using keg cards in counseling to create a life long learner - malta eac-2014 04-02

Using KEG Cards (Keys to Emotional Growth) in counseling to create a life-long learner

EAC 2014, Malta

Eleanor Avinor, PhD, MSc, MAJoanne Yona Silman, ME

April 20141 KEG Cards (Keys to Emotional Growth) © Copyright 2009 by Avinor & Silman

Building the bridge to life-long learning: an integrative positive learning model


KEG (Keys to Emotional Growth) projective identification therapy cards as a

cognitive and emotional intervention

to life-long learning

Building the bridge to life-long learning: IPLM - an Integrative Positive Learning Model

Building the bridge to life-long learning: an integrative positive learning model


Overview1.Introduction2.Connection between creating an adult life-long learner and TA (Transactional Analysis)3.Description of Projective Identification KEG Cards4.Process of how to use KEG Cards: exercises in the process of becoming a life-long learner5.References

• The life-long learner goal of KEG Cards is to help the learner connect the people, events, and life of the past with a more positive attitude towards learning.• Whole brain techniques and processes: how to help the adult and child understand his/her motivations, visions and blocks in order to improve and enhance attitudes towards learning.

Using KEG Cards (Keys to Emotional Growth) in counseling to create a life-long learner


Eleanor Avinor5

Conceptualization of an individual who is not a life-long learner: Lack of motivation; poor past experiences

PoorConcentration

Physical Symptoms;

ADHD

Low Self-

Esteem

Low Self-

EfficacyReduced Problem Solving

Hopeless ConcerningAcademic Challenges

Reduced Learning Activity

Helpless

Afraid, Anxious in Academic

Tests

Lack of Motivation

to Learn

ReceivedNegative Feedback

I am not good enough

or smart enough

6

Conceptualization of an individual who is a life-long learner: motivated; understanding past experiences

GoodConcentration

Physical Symptoms:

FeelsGood

HighSelf-

Esteem

HighSelf-

EfficacyProblem Solving

Activities

Hopeful

Curious

CognitivelyActive

Confident; Knows what

he/she wants

HappyLikes

Cognitive Cooperation

Confusion

Building the bridge to life-long learning: an Integrative Positive Learning Model (IPLM)


• Talk is not enough: You need to understand and use emotions and pictures to help the adult learner become a life-long learner

• Becoming a life-long learner is an integrative process which combines cognition (the guiding questions on the back side of the cards) and emotions (pictures on the front of the cards which evoke emotions)

• Whole brain activities appealing to the amygdala are effective



• An important theoretical underpinning of Projective Identification KEG Cards is Transactional Analysis.

• The individual has three ego states: the Parent, the Adult and the Child.

• The Parent ego state is created from the “shoulds” that the child learns from the important people in his life.

• The Adult ego state represents the individual’s ability to cope with reality.



• The Child ego state represents the basic life energy that the child is born with, and supports the individual in enjoying life and includes his creative abilities.

Ego States & Personality Structure: a functional analysis


CP NPCritical Parent (ex. judgmental; demanding; never satisfied)

Nurturing Parent (ex. hugs; care-giving; unconditional love)

Adult

NCAC

Natural Child (ex. curious; happy; creative, spontaneous)

Adapted Child (ex. The pleaser; the child who functions as a parent )

(ex. logical; rational; reality testing, problem solving)

A Metaphor of the three ego states (1)


• There may be seen a parallel between the ego states and the three part Triune Brain of McLean (1973).



• In human beings the reptilian brain and the neo-cortex are separated by a structure that is called the limbic brain.

• The neo-cortical brain could be compared to the parent because it developed in the later stages of human evolution.

• The reptilian brain supports the basic physiological functions of the individual, and it could be compared to the child ego-state because it consists of the drive and the energy of the child.

• The reptilian brain is involved in defending the individual and contains the energy of aggression and emotions of anger and fear, which are also included in the child ego-state.

• It seems to perform similar functions in humans as it does in reptiles.

• It also communicates with the limbic brain which evolved after it and communicates with the neo-cortical portions of the brain.





• As evolution developed in the human being, he began to protect his offspring with the limbic brain fulfilling this function; comparable to the Adult which is the reality testing part of the ego states.

• Seen in the hunger for attention, love & touch.• In the human being the emotions of fear, love,

happiness, sadness and jealousy are located in the limbic brain and can be seen in dogs, in cats and in apes that do not have a well developed cortex.



This metaphor is connected to creating a life-long learner or not:•in that the parent ego-state may have in it a nurturing parent which could help the learner become a life-long learner OR •the parent ego state could have a developed critical and judging parent that could depress the learner and keep him from becoming a life-long learner.

The Adult ego state, the Child ego state and the life-long learner


• The adult ego state can be utilized to help the individual see and appreciate all the benefits in becoming a life-long learner and how it may be used in problem solving.

• At the same time the child ego state can be implemented and triggered to motivate the learner to enjoy learning and to overcome obstacles.

