A Top-Down Perspective

[DISCLAIMER]

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

In order to gain intellectual and emotional insight through REBT practice, I invite you to consider a perspective shift—alteration of one’s point of view in order to better understand a subject or to think differently about a matter. Of this topic, Marcus Aurelius stated (page 174):

How beautifully Plato put it. Whenever you want to talk about people, it’s best to take a bird’s-eye view and see everything all at once—of gatherings, armies, farms, weddings and divorces, births and deaths, noisy courtrooms or silent spaces, every foreign people, holidays, memorials, markets—all blended together and arranged in a pairing of opposites.

I often used perspective shifts when engaged in amateur photography. Especially helpful to that hobby, I considered what a bird’s-eye view may reveal about a photoshoot. If available, I’d climb an available ladder and use a top-down perspective of an area to be photographed.

The feedback I received about my varied angles was generally positive, as I’ve also incorporated this practice into my approach with REBT. In similar fashion, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 174):

There is a beautiful dialogue called “Icaromenippus, an Aerial Expedition” by the poet Lucian in which the narrator is given the ability to fly and sees the world from above. Turning his eyes earthward, he sees how comically small even the richest people, the biggest estates, and entire empires look from above. All their battles and concerns were made petty in perspective.

From a top-down perspective, you’re given an ability to consider the proverbial lay of the land – much as my view was enriched as a photographer when considering different angles of a photoshoot. This provides insight, which the American Psychological Association thusly defines:

[T]he clear and often sudden discernment of a solution to a problem by means that are not obvious and may never become so, even after one has tried hard to work out how one has arrived at the solution […] in psychotherapy, an awareness of underlying sources of emotional, cognitive, or behavioral responses and difficulties in oneself or another person.

Per The REBT Therapist’s Pocket Companion, “the difference between intellectual insight (a cognitive understanding of rational principles that does not lead to constructive psychological change) and emotional insight (a deep conviction taken to use these principles, that does result in such change).”

Whereas I once used ladders to photograph models and landscapes, I now consider a top-down perspective to gather insight about the problems I face. Regarding this approach to rational living, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 174):

Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut, was one of the first people to see the earth from outer space. As he later recounted:

“In outer space you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.’”

Many a problem can be solved with the perspective of Plato’s view. Use it.

Although you may not have a space shuttle or ladder available, or the ability to fly as a bird, I invite you to mentally consider a top-down perspective of the problems you face. Who knows? In doing so, you just may gain both intellectual and emotional insight.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit, fair use

References:

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Holiday, R. and Hanselman, S. (2016). The daily stoic: 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living. Penguin Random House LLC. Retrieved from https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-daily-stoic-366-meditations-on-wisdom-perseverance-and-the-art-of-living-d61378067.html

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