PICT Parks Inner Child Therapy
Parks Inner Child Therapy (PICT) is a powerful and versatile visualisation-based Transactional Analysis, that incorporates Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to aid rapid positive change.
PICT helps people recover from the trauma and damage of sexual, physical and emotional abuse during childhood. Such harm may have been caused deliberately, caused by neglect, or by inadequate parenting which was not intentional.
PICT is equally effective for a wide range of emotional problems. Such as eating disorders, OCD, DID, self-harm, ritual abuse, anxiety or depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, phobias, and works with abusers. It is useful for grief and loss issues including murder, suicide, abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, loss of a job, material things or pets. PICT therapists also have the skills to assist with Critical Incident Debriefing (witnessing/experiencing highly traumatic events).
It is a directional model following a flexible structure adapted to the client’s individual needs. PICT assists people who have completed the ‘unloading’ process, the initial talking through past events and are ready to move into the process of deep and lasting change work. PICT Practitioners can either facilitate the unloading process and then move on to change work, or accept clients who have already completed the unloading with prior counselling and are now ready for change work.
Benefits to clients
The most significant feature of Parks Inner Child Therapy (PICT) is that it can bring about change gently because there is no need to disclose any details of traumatic events.
PICT addresses the effects of trauma instead of focusing on the event detail. It allows clients to retain their privacy, dignity and to work comfortably. PICT produces measurable results and contains thorough, quick and effective techniques to bring about beneficial and lasting change.
Most clients enjoy this method and are quickly aware of their achievements. PICT therapy can be relaxing and satisfying, with times for light-heartedness to counterbalance the more serious moments. During training, PICT therapists bring their own material to learn PICT tools to give them a full understanding of the ‘clients’ experience.
How PICT works
When adults with good reasoning power find they are unable to resolve ongoing problems they can often complain in frustration, ‘I know I shouldn’t feel (think/do) this, but I still do!’ In other words, their logic is at odds with their feelings and their feelings seem to be winning the battle. A depressing experience for people who want to be in charge of their life and they often blame themselves, feel guilty and call themselves ‘weak’ or ‘useless’. So, why are people with good reasoning power trapped in an unwanted feeling or behaviour?
PICT teaches that the core beliefs we have about ourselves (our identity), about others or the world are learned during early childhood before we are old enough to determine if the information is correct or not.
Because this process happens so early on, the information/beliefs we have learned seem more like a basic truth that has always been with us. In other words, it is difficult for a person to think in terms of ‘belief’, it seems much bigger than that – it seems like a truth about identity, i.e. ‘That’s just how I am’, ‘That’s just how life is’.
That belief learning process is fine if we have emotionally healthy families who demonstrate good parenting, because then most of our beliefs about self, others or the world will be positive and supportive. However, when families are dysfunctional, or parenting skills are lacking, the beliefs we learn are mistaken and limiting, i.e. I’m not good enough, I can’t get anything right, You can’t trust anyone, nowhere is safe, etc. Mistaken beliefs learned during childhood remain active in the background, invisible to us, as they rule our decision making, influence our self-esteem, affect our relationships and our ability to motivate ourselves. Because the beliefs are ‘invisible’ to our logic, we feel confused and frustrated when we ‘know we shouldn’t feel (think/do) something, but we still do.’
PICT works on the premise that the ‘inner child’ (that one part of our unconscious where the memories & beliefs of childhood reside) who holds the original beliefs, can be communicated with and the limiting beliefs can be changed.
You might think that any mistaken belief will be updated by new information as a person grows up – sort of like changing our belief in Father Christmas. However, that does not happen to those identity beliefs that start so early they are out of consciousness, nor does it happen to beliefs created from traumatic events. Therefore, PICT uses the ‘today’ adult conscious mind to communicate with the inner child from the past.
Transactional Analysis clearly outlines the ‘child’, ‘adult’ and ‘parent’ aspects of individuals and encourages understanding (and ultimately choice) of the functioning of those aspects within oneself, and with others, to resolve problems. PICT has simplified and has specifically, flexibly and vastly restructured this accepted process to enable resolution of ongoing problems, unwanted behaviours and past traumas.
The PICT model assists clients to access specific information, through the unconscious mind, to identify the root cause of ongoing problems and unwanted behaviours. Then, using specific PICT techniques, the client’s ‘adult part’ (with direction from the PICT therapist) gives the ‘child part’ appropriate information, love and support – which are the three basic ingredients needed to create belief change. Consequently changing the perspective for the ‘child part’ and enabling the ‘child’ and ‘adult’ part of the client to both get positive and matching beliefs about self. Essentially, the client is guided through the unwanted feelings or behaviours to the desired emotional freedom. Within this process, the ‘parent’ part is automatically learning new attitudes and skills to alter negative and destructive self-talk.
Why Parks Inner Child Therapy (PICT) works
Some root causes of problems are tucked away in the unconscious and people have no idea why they have the problem and consequently how to get rid of it. However, even when clients do have conscious knowledge of root causes, those early experiences are usually surrounded by a great deal of guilt or shame.
Those kinds of feelings are very uncomfortable, and people tend to avoid looking at them. The specialist skills of a counsellor can gently, safely and effectively guide clients past the shame, blame and guilt. Without this specialist skills, clients feel like they are going in circles and not getting anywhere. PICT teaches that, regardless of the events, because they took place in childhood there is no guilt, blame or shame attached to the child – only to the grown-up who chose to interfere with or mistreat a child.
Children accept blame very easily and are certainly encouraged by dysfunctional parents to do so. It is very easy for dysfunctional parents to use their children as objects on whom to project their feelings of inadequacy and guilt.
For the most part, children’s mistakes are innocent behaviours committed as they learn the myriad of rules and regulations of life. Children are reliant upon their parents for information on how to safely and appropriately function in life. If parents have not done their job properly, children are vulnerable to experience serious mistakes. If parents have failed in their duty of care, the responsibility is theirs. However, because these issues are seldom discussed or examined, children can grow up with a backlog of guilt or shame that is unwarranted.
Working solely through the conscious mind (adult state) or solely through the unconscious mind (partially child and parent) seldom creates the balance or harmony that required for full problem resolution. By utilising metaphor and visualisation for the unconscious mind, and appropriate information and guidance for the conscious mind, PICT efficiently bridges the gap and assists, clients, to painlessly identify and thoroughly resolve issues attached to blame, guilt and shame.
How Is PICT Different To Other Therapy Models?
PICT has a flexible structure with a clear beginning, middle and end, as well as measurable results. PICT can quickly and gently deal with even the most traumatic experiences because there is no need to reveal painful details. This model obtains thorough understanding and resolution of problems, rather than leaving gaps that can cause the same problems to resurface later on. It works quickly while creating deep and lasting change. Work that would generally take six months to a year using most therapeutic models may on average be completed in ten two hour sessions using PICT. Consequently, PICT greatly reduces waiting lists, ends the ‘revolving door’ syndrome and creates gentle, lasting resolution.
