I believe that our work is enhanced by having an appreciation of the abstract.
What I mean by the abstract is the non-evident, that which we do not immediately see, what is under the surface or hidden, what might be implied from what is evident, or what we can imagine.
The abstract can be present in metaphor, simile and analogy. It represents what is said rather than saying it explicitly. It is also linked to creativity, play and emergence.
The abstract generally uses symbols rather than direct descriptions. Something concrete (or definite) emerges from something symbolic or descriptive.
For example, a bit of carved wood can become a hurley, a bloated pigskin can become a ball, pieces of rectangular cardboard with diamonds and hearts can become playing cards.
Scientists, engineers, architects, poets and musicians all use the abstract and so can people building genuine relationships with those for whom relationships have been problematic, conditional or for whom intimacy has been fraught or associated with danger.
Having appreciation of the abstract opens us a much broader range of options.
This is important because firstly, helping people in distress is not one-size-fits-all, and secondly the existence of the complex variables described in the Chapter on Modalities. Also, the systemic nature of the problems as described in the Chapter on Systems Theory demands a response that includes as many options as is possible.
Let us say, as an example; that a man is released from prison and wishes to go back and reconnect with his family. It would not be untypical for a man in this position to expect that things will be the same when he comes home and that everyone will automatically adopt the same roles that they had prior to his imprisonment. (I have known many situations where a practitioner has had to help resolve conflict in such cases).
If the practitioner thinks along the same tramlines as the Pillars often do, the work might involve parties coaching themselves to suppress their anger and other strong emotions in a kind of cognitive behavioural or conflict resolution time-limited course situation.
This may work well for many couples, but I know of many who have suffered deep trauma in their childhood (and often in adulthood too) for whom it does not work.
Being creative in our approach, imagining something different, using outreach type methods of engagement, using what others might see as not of much use, taking sufficient time to allow what is dormant to emerge, modelling patience, compassion and tenacity, and encouraging both the man who has been released and his partner to process rather than rush to an immediate solution are all facets that we can bring to the work.
Appreciating the abstract can also allow us to factor in the many possible variables that are necessary in long-term strategic rather than short-term tactical planning. [1]
As well as formal training; I believe that supervision needs to be a safe enough environment for staff to creatively explore options that might seem, at first sight, foolish, off-the-wall, uncomfortable, a hunch, politically incorrect, or even a bit extreme.
Many people in communities, wise people in extended families, are highly thought of by peers in the community, but because of the dominance of Pillars thinking as I described already, they are often side-lined by leaders rather than nurtured.
This side-lining often happens when leaders in the Pillars hear solutions that they deem to be impractical, or ideas that challenge the status quo being proposed.
Supervision is a huge opportunity for learning and development of skills, and in particular the abstract, and through the abstract, creativity, innovation and appreciation of what is not surface-evident.
[1] The term strategic is generally used when we are talking about goals that we want to achieve that are far-reaching, and will effect permanent change. Tactical is often used to describe smaller steps that we take within the strategy.