The Clarifying and Obscuring Power of Labels
Years ago, I took a research methods class as part of my master’s program. For context, most of the psychology curriculum at CIIS was centered on understanding the depths of human experience. We studied psychoanalytic frameworks, Gestalt, trauma-informed therapy, transpersonal psychology, humanistic-existential therapy models…you know - the juicy stuff. It’s no wonder a class called “Research Methods” felt like one big snore to students (ahem...me) in the program. Where was the depth and soul? The human struggle? The healing?!?
Boy, were we all proven wrong. Over the course of the semester, I not only learned the basics of research methodology but also gained what has since become a core tenet of my therapeutic style: when to know and when to be guided by not knowing. Allow me to explain.
Throughout the semester, our job was to choose a topic, propose a research method, and share our findings with the class. This might sound easy enough but when given the option to research anything under the sun, a certain paralysis kicks in. So I did what I always do when I notice I am looking outside for the answers. I paused to look within. At the time, I had recently begun working as a therapist-in-training at the Integral Counseling Center at Pierce Street. Being research oriented by nature, I found myself collecting data on my experience working with clients and training with other therapists which, in turn, inspired my research in the class.
Here are my findings.
Humans have an ineffable urge to know things and a deep resistance toward the unknown. Call it the fear of being out of control. Or the fear of dying (but that’s for another blog post) - the fact remains. We are meaning-making machines and want answers to all things unknown. I can’t tell you how often, as a clinician, I hear people grappling with putting their (or other people’s) pain into neat little categories. Normal. Not normal. Good. Bad. Diagnosis A, B, C, or Z.
Over time, I’ve learned that labels carry the power to clarify or obscure the human experience - and it often depends on our momentary level of awareness. For some, labels are an incredibly clarifying tool to put words to an inner process. For example, it might be very relieving for someone to receive an ADHD diagnosis. Things suddenly make sense! Any self-criticism that may have surrounded the person’s ability to focus like everyone else dissipates. For others though, labels frustratingly obstruct their inner experience - or worse, evoke shame and dismiss nuance.
Labels, diagnoses, categories, and in a sense, the practice of shelving away concepts that one categorizes as “known” can give us the real illusion of knowledge. But just as you wouldn’t buy a cast off the shelf for a broken leg, why would you end at applying an off-the-shelf label to fully explain your deeply personal human experience? A word or concept could never fully* explain the momentary explosion of human consciousness that is your life.
Here’s my take: use labels as guides for clarity but remember your own stunning variation and shading. Our psyches are universes unto themselves. Hold the mystery and find your way to healing.
*Emphasis on the word fully…after all, it can explain some things. Just, not everything.
