On Social Norms and Post-Traumatic Personalities According to the ISCP Method by Paulina Kubs.

About Social Norms

The ISCP method is based on the assumption of the immense importance of the system and social structure from which the patient originates. Based on the understanding of social norms, one can also comprehend disorders arising from functioning among people living according to anti-social or criminal norms.

We distinguish the following social norms: Pro-health/pro-social norm, Anti-social norm, Criminal norm.

The pro-health/pro-social norm is an important point of reference, encompassing both donors and recipients who, while exploiting resources, also provide an opportunity for their regeneration or the creation of new ones. It is not a norm possible to realize perfectly, but strict respect for its boundaries in every social group is necessary.

In a sense, everyone knows what this norm entails, but it is not realized completely by the entire group. It is the highest in the hierarchy and requires knowledge of each norm – without this, it may not be able to defend itself. It requires a high level of social awareness.

The anti-social norm is the most popular. It assumes being a recipient and exploiting resources in a more or less devastating way and often to some extent acceptable to the group.

The criminal norm assumes complete devastation of resources and seizing them for exploitation. Here, as in the case of the pro-health norm, there are donors and recipients. Their unconscious aim seems to be the expansion of anti-social norms.

Thanks to the fact that the pro-social/pro-health norm is internalized individually by each person and at every social level (just as it is in the group), the hierarchy and social structure, despite variable dynamics, are relatively stable.

Personalities After Trauma

For the purposes of the ISCP method, I distinguish:

Dissociative Personality – This is the structure of a person who, as a result of trauma, oscillates around psychotic experiences. It assumes sensitivity to stimuli, avoidance of violent people, creativity, selectivity towards relationships, striving to increase their advantage to not be a victim. It operates within the scheme of “fight, flee, paralysis” (dissociation, or using a positive connotation: endure).

Addictive Personality – This is the structure of a person who often had some diseases or injuries as a child, especially in terms of nervous or biochemical background. They do not cope with tensions and seek their reduction in psychoactive substances or behavioral addictions. They have a very low threshold for tolerating frustration. The function is “flee, paralysis (endure),” “fight without conscious involvement.”

Suicidal Personality (In Poland, this topic was extensively covered by Dr. Andrzej Polewka).

In the scope of the ISCP Method, the structure of such a personality assumes suicide as a tension reducer and a way of functioning in the group. Such a person remains with the romantic vision from adolescence that suicide is the end of sufferings or humiliations (life and life’s demands are often treated as humiliation and suffering).

They may also be people who did not have good reflection from their parents due to their death or abandonment and only need to learn that life also exists outside of a relationship. Relationships are here the most important factor of development for these people and the most serious threat to self-development.

Spiritual Personality – This is the structure of a person who does not try to find themselves in any of the norms, as they were too dependent on them. Mainly these could have been anti-social or criminal norms, and the form of survival was splitting and distorting reality.

Seemingly Adapted Personality – This is the structure of a person who easily builds social relationships, but they are superficial and goal-oriented. It assumes manipulation to survive independently and in the social group closest to them. It is built on fear of loneliness, social helplessness, and individual and social responsibility.

Each of the above personalities assumes a dissociative element as a form of survival. The direction of treatment is to increase the effectiveness of actions towards the realization of the pro-social/pro-health norm and awareness of one’s limitations. These personalities can of course coexist with each other, overlap, or change at different stages of life.

The element of self-destruction is actually certain in each of the above personalities but treated as an expression of helplessness and the need to reduce tension, while there is no glorification of suffering. There is also an essential need for healing.

Warmly inviting you,

Paulina Kubś

Cabinet of Interventional Systemic– Cultural Psychotherapy

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