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Tag Archives: knowledge

Knowing VS Understanding!

30 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Tahereh Barati, PhD in Articles

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Conflict dissolution, Conflict resolution, Dissolving conflicts, Education, empathy, Expert Knowledge, human relationships, knowledge, Knowledge as Power, Respect, Soical responsibility, Understanding, Understanding as Power, Understanding with empathy

Have you ever thought of the differences between ‘Knowing and Understanding’? How do you differentiate these two?

I, lately, found myself thinking more and more about ‘knowing and understanding’ and their differences. Listening to National and International News or reading articles on human dilemmas brought their differences more into my attention.

Knowing is a privilege of comprehension, when one learns something and accumulates knowledge related to what was learned.  To be a know-er, one goes to school, college or university, learns a subject matter and becomes an expert or specialized in a particular area of expertise.  We have become good at collecting information and knowing. Our social cultural and educational systems are focused on teaching people to view ‘Knowledge as Power’.

However, Understanding is a privilege of critical thinking, empathy and social responsibility.  Understanding is formed when what is learned are responsibly and critically re-viewed . Understanding is when we pause our thinking process and pay attention to impacts of our actions on others; when we put ourselves on someone else’s shoe and experience their affection and pain; when we become aware of the influence of our actions on our communities and society.

Knowing is usually achieved by attending schools and getting certificate or license; however, Understanding is generated by life experience, by giving attention to the layers of our social fabrics, by thinking critically about our contribution to problems in the world.

We all are taught to become a know-er, an expert. ‘Knowledge is Power’ was the slogan of the 20th century. We were taught to use any opportunities to climb up the ladder of ‘success’. We have learned that Understanding is an obstacle to one’s success.

On the other hand, we haven’t learned to explore ways of generating Understanding in human relationships.  We haven’t learned to view Understanding as Power.  We have to begin to undo what we have learned as those are obstacles to Understanding.

I don’t think we can go on this way for another century. Understanding has to be developed in our interpersonal relationships. Understanding has to be a critical part of human relationships. Understanding our differences, respecting various ideas and beliefs, and consequently, developing social responsibility are seemed to be the only avenues to preserving humanity.

Where do you place yourself in the spectrum of ‘knowing /understanding’? What actions are you taking to become an understanding person? How would you like to contribute in generating Understanding on matters that affect us all?

Happy Possibilities,

Tahereh Barati

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Hello Again!

11 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by Tahereh Barati, PhD in poetry, Reflection

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Generational Knowledge, knowledge, Life Experiences, Life Hardship, Life Lessons, poetry, resiliency, Roots of Wisdom, wisdom

Come here near me

Sit beside me

Have to tell you something, my child!

Listen to what I have to say, she says:

 

“Life is too short

don’t sweat on small stuff.

When one door is close on you,

look into the other doors in life

Don’t star at the close door, forever!

Move on and make the best of what you’ve got.

 

Remember, you can make a difference

Remember, what you’ve got is enough

Remember your dream, when you fall”!

 

I shall remember your words every day

I shall remember your wisdom when a door slams on my face

I must remember you!

Hello to you again!

 

Tahereh Barati

 

 

 

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Metaphor & Therapy

27 Sunday May 2012

Posted by Tahereh Barati, PhD in Articles, Reflection, sharing success stories

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change, conversations, counselling, human relationship, insight, knowledge, lyrics, metaphor, poem, power, song, story, therapeutic conversations, therapy, wisdom

Sometimes people, who experience conflicts with themselves or others or situations, need a new lens to look at themselves, others and situations differently. People are experts, resourceful and knowledgeable in their lives. What prevents people, sometimes, from accessing their own resources and knowledge is that they zoom into their problems too closely; therefore, their ability to locate everything in its own place and see things in a broader context is compromised and minimized.

In my therapeutic conversations with individuals and couples, I use metaphors to widen people’s perspective to allow them to see things from various angles. I use metaphors to assist them to see what constitutes and feeds their problems. People usually respond to metaphors in a meaningful way. Metaphors are to help people to re-view their actions or thinkings in a new way and support them to see how they somehow contribute to the presence of problems in their life.

“A therapeutic metaphor is an experience that allows one to learn about more than just that experience” (Wikipedia). Metaphors that i use in my therapeutic conversations include short stories or poems or songs.

A metaphor allows one to compare his/her situation with what is said in a story or in lyrics of a poem or song; it makes one identify some similarities and resemblance between two situations. The symbolic representation of one’s situation in a story or song or poem affects one’s thinking and allows a new meaning or explanation to form.  This new meaning or explanation can lead to a possible solution to one’s predicament. Metaphors somehow connect the dots for a person and supports him/her to make a new sense of his/her situation.

In one of my sessions with Vikki, I played a song for her. She listened to the song and became tearful.  Vikki is an individual who had experienced ‘abuse’ and had practiced ‘self blaming’ for years. The song affected her greatly and brought a new realization to her. It made her change the way she thought of herself.   She took the lyrics  into heart and said to me that she has been carrying a huge responsibility for so many years; she needed to place the blame where it was belonged to; she didn’t want to carry it anymore”.  We carried on our conversations for a few more sessions when she was able to free herself from the ‘misplaced blame’.

Metaphors carry power, insight, and wisdom. When they are used appropriately, when they resonate with people’s life story, they make a significant difference in people’s life.  Metaphors have ability to shed light on people’s understanding of self, others and situations.   When they are used in therapeutic conversations, people’s awareness is exponentially increased and consequently the desired change takes place in their lives.

Happy Possibilities,

Tahereh Barati, M.A, RMFT

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