User:Binary Psychology/sandbox

Binary Psychology was developed by Dr. Brian Lahey. Dr. Lahey is a physician specializing in mental health. He is board certified as an adult psychiatrist by the Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, as well as a child psychiatrist by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Binary Psychology" was founded on the discovery that almost all long term relationships or marital pairs are composed of an 'alpha-personality' (controlling position within the relationship) and a 'self-personality' (seeks to please/feel accepted). Additionally within this framework, one exists as a suppressor (seeks internal containment of negative emotion) and an expresser (feels better when negative feelings are felt by those around the individual. The result is four personality types: alpha-expresser, alpha-suppressor, self-expresser, and self-suppressor.

One's personality type is usually solidified upon leaving home and becoming independent. Determination of one's positional role (alpha or self) usually follows gender lines or gender identification with the same-sex parent. It is uncommon for a relationship to exist between individuals who have similar personality roles (alpha/alpha, self/self); and similarly, it is uncommon for a relationship to contain two who are of the same emotional personality type (suppressor/suppressor, expresser/expresser). Thus, once a person's personality type is determined, then the personality type of their significant other can be predicted. For example, if an individual is an alpha-suppressor, then he or she will gravitate toward, and eventually form a primary relationship with a self-expresser. An alpha personality will get with a self personality and vice versa. An expresser will get with a suppressor and vice versa. Pairing is largely driven by the level of insecurity surrounding loss (loss of attachment for expresser individuals and loss of control for suppressor individuals).

Every individual is born as a self-personality--characterized by feelings in the form of sensations and desires. They exist in a dyadic relationship with the world/environment/mom/alpha. With puberty, the uniquely human capability of "thinking" begins as he pubescent's brain activates such that the "alpha" judgement part of the human mind starts internally interacting with original "self." A triangle is formed between the two internal elements (self & alpha) in relation to the outside environment. Thus, thinking commences. With thinking comes the ability to read between the lines, to create meaning. Each individual will have to primarily identify with the 'self' part or the 'alpha' part as they primarily relate to the outside world. As mentioned, this usually follows gender identification within the family in which they were raised. The importance of a child growing up and becoming an independent adult--no longer living at home or being psychologically or emotionally dependent--is underscored in the binary psychology model by the critical role 'fear of loss' plays in human relationships. Difficulty letting go of familial attachments impairs the process of becoming a cognitively independent and emotionally stable adult. The greater the fear of loss, the more symptomatic is an individual, and the more relationship instability they will demonstrate.