Connection between connecting an Adult Life-Long Learner and TA (1)


• One way of defining the life-long learner is the individual whose parent ego state, adult ego state and child ego state are in appropriate balance and homeostasis.

• The three ego states of personality are energy resources.

• When using the projective art work, the client describes his view of the figures in the art work and how he is relating to these figures: whether it is from the parent, adult, or a child ego state.

• The client projects the energy of the ego state that he is in, on the picture, thus his interpretation or description changes from session to session and even in the same session.

• One of the techniques used is to analyze the ego states of the learner so that he can analyze and understand where he is coming from when he relates to topics of learning and to the process of learning.





When the parent ego state is dominant, the learner learning out of need to please this critical parent part of himself may have internalized a parent that told him: “You have to study in order to be worthwhile” or “If you do not have a university degree you are not a valuable member of society”. This parent ego state is the part of the personality that represents the most important figure with which the child has bonded and modeled his life upon.



• The individual may decide to study or learn, not because he wants to, but because he feels he should. This parent has internalized a historical record of the adult figures in his life that determine what he should and should not learn, and how to learn.

• The individual’s attitude towards learning in the Parent are internalizations of all the adult figures that impressed on him their attitudes towards learning.



• In addition to the parent ego state there Is also an adult ego state that represents reality testing and problem solving. This adult ego state processes the individual’s ability to make decisions and cope with reality.

• This is the part of the personality that receives information via the senses and comes to logical decisions based on facts and how the facts are absorbed by the senses.



• The adult ego state begins to be formed in the second year of life when the individual organizes the facts around him, senses his sensations and can talk about them.

• He can use language to categorize and understand what is happening to him and what he sees.

• In the pre-verbal stage the individual has difficulties in categorizing and organizing reality. Now the individual categorizes reality according to the language he is learning.



• The adult ego state develops during childhood and especially during school years.

• If negative events and feelings are associated with this period, motivation for learning will decrease.

• If we want to create a life-long learner, we have to help the individual go back to negative feelings connected with learning which block him, and he must make re-decisions to create positive feelings.



• The adult ego state is one of our goals when we want to create a life-long learner.

• We appeal to the rationality and to the logic of the adult.

• But, we would have no motivation if we did not appeal to the child part in the individual.

• The child ego state is where the feelings, the urges and the drives are found, and this is the energy that motivates the learner to become a life-long learner.



• This is the energy that we use in the work with projective identification therapy cards.

• This is the energy that helps the individual understand where his blocks are and why they were created.

• The inner-child in the child ego state is composed of emotions and feelings such as love, pride, shame, anger and joy.

The Self image of the life-long learner


Connection between connecting a Life-Long Learner and TA (10)


• When the individual chooses projective identifications cards as an answer to a question, it is important to analyze and discuss the ego state from which the choice is made.

• If the choice is made out of thefeeling of anxiety, it may comefrom the child ego state and by understanding this, the anxiety may be reduced.



• The child ego state is creative containing energy that drives him, whereas the parent ego state creates guilt, telling the individual what is good, what is bad and what should be done.

• Understanding the child ego state is important in creating a life-long learner.

• The child ego state is composed of different parts: when the child is born it is only child; as it gets older the adult part is created and finally the parent is formed.



• The adult part in the child is called “the little professor”; the child part in the child ego state is called a “somatic” child ego state. The somatic child ego state is only interested in the bodily needs of the infant. At this time of development the infant has no verbal capacity so cannot talk about his needs. We can see this in his choice of pictures. When he talks about his feelings towards the picture and is unable to talk about reasons or thoughts connected to the artwork.



• An ex. is a picture of a child standing alone with his hand on his belly. Many individuals choose this card to talk about their feelings of loneliness and anxiety which are centered in the belly, speaking only of their feelings and do not have any ideas or thoughts about why they chose this card but they have a lot to say about the feelings that this picture evokes in them. The body is talking for them.



• When an individual chooses the child standing alone with a hand on his belly, we want him to be able to discuss his feelings of loneliness in order to move to more motivating energy in order to release the negative energy so he can become a life-long learner.

• One cannot effectively learn if one is motivated by fear, anxiety and deprivation. A life-long learner has to be in touch with positive motivation and positive energy.



• One way of connecting with this positive energy is helping the learner become in touch with his “little professor” ego state.

• MRIs and neuroscience research show that even very young children can think and develop thinking processes.

• In the first month of the baby’s life every 30 seconds, millions of connections are being made in the brain. The infant’s thinking is immature, magical, intuitive and highly creative.



• This is the energy that we want to connect to when we want to help the learner become a life-long learner.

• The infant is interested in everything around him and all his senses are used in learning about his body, his environment and the world around him.



• As the child begins to grow and to learn language, his “little professor” is constantly asking questions about the world around him, and about himself, and about the people he is connected to.

• This “little professor” is our greatest ally in creating the life-long learner.

• This learning and creative thinking is not like the adult learner and the adult ego state.



• This Is the thinking that occurs in the right hemisphere and is full of magical thinking, symbolism and pictures. This is different from the questions and learning, talking and thinking of the left brain activities.

