How We Created The Macro-Systems Component of DST During the same time we were researching how DST worked in
micro systems (individuals, couples and families), we began looking at its
impact on macrosystems (schools, churches, business and non-profit
organizations, governments and the evolution of the human race). Then we began
developing macro-level DST intervention tools for recognizing and healing
developmental shock, trauma, and stress in these larger human systems. Our theoretical leap grew organically out of the personal
research we conducted while working clinically and as consultants in groups,
organizations, and governments. Our experiences as international consultants to
the United Nations in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s and as consultants and
trainers in Ukraine since 1994 were particularly helpful in understanding the
macro-levels of DST. We discovered not only the parallels in the way each system
evolves, but also the similarities in the patterns of dysfunctions that appear
in each. Because of these parallels in both evolution and dysfunction, we
realized it is possible to use the principles of DST to diagnose where and why
a system has stalled by identifying the incomplete essential developmental
processes of that system. Once we
understood where and why a system got stuck, it became possible to design
effective interventions for facilitating the completion of these developmental
processes and moving them forward in their development. DST Diagnosis in Macro Systems In addition to DPW’s clinical methods for identifying
symptoms of developmental shock, trauma, and stress, DST uses additional
methods to diagnose the impact of developmental shock, trauma, and stress on
the system. We use self-inventories, structured interviews, focus groups, and
process observation to help locate the markers that help identify the impact of
developmental shock, trauma, and stress on individuals, couples, families,
groups/organizations, cultures/nation–states and the evolution of the human
race. We found these data-gathering methods useful in identifying
the kinds of incomplete essential developmental processes that exist at each
stage of a system’s development. The data obtained from these methods helps the
Developmental Process Worker or Developmental Systems Consultant design
interventions to help the client, whether an individual, a couple, family, or
larger human system. In our DST model, incomplete developmental processes delay
or stall the evolution of all human systems. For example, a child who does not
sufficiently complete the essential developmental processes of bonding during
the codependent stage of development will experience difficulty in completing
the essential developmental processes of separation during the counterdependent stage of development. Each completed
set of essential developmental processes in one stage provides the building
blocks or foundation for the successful completion of the essential
developmental processes at the next stage of individual development. This same principle operates in couples, families,
groups/organizations, cultures/nation–states, and the evolution of the human
race. Incomplete developmental processes actually stall the evolution of human
consciousness. Moving human systems forward in their evolution requires unique
skills that recognize the similarities in development, dysfunction, and
intervention in all six levels of human systems. A Chronology of DST’s History In the late 1980s and early 1990s, we began consulting with
schools, churches, and businesses in the community and again saw the same kinds
of problems and conflicts involving incomplete developmental processes. We
found ourselves looking at organizations through the same developmental lens
that we used in our work with individuals, couples, and families. We began
speculating on how far we might be able to apply our developmental theory. The plan was for us to establish the center and then the
Czechoslovak government would donate the Centre to the UN. The UN would then
use the Centre to train family life educators from developing countries. Our
offices were housed in the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family inside
the Slovak part of the government, and we reported directly to the Minister or
Cabinet head, who reported to his or her counterpart in the Czechoslovak
government. Inside the UN and the Slovak government, we were in a unique
position to observe the dynamics of these two large systems. The UN’s
organization was built on political patronage, and all the heads of divisions
were political appointees by their respective governments. This patronage
system created a tremendous amount of status-quo practices and policies, as
appointees maneuvered to maintain their personal positions. UN positions were given primarily to individuals who had
proven themselves as loyal supporters and would do nothing that might possibly
discredit the political values of the leaders who appointed them. As good
codependents, they were tethered to those who appointed them and unable to
exercise individual thoughts or actions. All publications written at the UN had
to first be sanitized to make sure they did not contain anything that could be
deemed politically incorrect or threatening to the status quo. All decisions at
the UN reflected the same mind-set. It was a larger and more codependent
version of “what will the neighbors think?” The culture and values of people in
the Czech Republic were historically and culturally more similar to those of
Germany, particularly the Bohemian part. The Czechs were naturally more
industrious, more left-brained, and more Western European. The culture and
values of the people in the Slovak Republic were historically and culturally
more Slavic. Slovaks were more agricultural, more right-brained, and more like
the people of Ukraine and Eastern Europe. So we saw from our internal vantage
point that the “forced marriage” was cracking a bit at the seams. About three months into our assignment, Czechoslovakia
decided to separate into the Czech and Slovak Republics. Their two very different
cultural roots had finally reached a critical bifurcation point. Their forced
codependency had made it difficult for their joint government to move forward.
