Function of Self-Perception
The psychological guiding process about what one wants to perceive concisely or diffusely, can be accomplished by the psychological system functionally or dysfunctionally. We view it as functional, when a person has the free choice to absorb and perceive with certainty and clarity what is necessary for the regulation of needs and for a contact-rich shaping of relationships. One can then feel what one wants and when it is sufficient. However, when needs are anxiety-riddled, they are maintained as diffuse in the self-perception (“Somehow it does not seem so important now!”, “Actually, I don’t fancy doing that anymore!”) or they are completely separated (“Mr. Muller, you seem disturbed, do you wish to contribute anything more before the decision is made?” – “No, no, it is ok!”). This ability to push perception into the background becomes dysfunctional when it supresses an impulse which would have been helpful for the accomplishment of the present-day situation (e.g. because he is too ashamed or guilt-ridden).
In this way the client robs himself of the freedom to act. From a technical consultancy view it is, therefore, all about working on the given fixations of the perceptual organisation (“I don’t want to feel this!”, I don’t want anything to do with this!”, “The feeling has gone again now!”).