Form and Formlessness
In the Contemplative Studies, we examine the practice of emptiness. How I interpret this is how we can let go of attachments, expectations and habitual patterns in order to experience something as it is in the moment. The importance of this in psychology is leting go of past experiences with the client, with someone similar to the client or something completely unrelated to the client so that each day, each interaction is fresh and new. This way the clinician can work with the positive and negatives as they occur and not anticiapte some reaction.
In Chess, it’s all about the pattern, the recognition, to dominate the game.
How does one then work with emptiness while still maintaining enough structure to be effective? Does it depend on the environment, the people within the environment or the relationship between a clinician and client?
Working at a juvenile residential treatment center (rtc for short), they needed a tight container, firm structure and a lot of discipline. The clients also needed a gentle hand as well, and more encouragement than discouragement. Possitive affirmation than negative. That’s something I struggle with a lot…I could pin it on various things, but that’s not important. What is important is the recognition that positive affirmation is something that is difficult for me, like a foreign language. I can be gentle, soothing, helpful, and I can be disciplined…but rewarding positive things feels like a challenge. This is especially true when I don’t feel supported by the team I am on.
I currently work at a transitional living program, usually referred to as a halfway house. We work mostly with clients who struggle with addictions. In many cases, we can recognize addictive patterns in even the most stubborn clients (stubborn in the sense that they don’t “see” their own addictive behaviors). This can probably produce some shame in our clients, pointing them out as flawed or somehow deffective. Treating addiction as an illness seems wrong in some respects; it’s like many mental disorders in that it cannot be cured, but requires ongoing awareness and attention; it requires ongoing treatment.
However, I have strayed from my course. I was talking about form and formlessness, how to bring emptiness into an environment that should have structure. In essence, there is the container. That could be the house, the program, the schedule, whatever. That is the form, the pattern, that hold the main focus and attention for the participants and the program. In that, there can be some flexibility, however to have a successful “container,” a safe program where many aspects of these men’s development can come to fruition, it requires a solid program; a solid foundation.
I don’t see that here. My boss has stated many times that she likes flexibility and organic interactions, but there’s also a matter of safety. The guys feel unsafe, and to be honest, sometimes I feel unsafe being one of the mentors who does hold a tight program. We’ve mentioned tightening up…god knows that it may be necessary this time of year. In the past month, we have had over 8 participants relapse, some of whom are no longer in the program due to multiple relapses.
This program also doesn’t have a significantly high success rate, if success is determined by the number of participants who maintain sobriety after completing the program. Over the past six months, we have had approximately 25% of our “graduating” participants maintain sobriety for longer than a month after completing the program. As time goes one, that number is further reduced.
So what are we doing here? How are we modeling success in this program? How do we continue doing what we do, knowing that in many cases, we are failing. Not only are we failing a significant amount of time, but we are also charging an exhorbitant amount of money for this program.
I realize that I could continue on, and on, and on…. and I don’t really have a point. I’m struggling with my work and looking for guidance. I can’t find it at the supervision meetings i attend. i haven’t found it from my boss, who hardly responds to my correspondences. All I have is my own thoughts, reflections and memories… (yes, a poor representation of Jung’s Memory, Dreams and Reflections).
