Theoretical Background

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To be an agent in own and common life

The aim and scope of this method is to get a good enough grip on own and common life. A good enough grip on life means agency in life, that is, life is not barely something that happens to you. The method enables you to choose, in a solution-focused way and based on well-developed life skills, how you want to use the tools to form own and common life. When you, supported by the tools, develop your grip on life, you become an agent in own and common life.

The method and its tools are based on Life Psychology. Life Psychology is a general theory, that is, not aimed at specific diagnoses or psychosocial sociocultural problems. Life Psychology is about development and education of basic general human life skills and thus about wellbeing. Wellbeing entails three things: robustness, resilience and empowerment.

Wellbeing: Robustness, resilience, and empowerment

General human life skills and robustness. To be robust means to be resistant and hardy. We are continuously influenced by external factors and circumstances. In most cases, such effects will contribute to one’s well-being and grip on life. But in some cases, influences from the surrounding world may effect one’s life negatively, with the risk of loss of wellbeing or entering antisocial life trajectories. Such negative influences may come from other people and groups, from social media, from the Dark Web and from social control. Robustness is about having well-developed and well-educated life skills by means of which to stand up to negative influence.

General human life skills and resilience. Being resilient means that one has the skills, intentions and power to regain one’s grip on life when lost (for example caused by lack of robustness). Everyone will now and then be confronted with obstacles. Everyone will experience setbacks with regard to everyday plans or prospective life projects due to unfortunate circumstances or even bad advice or misguidance. In short, we may all now and then lose our grip on life. However, most people will be able to perform restorative actions and get onto the track again. Resilience is about having well-developed and well-educated life skills to restore one’s grip on life if momentarily lost.

General human life skills and empowerment. Empowerment means giving people the means, the skills and the power to act and make choices according to their hopes and strivings in life. Empowerment is about developing and educating general human life skills as well as gaining control of life so that life may take the directions one wishes for

The aim of the method and the tools

 

The Life Psychological method assists in getting a good enough grip on own and common life. For example:

  • that one thrives in one’s social relations (family, friends, colleagues) or that one is able to establish such social relationships
  • that one thrives at work or at school
  • that one thrives in the culture and society one lives in.
  • that one’s life projects are attuned to the values and norms of one’s social relations, community, culture and society.

(1) The tools immediately support management of particular and actual challenges in everyday life or with respect to major life choices.

(2) As one by experience comes to master the Life Psychological method and tools, they gradually transform into an internalized, personal mindset and skill set by means of which one will face new challenges and set new goals in life. To advance one’s grip on life is to evolve as a person.

The Life Psychological method is prospective

One may have a problem-focused approach to life. If so, one will be occupied with the task of performing a still better analysis of one’s problems and problematic situation and of getting a still more sophisticated identification of all the things that make life difficult and cause suffering. One can easily get caught in a rumination that disables one’s capabilities to move on. 

Alternatively, one may have a solution-focused approach to life in which one will look forward, seeking solutions rather that analysing problems.  “One must understand the problem before one can find the solution”. This statement may be an expression of a ruminating approach. It may very well lead to a vicious downward spiral: to understand one’s problem or challenge, one includes still more factors and aspects in an endless analysis. In other words, the problem or challenge is constructed in a still more complicated way.

However, regardless of how many factors one is able to take into consideration to explain why one has this particular problem, it will not in itself result in any solution or change – only in more complexity. Change implies a different approach, namely a prospective approach where one focuses on which future goals, life skills and next steps may contribute to management of the challenge.

Certainly, some analysis of one’s problems and challenges is necessary; however, if one never asks the question of which solution in particular and which future life in general one strives for, nothing happens.

Sooner or later one must abandon an unbalanced one-sided problem focus. Sooner or later one must start spending one’s energy on anticipating solutions and realistic goalsetting.

According to Life Psychology, one takes a prospective stance to first and foremost analyse one’s solutions. Is the solution appropriate? Is it, at least partial, an answer to one’s challenges? Does the solution contribute to an advanced grip on life? Can this solution be realized by own efforts?

How does this method differ from other methods?

As many other methods, the Life Psychological method is orientated towards solutions. That is, it aims at constructing solutions to life tasks and challenges, which may change one’s future life.

Most solution-orientated methods essentially recommend two steps: (1) choosing a challenge and (2) setting a goal. Life Psychology operates with two additional steps: (3) embracing and empowering the general human life skills and (4) operationalizing selected general life skills into concrete, proactive and motivating next steps towards one’s goals.

In other words, most solution-orientated methods are not particularly helpful when it comes to showing exactly what one should do to achieve one’s particular goal and reach for an even more individuated future and a better grip on life. By using the wheel of skills, Life Psychology enables   identification and empowerment of the exact general life skills by means of which one can reach one’s goal and therefor achieve a meaningful grip on life.