A movie released sometime in July 2010. Leonardo Di Caprio’s Inception.
The movie fascinated me to no end. Psychology was a subject I was determined to major in, till my Dad pulled me out of Arts & pushed me into Commerce with the conviction he was doing me a favor.
Inception talked about the subconscious. It worked on a theme that it is possible to implant a thought in the depths of the subconscious mind of an individual – where he/she is seemingly in a state of unawareness – and by the time the thought floats upward into his/her conscious mind – they own the thought & the actions that follow – believing the same to be a creation of their own conscious awareness – and at some point the real & surreal merge into 1.
That was the movie’s theme & it was executed with graphic cinematography. Could it be possible in real life, I wondered. How does one implant a thought in the subconscious mind of the other & make them believe it is their own? Further still, how does one make them act upon it & yet make them believe they are in control?
Impossible. It’s only a movie, I thought in 2010. But still, mildly possible? Slightly probable?
Thus started a series of psychological experiments. In 2013, I can say with conclusive authority – Yes. Inception is both prabable & possible.
My experiment have been documented in grueling detail. Yet I’m not sure it’s time yet to share them. They need to be more logically explained to make any sense.
Maybe some time soon.
But in a strange way, I’m sure that it will be a contributing pebble to the field of Psychology & Allied sciences.
The objective of psychology needs to focus on Healing rather than Counseling.
Healing goes to the depth of the problem by penetrating through layers of consciousness till we hit the absolute subconscious & then initiates an inner perspective that allows you to understand the “why” behind your life events or circumstances. Once you are convinced “why” things are happening, you will be happy that they are happening. The understanding of your life will be from your “inside”. The solutions will be your own.
Counseling targets merely the 1st layer of your conscious mind, whereby another person explains to you “how” you should behave under your given set of circumstances. You may or may not be convinced about the “why” but since the advice may be coming from a source you look up to, the conclusion is that if you follow it, you stay happy.
This was my stand at a recent group discussion & interview conducted at an institute for mental health in Thane. It was an interview for recruitment. Needless to say I did not make the cut. We need “counselers” not “healers” they said. It’s not our job whether they heal from inside, our job is merely to push them through life.
Fair enough from a practical perspective. But not good enough if you want to “practice” psychology & not just use it as an enticing tag.
My final stand – counseling is the 1st step. But it has to go deeper & deeper till it reaches the root. That’s where healing will begin. And that’s where Inception comes in. You go the root. You understand the root with your scientific insights & your inner perspectives.
Now you have to bring this information to the light of the subject. If you “counsel” him/her you simply become an external source that “tells” him/her what to / what not to do. The human mind can accept external advice only up to a point after which mental walls are crated. That’s what Carl Jung outlined.
Only the person himself / herself can break these walls. So you have to create situations whereby they can see what you can see. You have to create situations whereby they can self-analyze what you have already analyzed. Inception.
Once “they” are in control, healing begins.
Maybe later on this one too.
Journey2Light 