The Pattern System: A Periodic Table for Psychology
About this book
Do you wonder... Why do my partner and I get into so many fights? What is going on to keep me stuck in life? What am I doing to turn people off? Why am I attracted to the wrong people? Why is my partner acting that way? How can I understand my personality?The Pattern System is a breakthrough in understanding personality that is oriented toward psychological healing and personal growth.It also helps you to understand other people--why they respond as they do, whatmakes them tick. Once your have understood the Pattern System and exploredyourself according to its model, you will have a comprehensive map of yourpsyche. You will be able to see Your strengths Your defenses What drives your behavior Why you feel bad about yourself Your underlying emotional pain How you compensate for that Your inner conflicts The leading edge of your growthIf you are a therapist, coach, or other professional, do youask yourself... How can I understand my clients' personalities in a fuller way? Why is that client's therapy not moving? What is going on in my relationship with that client? What is the primary issue for that client? What are the psychodynamics underlying that behavior?The Pattern APeriodic Table for Psychology can help you answer these questions. You canfully understand your clients' personality patterns--not just their "type" butthe detailed structure of their psychology. The Pattern System doesn't just focus narrowly onpsychopathology. It doesn't even just focus on dysfunctional patterns. It alsohelps you to understand functional behavior and healthy capacities. This meansthat you can see your strengths and those capacities you need to develop toreach your personal goals.The Pattern System is different from the usual systems ofcharacter types, such as the Enneagram or the DISC, because these systemsattempt to capture a person's entire character in one type, even though they doallow for somewhat more complexity. The Pattern System recognizes and reflectsthe complexity of the human psyche. In the Pattern System, each dysfunctional pattern and healthy capacity describes just one aspect of a client's personality, andeach person will have many of them. In fact, the richness of the Pattern Systemfosters an attitude of looking deeply in order to understand the uniqueness andmultifaceted features of each individual's personality.One of the important aspects of the Pattern System is that aperson's profile can change over time. In fact, the distinction betweenproblematic patterns and healthy capacities gives you explicit informationabout those aspects of the psyche that can change through therapy, coaching, orother personal growth work--specifically how patterns can