Groups I. Analysis Session 3

24 INNER SKILLS

Unlike cognition which is fallible and idiosyncratic, perception is automatic and fixed. It is a sensory operation and is affected mainly by physiological capacities. That is, one notices more or less accu- rately according to the acuity of one's sense receptors.

If perception is automatic, then how can one learn perception skills? What can be taught and thus learned is to attend consciously, skeptically to matters of perception, not to trust one's senses so to speak! What can be learned is to question the validity of what one notices and to report without value-based embellishments the behav- ior that one observes. One can learn to work on remaining continually attentive to what is happening in the present moment, to avoid auto- matic habituation to sights and noises j u s t because they are common- place happenings. One can work against tuning-out! And what m u s t be laboriously learned is to separate actual occurence from previous experiences or expectations.

We shall describe four skills which can contribute to disciplined looking: looking with planned emptiness, looking at the old as if new, jigsaw puzzeling: leaving blanks for the story to unfold, and looking from diverse angles.

L o o k i n g w i t h P l a n n e d E m p t i n e s s

To look with planned emptiness is deliberately to cultivate an area in one's mind that is reserved for the unknown, that is ready to accom- modate the new, perhaps alien, idea and experience it, rather than rationalize it away or avoid it. By keeping and taking pride in the empty cell in the perception structure, it becomes impossible for one "not to see it" because one has no conceptual category for it (no red ace of spades). It is as prizing and valuing the holes in the swiss cheese, as recognizing that these very holes are a mark of the ripening of the total c h u n k that adds quality and subtlety to its essence.

In the past ideas lived longer than people. And once established, ideas would change only slowly and over several generations. Today technology and science have speeded up the rate of change so that people live longer than ideas and they m u s t change their ideas within their lifetimes. A cultivated area of emptiness is one route toward

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PERCEPTION SKILLS 25

being open to restructure or even discard ideas, rather than only

building on the old ones. Looking with planned emptiness implies recognizing the limits of

one's knowledge, living comfortably with partial answers, and wel- coming the doubting as well as the doing. It involves accepting uncer- tainty rather than dogma, allowing for intuitive and tacit knowings, and relishing inquiry. This means staying open, even in one's area of expertise, to the vast realms that may be unimaginable. "Why not?" becomes as important as "why?"

For social work practice, a key use of "planned emptiness" is not to let other workers' assessment of a client or situation precondition one's expectation of what will happen in this relationship! It is in- volved in the delicate maneuver of picking up someone else's case with a truly open mind.

Often, planned emptiness directs one to regard another's written assessments with skepticism and to adopt a "do-it-yourself" mentality so as to keep others' biases out "of your picture"! Consider this sup- posedly factual account describing Janet, a "short, stocky black woman who h a s been living at a state institution for the retarded for about twenty years":

In a smaller group situation, she appears to be very happy, well- adjusted, and self-satisfied. However, with a closer analysis of Ja- net's behavior, her need for affection becomes apparent. She con- stantly hugs and kisses anyone who will let her. Her need to be wanted is obvious. She would rather help another person in the group than do her own work. She would rather scrub the sink or mop the floors than work on a project. If she feels that she has done something wrong, she cries to such an extent that it is hard to stop her. All of these needs point up Janet's one basic need for self- actualization.

Here is an instance where eager, novice workers must learn to ignore certain evaluations and conclusions. They m u s t learn to regard the written record of service as fallible, as not etched in concrete! And mainly, they need to become able to separate descriptions of behavior from value-based evaluations of it. In the above excerpt one must not believe that "Janet's one basic need (is) for self-actualization."

26

^ ' ' I

INNER.SKILLS

-In the following instance the social worker exhibits looking with planned emptiness.

While working on the Renal Dialysis Unit at University Hospital, I was making rounds with the physician when one patient in my case load called me back to her chair. She said she had read my memo to the ward concerning a new group forming "to recognize individual birthdays and have a fund for extending our expression of sympathy when a dialysis patient dies." Mrs. Kent said she wanted to know if I could have used another word in place of "dies" in that sentence. As she talked she kept apologizing for approaching me about the word. I was caught off guard but I said nothing for a few moments and nodded as she talked. I wondered what the word "dies" might mean to her and pulled a chair over to sit near her. I sensed she wanted conversation at this time, because most of the time she pretends to be asleep. I sat there quietly. She want on to say she didn't mind the word "die," but some of the other patients might find it hard to deal with.

In another instance, the social worker was on week-end duty in a de-tox program for substance abusers. Some of the residents talked h e r into sending out for pizzas. They promised this was allowed in the house rules.

I was new at this residence and had no reason to doubt what the residents said they could do on weekends. When they approached me with their boredom, I thought for a moment and then said, "Why not!" It was only several days later that I discovered the regular staff did not believe them when they said I (not they) had ordered the pizzas. I had been open to their request and trusted them. When I was reached after returning to the city, they were relieved when I clarified that I did, indeed, order the pizzas. I did not think they were out to con me and they fulfilled my trust.

L o o k i n g a t t h e O l d A s If N e w

To look at the old as if new involves a playful attitude, one that can imagine and pretend. It is an optimistic stance. T h e seemingly impos-

PERCEPTION SKILLS 27

sible might j u s t be possible. There are no "n'er-do-wells" nor total failures in one's case load, no matter how dismal their plight may seem to be at first glance.

In the words of Gordon, one needs to "sustain a childlike willing- ness to suspend adult disbelief. . . . To make the familiar strange is to distort, invert, or transpose the everyday ways of looking and respond- ing which render the world a secure and familiar place. . . . It is the conscious attempt to achieve a new look at the same old world, people, ideas, feelings, and things." 1 0

The social worker who looks at the old as if new strives to cultivate naivete, an "out of focus" look at some aspect of the known world, a willingness to tolerate ambiguity, and a readiness to take risks. This cultivated childlike honesty and openness involves telling the Em- porer he is naked no matter the others' appreciation of his new clothes. It also involves looking with a "what if?" and "supposing? . . . " as m u c h as with a "why."

The following instance shows a social worker willing to look at the

old as if new:

I wanted to start a support group for chronic mentally ill adults and proposed this idea at a staff meeting of the Outpatient Services Department. I was not prepared for the response that greeted this proposal. There were all kinds of reasons offered for not starting. For example: it was hard enough to keep up with our mandated services; mentally ill adults need more structure than that type of group; we are not reimbursed for such groups; and they wouldn't come just for vague "support." I was silent. I imagined there were some in our caseloads who were capable of increased independence and consistency if given the chance. I was surprised at the doom and gloom emphasis in the discussion. Was this burnout on the part of staff? I could see that my plan would not be supported by the others. I made a comment that seemed to surprise, "I'd like to give this a try and am willing to take this on in an after-hours assign- ment. I'd like to try with about eight persons and would appreciate any referrals made out of your case loads that you think might be able to be in such a group." Silence . . . and nods of assent.

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