• This right hemisphere thinking is magical whereas the left hemisphere thinking is logical and organized.



• Therefore, in helping the learner become a life-long learner, the techniques have to be connected to the “little professor” and not just to the adult.

Description of projective identification KEG Cards (1)


• The aim of the cards is to help the individual identify old scripts and old decisions that are not effective today, even though they were effective in the past.

• The learner can then decide to change the old decisions and the old scripts to new more effective ones.

• The importance of the cards is that they by-step the defense mechanisms and go straight to the core issues.



• Working with KEG cards helps the individual to use both hemispheres of the brain: the left hemisphere for speaking about the picture, the right hemisphere for walking, talking, singing, spatial tasks, emotional activities, and other creative activities.

• KEG Cards incorporate thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviors, thus activating the whole brain.



• The cards are also the means for externalizing and projecting values, beliefs, thoughts and feelings. For example, this picture was explained by a client as a tree demonstrating values.



• He said that the relationship between a man and his values is the same as the relationship between a tree and its roots. The tree could fall in a storm if its roots are not strong enough and the man could fall in a difficult crisis in his life if his values are not strong enough. Just as the roots of a tree nurture the tree and strengthen it, functioning as a strong basis for the tree, in the same way the values of a man nurture him, strengthen him and function as a connection to reality.



• This is an example of art expressing a metaphor.

• The work with KEG cards could be done individually or in groups.

• Large size cards (A4) may be used for intense emotions and medium size cards (A6) may be used for less intense emotions.

• The learner places the cards according to the relationship between them and the distances that feel appropriate.

Process Of How To Use KEG Cards (1)


• The participant chooses a card which symbolizes for him the issue that is being discussed, such as blocks, secrets, feeling in a specific situation, an attitude or a perceived injustice.

• The participant explains what the cards he chose represent and symbolize for him.

• The choice of cards and their explanation is true at a particular point in time and in a particular context according to the ego state that he is in.

Process Of How To Use KEG Cards (2)


• Exercise:

Choose artwork or picture that symbolizes:1. How do you best learn?2. What helps you learn?3. What keeps you from learning?4. What is the best decision you made in

your life concerning learning?5. What motivates you to learn?

Costs and Benefits (1)


• In order to become a life-long learner you have to give up to a certain extent the power of the parent and the benefit will be empowering the “little professor”.

• The individuals who have learning disabilities gain a lot of attention and they will have to give it up when they become a successful life-long learner. Being a failure has its advantages: you gain attention and empathy and you don’t have to exert yourself.

Costs and Beniefits (2)


• When you are a successful life-long learner, the individual feels competent, has higher self-esteem, he achieves self-actualization and self-fulfillment.

• The learner is in a state of ambivalence because on the one hand he wants the attention and the comfort of not putting in the effort, but on the other hand he wants the feeling of achievement and respect.

References (1)


• Avinor, E. & Silman, J. (2013). A Case Study of Alzheimer Patient: brain plasticity & functioning preservation of lifeline via KEG cards (keys to emotional growth) In Proceedings of the Jerusalem International Conference on Neuroplasticity & Cognitive Flexibility, pages 83-88.http://www.medimond.com/ebook/Q602.pdf

• Casstevens, w. et al. (2013). Group Work with KEG cards: keys to emotional growth. In Group Work: An International Conversation Highlighting Diversity in Practice by Gregory J. Tully, Jean Bacon and Georgianna Dolan-Reilly pp. 133-143.

References (2)


• MacLean P., (1973), “The triune brain. Emotion and scientific bias.”, The neural sciences. The second study program. F.O.Shmitt, editor., New York: Rockefeller University press.

• Stewart I., Joines V., (1987), TA Today, Nottingham: Lifespace Publishing.

The good teacher leads to life-long learning

Reaching to the sky

Additional Related References

• Freud, A. (1966). Links Between Hartmann’s Ego Psychology and the Child Analyst’s Thinking Analysis. In R. Loewenstin, I., Newman, M. Shut, & A. Solnit (Eds.), A general psychology: Essays in honor of Heynz Hartmann (pp. 16-27). New York: International Universities Press.

• Freud, S. (1912.) The dynamics of transference. Standard Edition, Vol. 12 pp. 97-108.

• Freud, S. (1933.) New introductory lectures on psycho-analysis. New York: W. W. Norton.

• Stayton, D. J., & Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1973). Individual differences in infant responses to brief, everyday separations as related to other infant and maternal behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 9, 226-235.

• Winnicott, D.W. (1958). Through paediatrics to psycho-analysis. London: Hogarth.

• Winnicott, D.W. (1965). The maturational process and the facilitating environment. New York: International Universities Press.

• Winnicott, D.W. (1971). Playing and reality. Middlesex, England: Penguin

51 KEG Cards (Keys to Emotional Growth) © Copyright 2009 by Avinor & Silman

April 2014

using keg cards in counseling to create a life long learner - malta eac-2014 04-02

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