Prometheum Institute

Our Philosophy

The driving mandate in our approach to life management is derived from two established coniderations.

Physical Reality

1st Consideration

The first consideration is that our physical reality is a constant interaction of quantum energy that shapes and forms our world. It sees change, therefore, as inevitable, continuous, and imperceptible, an activity that never stops until it precipitates – as a new situation or a new twist to an old situation, a new opinion, unkind word, or different expectation, an illness, pain, or untoward feeling.

Mental Function

2nd Consideration

The second consideration is that mental function is a non-physical process and, therefore, not endangered by the impositions of change from the material world, but can be energized by them. It is embryonic at birth and must be awakened and developed to its fullest potential. Until it is awakened and developed to its fullest, it will function at a deficit. That deficit, therefore, is neither an illness nor a loss. It is an insufficiency waiting to be energized.

This creates a dynamic interplay between each person and the capricious reality that can easily get out of balance, partly because too much activity may be occurring to make what is known insufficient for what is to be managed, and partly because what is known is actually insufficient for what is to be managed, even at normal or reduced activity.

When that balance is off, other responses may be used just to gain temporary reprieve. These may not be logical and may take the form of the fight, flight, fright method of reducing the reality to be balanced with knowledge, separating the self from the reality, or surrendering to the impact of the reality. These can be the unhealthy behaviors that can become the mainstay (addiction) of the person.

Reactive or Instinctual

Unhealthy Behaviors

We see unhealthy behaviors, therefore, as reactive or instinctual behaviors that come into play at an unhealthy level when psycho/socio/spiritual values and understanding are flailing or insufficiently realized. They are the shields in battle, so to speak, not the real weapon. They can, thus, become weak, inappropriate, invasive, bad, or sick when used as the primary thrust too often, too readily, or too intensely.

These considerations allow us to see that it is the mandate of the human being to stimulate and develop this deeper asset of mental power and acuity. Thus, when it is not the primary attribute driving performance, instinctual responses can become the most reliable or perhaps only strength out of choice or necessity. It is the reliance on these natural, instinctual responses as the mainstay of behavior that is revealed as improper or unhealthy behavior. Because this is driven by a lack rather than a determination, it is more expedient to build what is not there while we fix what is malfunctioning from strain on its design limitations. Filling the deficit can then give a person the strength to go forward with self-determination and self-actualization, not a chronically fragile existent needing to be sheltered from the ravages of life just to survive.

Stimulated with the right ingredients

Information, Discipline, & Encouragement

This technique is based on the simple assertion that the mind does not mature naturally as a product of biological growth and aging. A person cannot “know” simply because the body has reached a certain age or that he/she has inherited the genes of a successful forebear. He/she must be stimulated with ingredients of information, discipline and encouragement, ingredients that must be considered in three distinct areas of life – the physical world, its impositions and mercurial challenges, the social world and its demands, manipulations, and unpredictable interactions, and the existential world or who we are and why we seem distinct from the other elements. The stimulation for this understanding is neither organically derived nor financially acquired; it must be imparted through guided exploration from those ahead to those behind who then become those ahead.

We see that, when the strengths these convey are lacking, defensive or instinctual behaviors come into play and reveal an erratic or inappropriate response that seems to define impropriety in the person. But they are only stand-ins, substitutes that back up the flailing or insufficiently energized psycho/social/spiritual values and understanding.

go to fireside chats if you are a client

go to beyond recovery course if you are a counsellor