Tuesday Text: Chapter 3: Sane Perception, Section 8: The Essential Goal of Therapy

         Class notes 8/18/26: Tuesday Text Class: Ch. 3 Sane Perception S.8 The Essential Goal of Therapy 

          The essential goal of therapy is the same as that of knowledge. You can’t survive independently if you are willing to see yourself through the eyes of others. The purpose of the resurrection was to demonstrate that no amount of misperception has any influence at all on a SOG (Son of God). All of God’s children are fully worthy of complete courtesy. Consistent courtesy even in small things is a very healing habit. We will be talking about our parents and their opinions about us in class today. Bill felt very misperceived by his parents. We will be talking about the equal worth of all people and recognizing the other as your brother. 

          The dominance submission problem: One person feels dominant or above another and the other person feels subordinate or submissive. This is often related to perceiving between helping and being helped. This misperception comes from the failure to recognize the equal worth of both people. Make no confusion on this point. There will be no strain if this confusion is not introduced. If someone tries to help us, we may feel like this puts us in a subordinate position. Recognizing your brother means acknowledging the equal worth of all people.

Prerequisites for Therapy/Miracle Working

1. Recognition rather than denial of thought
2. Equality of all involved including Jesus
3. No one is therapist/patient or student/teacher
4. Above all- everyone must give up everything that isn’t true. Therapy implies something has gone wrong. Those who are ill are negative.

          Therapy is the same as other types of miracle working. All of the principles for miracles apply; there are no separate rules. Therapy must come from miracle mindedness to heal. The teacher or therapist has the role of being a better perceiver. It does not follow that he is better at knowing. Temporarily a teacher or therapist can help to straighten out twisted perception. This is the only role that Jesus would play. Therapy should place people in the right frame of mind to help one another. It’s a process of true courtesy. All of God’s children are worthy of complete courtesy even in small things. This is a healing habit to acquire.

          All forms of mental illness are forms of viciousness. Afraid people are likely to be vicious.  If we are willing to forgive other people their misperceptions of us, they would not affect us at all.  Why should anyone give a misperception power? How could they do this to me?? The answer is, they didn’t. The purpose of the resurrection is to demonstrate that no amount of misperception can influence a SOG. This exonerates misperceivers, they have not hurt anyone. Are you willing to demonstrate that your parents haven’t hurt you? Unless you are, you have not forgiven them. 

          The goal of therapy is the same as knowledge. You can’t see yourself through the eyes of others or you see yourself in different lights. You are not an image, if you side with one you are making an idol. An idol is a substitute for what God has made. There is no justification for perpetuating any image of yourself. You are not an image. What is true about you is wholly benign.  You can’t know this if you see yourself as vulnerable enough to be hurt. This is an arrogant, narcissistic point of view. It endows the perceiver with the strength to make you over and acknowledges their misperception. Lack of real courtesy can appear to be humility but it’s simple spite. It involves a low estimate of one's worth, you feel unworthy this leads to self abasement.