The Pattern System: A Periodic Table for Psychology

by Jay Earley

Do you wonder... Why do my partner and I get into so many fights? What is going on to keep me stuck in life? What am I doing to turn people off? Why am I attracted to the wrong people? Why is my partner acting that way? How can I understand my personality?The Pattern System is a breakthrough in understanding personality that is oriented toward psychological healing and personal growth.It also helps you to understand other people--why they respond as they do, whatmakes them tick. Once your have understood the Pattern System and exploredyourself according to its model, you will have a comprehensive map of yourpsyche. You will be able to see Your strengths Your defenses What drives your behavior Why you feel bad about yourself Your underlying emotional pain How you compensate for that Your inner conflicts The leading edge of your growthIf you are a therapist, coach, or other professional, do youask yourself... How can I understand my clients' personalities in a fuller way? Why is that client's therapy not moving? What is going on in my relationship with that client? What is the primary issue for that client? What are the psychodynamics underlying that behavior?The Pattern APeriodic Table for Psychology can help you answer these questions. You canfully understand your clients' personality patterns--not just their "type" butthe detailed structure of their psychology.  The Pattern System doesn't just focus narrowly onpsychopathology. It doesn't even just focus on dysfunctional patterns. It alsohelps you to understand functional behavior and healthy capacities. This meansthat you can see your strengths and those capacities you need to develop toreach your personal goals.The Pattern System is different from the usual systems ofcharacter types, such as the Enneagram or the DISC, because these systemsattempt to capture a person's entire character in one type, even though they doallow for somewhat more complexity. The Pattern System recognizes and reflectsthe complexity of the human psyche. In the Pattern System, each dysfunctional pattern and healthy capacity describes just one aspect of a client's personality, andeach person will have many of them. In fact, the richness of the Pattern Systemfosters an attitude of looking deeply in order to understand the uniqueness andmultifaceted features of each individual's personality.One of the important aspects of the Pattern System is that aperson's profile can change over time. In fact, the distinction betweenproblematic patterns and healthy capacities gives you explicit informationabout those aspects of the psyche that can change through therapy, coaching, orother personal growth work--specifically how patterns can

Genres: Psychology, Self Help

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2013

About the author

Jay Earley, Ph.D., is a transformational psychologist, group leader, psychotherapist, coach, author, teacher, and theorist.

Jay is trained in Internal Family Systems Therapy and assists with professional trainings in IFS. He leads IFS Classes for the general public which teach IFS as a practice for self-help and peer counseling. He is active in the IFS community and has presented a number of workshops at IFS annual conferences. He also teaches classes on Communication from the Heart, based on IFS, interactive groups, and the Pattern System.

He is nationally known for his innovation in the group psychotherapy field. His book, Interactive Group Therapy: Integrating Interpersonal, Action-Oriented, and Psychodynamic Approaches, Brunner/Mazel, describes his group therapy method in which people learn interpersonal relationship skills by working directly on their relationships with each other. During his ten years on the east coast, Jay was Director of the Group Therapy Center of Long Island, where he trained group therapists in this method. He has written a number of articles on interactive groups and made numerous presentations at regional and national psychotherapy conferences. He continues to lead interactive therapy groups in the Bay Area.

Jay offers Life Purpose Coaching and Change Agent Coaching, on finding your life purpose and making a difference in the world. He has been writing about and leading workshops on Life Purpose since 1984. He has collected his writings on life purpose into an ebook Finding Your Life Purpose.

Jay has created the Pattern System, a method for understanding interpersonal behavior and its underlying psychological issues, which is compatible with IFS. It is used for personal growth, understanding relationships, and interpersonal assessment and treatment in psychotherapy.

In Jay's work with people, he is known for his empathy and his ability to understand a client's feelings, issues, and world view without imposing his own personality or agenda. His insight into human motivation and psychological patterns enables him to help people understand both their strengths and how they block themselves from getting what they want. Because of his own life-long journey of personal growth, his interest in the nature of human consciousness, and his success in creating a passionate and satisfying life for himself, his clients trust him to understand their struggles and spiritual longings, and to support their search for excitement and meaning in life.

Jay has a Ph.D. in psychology from Saybrook Graduate School and is a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of San Francisco. He is a licensed psychologist in California (PSY6973) and a Certified Group Therapist. He has been in private practice as a psychotherapist working with individuals, couples, and groups since 1973.

Jay's commitment to his own personal development has led him to participate in a wide variety of therapeutic and growth endeavors over the years. He has a loving, successful 20 year marriage and professional partnership with Bonnie Weiss. He has studied with Richard Olney, Jean Houston, Joanna Macy, and Richard Schwartz. He is a long-time student of the Diamond Approach of A. H. Almaas, a spiritual path that integrates psychotherapy insights and techniques with wisdom traditions in a unique Western approach to spiritual realization.

As a result of his research on human social evolution and its relationship to our current global predicament, Jay has published a number of articles plus the book, Transforming Human Culture: Social Evolution and the Planetary Crisis, SUNY Press.

During the 1980's, Jay studied with both Jean Houston and Joanna Macy. He was active in the peace movement as a member of Interhelp and Psychotherapists for Social Responsibility, where he led workshops which integrated psychological, spiritual, and planetary concerns. Study of the process by which people discover and actualize their life purpose led Jay to wri

Reviews

[Gabriel Desjardins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but lacks some examples and specifications. Would have liked it longer and with more details and clinical cases. Really liked the part on relational sequences in couples

[Bill Farrell]

This book delivers on it's promise of supplying the foundation, or "building blocks" of being able to "think on your feet" or have understanding in the psychological and personality arenas. If you ever wanted to understand yourself or others properly you have found a brilliant starting point.

[R.W. Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Formulaic, but other readers might find their own way to use it.