We saw how the leaders and citizens on both sides had suffered by living in a
“marriage of convenience” that contained many deep incompatibilities. The
Czechs perceived the Slovaks as holding them back in their rapid movement
towards Western practices in both government and business, and the Slovaks
seemed resentful about being forced to move rapidly towards the West when they
experienced themselves as more rooted in the traditions of the East/ The Slovaks were much less prepared to handle the challenges
of the Velvet Divorce, as it came to be known, because it pushed them into
premature independence. Developmentally they resorted to using ego defenses
that reminded us of 2-year-olds who suddenly realize they must become
self-sufficient. Even though they were not well prepared to handle their
autonomy, their attitude towards the Czechs was, “We’ll show you that we can do
this. We will take care of ourselves and be better off without you.” The dissolution of Czechoslovakia reminded us of a divorcing
couple in other ways. The Czechs’ alignment with the West gave them more
economic resources, so they came out of the divorce in a stronger economic
position. The Slovaks, still tied economically to the less industrialized
former Soviet Republics to the East, were economically weaker and less
self-sufficient. Symbolically, it was like witnessing an archetypal couple
divorce during the 1950s. The Czechs were like the husband, more educated and
successful in the business world, who was awarded the house and the new car and
paid child support to the family. The Slovaks were more like the wife, a less
educated stay at home mom, who was awarded custody of the children, got the old
car, and went to live in an apartment. Consulting in Ukraine. Beginning in 1990, we also became
very involved with humanitarian aid projects in Ukraine. In 1994 CICRCL, our
tax-exempt nonprofit institute, helped create a sister nongovernmental
organization (NGO), ROZRADA in Ukraine. This Ukrainian NGO, which is legally
tied to ours, provides counseling, consulting, and training services to
individuals, couples, families, groups, corporations, other NGOs, and the
Ukrainian government, particularly through the Ministry of Family, Youth, and
Sports. Our many years of collaboration with Dr. Bondarovskaia and
her team provided us with another living laboratory where we were able to apply
the principles of DST. The forced “marriage” between the republics of the
former USSR was similar in many ways to that of the Czechs and Slovaks, and so
was its dissolution. After almost 20 years, most of these republics, such as Ukraine,
are still struggling to build a national identity and to break free of the
codependency trap that the Soviet Union created. They were forced to become economically
and psychologically separate from Mother Russia. Summary Our consulting experiences with the United Nations, the
government of Czechoslovakia, and our sister NGO in Ukraine has given us many
opportunities to apply the principles of our emerging DST in macrosystems. All
these personal experiences have helped us recognize not only the similarities
in the development in all human systems, but also the way unhealed
developmental shock, trauma, and stress stalls and disrupts their evolution. We
feel really grateful that we have had each other to help sort through these
amazing experiences and to harvest so much understanding about what helps and
hinders the evolution of our consciousness as a species. We continue to add to
our understanding of the macrosystem component of DST in our consulting work with
organizations and governments. Consulting in Slovakia & the United Nations. Then in
1992 we had the good fortune to be invited to work as international consultants
to the United Nations Centre in Vienna, Austria. Here we worked under the
Director of Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs and also head of the
UN’s International Year of the Family. Our assignment was to help found the
Bratislava International Centre for Family Studies in Bratislava,
Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia, still in its first years of post-communist
recovery, was struggling to maintain a government still deeply conflicted by
cultural differences. The country was created by a “shotgun wedding” after
World War I between two different ethnic groups, the Czechs and the Slovaks.
After World War II they were forced to bury their ethnic differences even more
while under the USSR’s totalitarian rule.
Since 1994, Janae has made many trips to Kiev to collaborate
with our colleague, Dr. Valentina Bondarovskaia, who directs ROZRADA. While
much of her work has involved training the staff in practical psychology, Janae
also consulted with Valentina and her staff on case management and supervision
issues. ROZRADA has also published our books on codependency and
counterdependency in Russian.
Recent Comments