The natural mental process of judgement tends to reject new thoughts as not productive and inhibit the ability to get to more creative thoughts. If we are to innovate we need to develop methods to overcome this characteristic in formal ways.
What is the relationship between sin and punishment? We believe there is a cognitive connection. In fact, there is reason to believe that faith brings serenity because it provides a focus on positive thought that results in positive behavior that results in positive outcomes that results in reward and reinforcement.
One of the criteria for changing the way we think is to identify different ways to think about a common subject. This is a quick outline of the allegorical roles that might be assumed to help you change the way you think.
No amount of skill or quality of technique is sufficient to help people with problems in living, unless there is a trust relationship that sanctions the Mentor to give help. It is impossible to simply invent such a relationship; it pivots on who you are much more than what you do. However, even people with character sometime make mistakes in relating which destroys this critical path to helping.
The goal of every helper must be to first understand the person whom they serve. This requires a process of engaging that person in a kind of communication in which the person can and will share their innermost thoughts from which you can infer in a kind of retro engineering of their inner logic. Once the helper understands the inner logic of the person they are serving, they become capable of helping that person either change the inner logic or find better behaviors to serve their goals.
The traditional approaches to people with thoughts and behaviors that cause them problems in living tend also to increase the problems. Delinquency is often punished rather than rehabilitated, and mental health “controls” through chemical or physical restraints. Both procedures are easily interpreted as unhelpful, if not downright hostile. Despite the poor prognosis and stability given by the mental health professionals, all is not lost. For our cognitive structures and even the unconscious contexts, are open to conscious consideration and decision-making.