The 3 Fundamentals Behind Our Biology and Our Psychology

In the last article, entitled “What Leads to True and Lasting Behavior Change,” we explained why the conventional behavioral interventions have only limited results for some and none for others. We described how the scientific community has been working on remedying this shortcoming, and how the remedy has been found to go beyond the psychology and the biology of behaviors. Today’s article is an introduction to that which goes beyond and that which is behind our psychology and biology, which we call, “The 3 Fundamentals.” 

Before we begin, it is worth reminding ourselves that the function of education is unlearning and relearning. It is also worth reminding ourselves that the reason why we unlearn and relearn is because much, if not most, of what we grew up being taught has been proven to be erroneous. It is a universal experience. For as it is said, “Today’s truths are tomorrow’s lies, and you are left questioning your own insanity';” or from a more optimistic viewpoint, as the father of American Psychology, William James said, “We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.”

And this is exactly what’s been going on in Science:

1. 200 years of Newtonian Physics supplanted by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
2. Centuries believing in brain rigidity superseded by Neuroplasticity and Neurogenesis
3. And, just when we thought we had solved the chicken or the egg question-Is it biology or environment? We are now finding that our biology, much less our psychology was never the starting point, anyway. We are now finding that there is a foundation behind both biology and psychology.  There is an underpinning, which we call the 3 Fundamentals.

Now, the names given to this foundation will vary and are expected to until it becomes widely known. However, what does not, and cannot vary, and are expected to remain the same is what this foundation is.

This foundation is the functional triad of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought. 

Let’s now go ahead and talk about each of these 3 Fundamentals, which are analogous to the fundamental forces in Physics: Gravity, Electricity, and Magnetism. The fundamentals, just like these forces of nature, are just there. They neither bother anyone, respect anyone, nor do they play favorites. It matters not whether we know of their presence or not; whether we have faith or believe in them or not; or whether we understand them or not, they just are there, playing their role as part of the whole, called, “Universe.” The 3 Fundamentals behind psychology and biology function exactly the same way. This explains why not having understood them before made no difference to our psychology or our biology. Recognizing them, understanding them, or even believing in them, or not, does not mean they do not still play their role.  They have been running the show all along, just like the fundamentals of nature have been. And just like the moment we discovered gravity, we started to take great advantage of it (from airplanes to parachutes); Just like the moment we discovered electricity, the world’s civilization changed. A lot will be changed the moment we fully understand the 3 Fundamentals behind our biology and our psychology.

Here are some of what we can expect to learn:

1. The answers to so many questions science has been unable to answer before, regarding our biology and psychology
2. A shortcut to lasting changes in Blueprint, Belief Systems, and Behaviors
3. A new way of working with thoughts, focus, and emotions, and therefore, a new way of being, of navigating the world, and of doing things

While we will be using The 3 Fundamentals as a point of reference throughout our CBT Certificate Course, they will be central in our other certificate courses, as well.  We will be applying them to fully harvest the benefits mentioned above and many more.

Let us start with the Fundamental of Mind:

The Fundamental of Mind is regarded as The Intelligence Center; As The Enabler (in the sense that it allows things to happen); And as The Coordinator, (in the sense that it sorts things out all the time). The Fundamental of Mind is that intelligence behind our brain, which allows this organ of the body to be the command center for the rest of the organism.  More will be said about the Mind in subsequent articles, and for now, let us take our time to fully integrate this much. 

Let us now move on with the Fundamental of Consciousness:

The Fundamental of Consciousness is basically our State of Awareness. It is that which experiences, perceives, and understands. It is the Decisive Factor. In other words, the Fundamental of Consciousness, for example, allows us to experience a movie, get fully into it, including crying, or laughing, or even getting scared as our hearts race and our hands sweat, while still being aware it is actually not at all real, and it is simply a movie. The Fundamental of Consciousness also allows us to dream and know at the same time that it is just a dream. Like for the Fundamental of Mind, more will be said about the Fundamental of Consciousness in subsequent articles. Now time for the third and last Fundamental-the Fundamental of Thought.

The Fundamental of Thought is the Operant Factor, the Creative Factor, the Catalyst, the Driver, and that which really makes things happen. In order words, while The Fundamental of Mind is the Intelligence behind it all, it gets activated by, or it is operated only from a thought. A thought then may be seen as the most crucial factor of The 3 Fundamentals, though this way of conceptualizing it has its limitations. To further explain, let’s go back to the 3 types of thinking that we have been working on in our CBT Certificate Course. Re: Insightful Thinking; Experiential Thinking; and Incessant Thinking. In a nutshell, when engaged in incessant thinking, commonly known as mental chatter, The Fundamental of Thought is running the show all by itself, and all on its own. Have you ever heard someone say, “You’re just in your head”? well, here’s what she or he actually meant without knowing it. She or he meant, it’s all Thought right now, no Mind, and very little Consciousness, if any at all. Now, it does not mean that The Fundamental of Mind or The Fundamental of Consciousness are absent. On the contrary, just like The Fundamental of Thought, they are always present, but remember, The Fundamental of Thought is the Operant Factor, and it can take over, particularly in forms of limiting beliefs, determining our attitude, then our perception, then the meaning we assign to things, then what we focus on, then the types of associative thoughts that ensue, then our emotions, then our behaviors, and the cycle continues until it gets broken. In other words, left alone, our incessant thinking, the Fundamental of Thought, activates our normal Blueprint (Gene-Environment-Epigenetic; otherwise known as our Biology and our Psychology). It does not bypass it, rather, it reinforces it.

