Mystery, Attachment and Conflict Transformation

Carl  Stauffer

Mystery, Attachment and Conflict Transformation

Mystery, Attachment, and Conflict Transformation By Carl Stauffer, PhD. Academic Director, Caux Scholars Program (CSP) We love to talk about the “magic” of transformation that seems to inevitably occur at the Caux Scholars Program (CSP) as scholars from across the world come together to form a learning community. However, our explanative language of this change process often seems to morph into an ethereal narrative about spiritual connections, intuitive emotions, or visceral feelings that only seem to make sense at a subconscious level. So what makes CSP a transformative space? Is it the breath‐taking views from the elegant location of the Palace Hotel perched on precipices of the Swiss Alps overlooking Lake Geneva? Is it the community synergy that happens when 20 scholars from different cultures come to live and learn together in one place? Or is it the networking and connections that occur when world leaders come together to dialogue, serve and inspire each other? It is all of this, and more. The descriptors above are merely the conduits through which our brains are able to shift into a transformative mode. Thanks to a host of recent publications in neuroscience research (often placed under the broad category of “Attachment Theory”) we are learning how to apply a biological language to describe these experiences of metamorphosis. Building off of the original research of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (1951) on the attachment bonds between mother and child we now know that this bond is not only reserved for the parent‐ child relationship but in fact, we as human beings are biologically hard‐wired to make connections with other human beings. In other words, we instinctively seek out community. This primal drive against isolation and for intimate human relationship becomes a critical element in transforming conflict. Coupled with attachment theory is the understanding that our brains are always evolving and changing – what is now referred to as the “brain plasticity”. Gone is the modernist notion that our brains are like computers ‐ mechanical, predictable and deterministic in nature. What we now know is that with the appropriate stimuli our brains are able to adapt by forging new neuron pathways of thinking and feeling on an ongoing basis throughout the duration of our lifetimes. This knowledge gives plausible explanation for why negative, violent energy seems to be rechanneled in well‐facilitated processes of forgiveness and reconciliation. We also know that our brains store both explicit and implicit memory. Implicit memory is connected to the phenomena of psychosocial trauma. Implicit memory could be understood as “trapped energy” in the body. Transformation cannot occur if implicit memory is not surfaced and dealt with. This helps us to comprehend the importance of dealing with trauma and to appreciate the power of ritual, symbol and the arts (non‐verbal) forms of transformative healing to occur. Finally, we have discovered these curious elements in our brains called “mirror neurons”. Essentially, the research on mirror neurons reveals that our brains are incredible mimesis. We are quick to mimic both the good and bad around us. As one author puts it, “When you pick up something, so does my brain.” This discovery is assisting us to explain why an empathic response is often heightened (not hindered as commonly believed) when former “enemies” are brought together to dialogue in to a safe space like Caux. May the mystery of transformation continue to energize us as we look forward to CSP 2013!

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Mystery, Attachment and Conflict Transformation

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