“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” (a quote often attributed to writer Anais Nin) succinctly describes the idea that our individual interpretations of the world deeply shape our realities. In modern psychotherapy, we often refer to these interpretive filters as “lenses” and highlight the impact they have on the ways we feel and behave. When pioneering psychiatrist Aaron Beck introduced cognitive therapy, aimed at correcting negative information processing biases, the results were revolutionary (Beck and Fleming). Even half a century later, this idea – that the stories we tell about our circumstances can influence our emotions, behavior, and physiology, more so than the circumstances themselves – is striking. Further, as applied in health psychology, the concept is important not simply for the sake of increased happiness but as a pathway towards improved health (Leventhal et al.; Clifton and Kim).
This concept of story-crafting as a vehicle for achieving enhanced well-being, despite situational betterment, was brought saliently to mind during a film I recently enjoyed with my young son. He and I had been reading the book, My Father’s Dragon (Gannett), a fantastical tale of Elmer Elevator and his adventure to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon. The animated film version (My Father’s Dragon) was his latest movie night selection. The movie, albeit with some deviation from the source material, presented perhaps a more emotionally dire depiction of the life circumstances in which young Elmer finds himself. Briefly, Elmer’s journey to Wild Island was made in the desperation of growing poverty. In distress and despair, he had journeyed to the Island in hopes of capturing a dragon to better his home situation. At the end of the film, Elmer returns home, having completed a rescue mission of Wild Island, but still without a solution for the practical situations he had been hoping to change. Yet, Elmer’s outlook on and distress about his future are much alleviated. In short, his view of the world seemed to shift, even while his circumstances did not. The implication of a happier (and potentially healthier) life without a typical fairy tale “happily ever after” remained a provocative reminder of the power of being able to tell a different story about the world.
As I reflected upon Elmer’s journey, questions of “how” came to mind. How does his story depict mechanisms for lasting perspective change and naturally, what relevance might this have for the area of behavioral health, where I practice? How might psychological principles help explain his process of developing a more adaptive mindset? As referenced, the well-supported and well-researched modality of cognitive behavioral therapy provides an effective clinical approach for restructuring individual thoughts about the self (Beck and Fleming). From a more global perspective, however, what do we know about the broader, environmental views from which these thoughts arise? How can we better harness beliefs about the world to help serve the pursuit of health, when, like Elmer, we have limited control over life circumstances?
One relevant area of this emerging research centers on the identifying and assessing of a set of common fundamental worldviews. Researchers have coined such a set of environmental “lenses” primal world beliefs (“primals”). Via textual and conceptual analyses, expert interviews, focus groups, and literature reviews, researchers arrived at 26 viewpoints that individuals use to describe the world’s general character (Clifton et al.). Among these views, three “primals” explained most variability across items and were dubbed the “Big Three.” These consist of 1) safe (vs. dangerous), 2) enticing (vs. dull), and 3) alive (vs. mechanistic). Together, the “Big Three” contribute to the overarching view of the world as “good” (vs. bad). In further assessment, researchers then linked some “primals,” especially those related to the “Big Three,” to differences in susceptibility for development of physiological stress responses, tendency to engage in adaptive health behaviors, likelihood of achieving treatment effectiveness, and even longevity (Clifton and Kim). This then begs the question, how do individuals who may have less proclivity to see the world as “safe, enticing, and alive” shift their lenses towards this more adaptive framework, in the service of attaining better health? Though fiction and film might dramatize life events as prominent potential catalysts for perspective change, “primals” researchers find instead that though experiences are oft-viewed through the lenses of one’s primal world beliefs, said beliefs are largely unaffected by them (Clifton).
Though still an area of ongoing research, it seems only natural that a focus on the art of story might play a significant role in the quest to discover mechanisms for changing fundamental worldviews. In psychotherapy, one such modality – narrative therapy – could serve as a fitting starting point. The approach focuses on the stories we craft about life, and empowers them for positive change (Hutto et al.; Carr). Narrative therapy posits that “as people become more narratively resourced…they find that they have available to them options for action that would not have otherwise been imaginable” (White, 5). By guiding participants through the process of deconstructing initial stories, breaking down key elements, and re-authoring and continuously reinforcing alternative plotlines, the approach allows participants to solidify new life perspectives (Hill). The practice of linking events and sequence, across time and with a cohesive plot, enhances capacity for fine-tuning beliefs about both self and environment. Importantly, change does not hinge simply upon moments that spontaneously inspire new thoughts but is dependent upon the longer-term practice of actively and continuously choosing to strengthen adaptive narrative elements.
In our fairy tale, perhaps Elmer Elevator’s worldview shifts, not due to the simple “living through” of his Wild Island experience, but through the repeated, continuous, and hard-earned practice of choosing to view the world differently – as bountiful in beauty, as tending towards self-healing, as in need of his best rescue efforts – simply to survive. He chose to adjust his view to see Wild Island as destined for continued existence and growth (“regenerative and progressing”), its creatures, including Boris, the dragon, as magnificent and with purpose (“beautiful and meaningful”) and his own rescue efforts as necessary to the Island’s survival (“intentional”). These themes all comprise sub-beliefs supporting the “Big Three” primals (Clifton and Kim). Through an environment that necessitated repeated practice of perspective shifting and story re-authoring, Elmer’s world, though unchanged, could become increasingly safer, more enticing, and more alive.
Works Cited:
Beck, Judith S., and Sarah Fleming. “A Brief History of Aaron T. Beck, MD, and Cognitive Behavior Therapy.” Clinical Psychology in Europe, vol. 3, no. 2, June 2021, p. e6701. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.32872/cpe.6701.
Carr, A. “Michael White’s Narrative Therapy.” Contemporary Family Therapy, vol. 20, no. 4, 1998, pp. 485–503, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021680116584.
Clifton, Jeremy, et al. “Primal World Beliefs.” Psychological Assessment, vol. 31, Oct. 2018, pp. 82–99. ResearchGate, https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000639.
Clifton, Jeremy D. W. “Testing If Primal World Beliefs Reflect Experiences—Or at Least Some Experiences Identified Ad Hoc.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 2020, pp. 1145–1145, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01145.
Clifton, Jeremy D. W., and Eric S. Kim. “Healthy in a Crummy World: Implications of Primal World Beliefs for Health Psychology.” Medical Hypotheses, vol. 135, 2020, p. 109463, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109463.
Gannett, Ruth Stiles. My Father’s Dragon. New York : Random House, [1948], 1948, https://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/999545050202121.
Hill, Jneé. The Narrative Therapy Workbook: Deconstruct Your Story, Challenge Unhealthy Beliefs, and Reclaim Your Life. Callisto Publishing, 2022.
Hutto, Daniel D., et al. “Narrative Practices in Medicine and Therapy: Philosophical Reflections.” Style, vol. 51, no. 3, 2017, pp. 300–17. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.5325/style.51.3.0300.
Leventhal, Howard, et al. “Health Psychology: The Search for Pathways between Behavior and Health.” Annu. Rev. Psychol., vol. 59, 2008, pp. 477–505.
My Father’s Dragon. Directed by Nora Twomey, Cartoon Saloon, Mockingbird Pictures, Netflix Animation, 2022.
White, Michael. Narrative Practice: Continuing the Conversations. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.
Image Credit: Photo by Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash