

Please email me from my web site.

https://pdmstrong.wordpress.com.

Peter Strong, PhD