On the other hand, when engaged in either insightful thinking or experiential thinking, we end up with a totally different scenario. During any or both of these two types of thinking, The Fundamental of Mind, The Fundamental of Consciousness, and The Fundamental of Thought fuse and become integrated, as they are meant to. In this case, while the Fundamental of Thought still remains the operant factor, it is not running the show in the sense that it is not working on its own, or separate from the rest of the function triad or the other two Fundamentals. The Fundamental of Thought, then, is no longer disintegrated, rather, it is all integrated, and the person in question is therefore integrated. In other words, our natural Blueprint is now activated. Needless to say, integration, which is the natural convergence of The Fundamental of Mind, The Fundamental of Consciousness, and The Fundamental of Thought, means ease, aliveness, focus, energy, health, comfort, among other components that we will be explaining down the line. Conversely, disintegration means exactly the opposite and much more, including diseases.

The above understanding, coupled with your knowledge that incessant thinking is always either about the past or about the future and never about the present time, even when it seems to be, is priceless. For you now possess an automatic enhancement in your understanding of what’s behind both biologically and psychologically the conditions that we currently treat in clinical settings.

Now, given our prior discussion that incessant thinking is and will always be around, you may be wondering how hard it may then be for anyone to be integrated, and how much harder must it be for our patients and clients. This might have been true had The Fundamental of Thought been the Intelligence Center, and not the Operant Factor. But Mind is the Intelligence Center, and through Consciousness or Awareness, both insightful and experiential thinking become more and more at reach, while incessant thinking becomes more and more manageable, and then less and less prominent.

Consciousness or State of Awareness is infinite, and there are levels to it. The higher the level, the more time spent engaged in insightful and experiential thinking, and the less time spent engaged in incessant thinking. Our patients or clients will not need to spend years in treatment to gain that level of insightful understanding that will enable them to fully manage their incessant thinking. This again is because The 3 Fundamentals go beyond and are behind the Biology and the Psychology, and therefore bypass our normal Blueprint (Gene-Environment-Epigenetic) and go straight to the Natural Blueprint (Mind-Consciousness-Thought). More on this later.

Where do we go from here? This is simply an introductory article to The 3 Fundamentals Behind Our Biology and Our Psychology. This is indeed a beginning for us clinicians, the start of a new chapter because by learning about this with the SWEET Institute, our level of awareness is expected to increase. As a reminder, with each increase in our level of awareness, we can expect to see an increase in our insightful thinking, experiential thinking, and therefore becoming better managers of our incessant thinking without the tiredness that currently results from doing so through the current mainstream techniques.

For now, here’s what we are asking you to do:

1. Read this article as often as you can, at least more than twice before the next course.
2. Think about this new insightful understanding that you are about to discover. Think about what this means for your patients or clients, for your loved ones, and for you, as a clinician
3. Allow this new insightful understanding to inform how you practice, going forward, even if you are just starting to understand it. Just become more aware, and allow yourself to elevate to a new way of being a clinician.

SWEET Institute’s vision is to be the place for all clinicians throughout the world. The place where clinicians become acquainted with the latest in science so they no longer have to wait 25-years before a new piece of science makes it to the clinical arena.  Given the fact that every 18 months, the amount of what we know in the field doubles, the SWEET Institute’s vision is to ensure all clinicians stay up to date without the sacrifices that may come along with trying to do so. Lastly, the SWEET Institute’s vision is to change the way patients and clients get treated in the field, how clinicians and agencies get treated in the system, and how we can best create change through modeling, through proper education, and through an increase in awareness and adjustment in belief systems.

We look forward to seeing you then,

Karen and Mardoche

Karen Dubin-McKnight, PhD, LCSW, is a Columbia-trained Social Worker with wide clinical, teaching, and supervision experience. She also has a background in management, mentorship, and leadership that spans almost 20 years. Her added passion is in advocacy, coaching, public relations, and mediation. Her goal is to ensure that social workers and women feel empowered and have a voice “at the table.” She has previously held Executive level positions, and two other directorships in different organizations. She is currently Adjunct Faculty at Columbia University School of Social Work and Adelphi University School of Social Work. She also maintains a private practice, working with individuals who have experienced loss and trauma, and also provides clinical and management supervision.

Mardoche Sidor, MD is a quadruple board-certified psychiatrist, with board certifications in Psychiatry and Neurology (General Adult Psychiatry), Child and Adolescent, Addiction, and Forensic, Psychiatry. He has training in public and community psychiatry, and advanced training in psychopharmacology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Family Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Strategic Intervention. He also has additional training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic psychotherapy, Play therapy, and Couples therapy. He has clinical, teaching, and supervision, experience; he has mentorship, coaching, and management, skills and experience; and he has experience as a primary care physician, in public speaking and writing. His overall purpose is to help heal the world, through an increase in awareness, a shift in belief systems, and an education that empowers. He speaks and writes fluently in four (4) languages—French, English, Spanish, and Creole, with intermediate proficiency in Portuguese and Italian. Dr. Sidor is the author of 3 books and is currently working on several others.