The topic of this week's assignment for my clinical counseling course in the "Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy" is "Postmodern Approaches".  When I think of post-modernism in terms of psychology, I think of it as being analogous to quantum physics as opposed to classical, Newtonian physics.  Most of us learned how the universe and everything around us is structured from our exposure to Newtonian mechanics, otherwise known as classical physics. From the Newtonian perspective, everything is predictable; nothing happens randomly, or by chance.  Logic and mathematics can explain everything and once we understand how the most basic processes in the universe work, we can make predictions about bigger events.

Newtonian mechanics posits that the world is made of matter and the forces acting on them. All matter can be divided into smaller and smaller particles. The construct of "particle theory" evolved because all matter and energy are made up of tiny subatomic particles.  According to classical physics, reality is only what we can perceive, or manage to perceive, through our five sensory channels. If anything is beyond this level of perception, it simply does not exist!

Drum roll...and enter post-modern, post-Newtonian, “new age”, Quantum Theory, which posits that, at the core, everything is not just about matter and the forces acting upon it; it is all about energy and the energetic field. Experiments in the field of quantum mechanics suggest that the electrons orbiting around a nucleus of an atom can exist simultaneously as a possible particle or an energy wave. There is no fixed path in which electrons orbit around a nucleus. An electron can randomly jump from one energy level (orbital, shell) to another energy level, without actually moving through the space in between. It just changes its energy state without a logical, gradual progression through the space in between.  Quantum theory further suggests that electrons exist as “electron clouds” around a nucleus in various orbitals and shells, such that any single electron can exist simultaneously in more than one place!

Extrapolating on quantum theory suggests that everything in the universe exists in the form of pure potential or possibilities. Observation collapses the possibilities into a reality. So, if there is no observation, there is no reality. (Sort of like the riddle I heard as a child, “If a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody to hear it, does it make a noise?”)  According to the quantum field, everything exists because we observe it (the so-called "observer effect”). 

We are all energy beings. The essence of our existence has both a physical shape with matter that occupies space, as well as an energetic vibrational frequency.  Because we are all energy beings, we are all connected at the core and we all exist and vibrate in the same energy field. Our energetic vibrational frequencies may be different because so we have all had distinctly different life experiences, nature/nurture, etc., but the energetic core of us is the same. And at the core of energy, there is no matter, only pure possibilities!

I am not a physicist. My scientific knowledge stems more from my education in the fields of chemistry and physiology since I was trained as a nurse. I grew dissatisfied and disillusioned with the medical profession while working as a nurse and subsequently became a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Master as a way to practice healing arts and facilitate energy healing for others. Once I discovered quantum theory as the basis for energy healing, my whole worldview, philosophy, and perspective on life suddenly shifted!  I am still exploring and learning more about the concept of energy healing and firmly believe that Energy Medicine will be the wave of the 21st century and beyond. 

I am now enrolled in a Master’s in Clinical Counseling program at Bellevue University www.bellevue.edu preparatory to entering my second career as a Licensed Professional Counselor.  My goal is to integrate quantum theory principles to help my clients make sense of challenging relationships and help them to discover infinite possibilities and multiple solutions to their problems.

Statements from publications such as, "The Secret" (Byrne, 2006) admonish us to “change the way we look at things (change our individual perception) and the things we look at (circumstances and problems, for example) will change” also parallel the post-modern Solution Focused Brief Therapy approach which recommends “changing the doing and viewing of the perceived problem changes the problem” (O’Hanlon & Weiner-Davis, 2003).  This also provides a framework for counselors and therapists who may be seeking collaborative solutions for clients “stuck” in old behavioral patterns.

For my purposes as a future psychotherapist, quantum theory can be distilled down to two outstanding characteristics: (1) energy can exist in more than one place at a time and (2) the influence of the “observer effect” cannot be underestimated.  Applying this concept to post-modern psychological theory, we understand that: (1) things are not polarized as either black or white; multiple solutions can be generated for any given problem and (2) the very act of observing or viewing the perceived problem changes the problem. 

Applying post-modern quantum theory to the field of counseling provides a scientific basis for allowing the therapist to help the client discover infinite possibilities from which he/she can co-create multiple new realities!

References:

Byrne, R. (2006). The secret. New York: Atria Books.

O’Hanlon, W. & Weiner-Davis, M. (2003). In search of solutions: A new direction in psychotherapy (Rev.                     ed.). New York: W. W. Norton  & Company, Inc.