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Alternate Perceptions Magazine, May 2019


Freedom To Change Why You Are The Way You Are And What You Can Do About It Ancient Concepts Applied to Modern Life

by: Dr. Greg Little







Those who know me are aware that in addition to writing in the fields of the paranormal, Native American spirituality, and archaeology, that I have been an active psychologist primarily involved in the fields of criminal treatment, recovery from trauma, and substance abuse. I have around 30 full-length books published in various fields and about 35 treatment-oriented workbooks, most of which are rather extensive.

In the 1970s and early 1980s I was involved in a private practice in therapy while also engaged in criminal treatment and substance abuse programs. In the mid-1980s I was the coauthor of a series of workbooks and an extensive program known under the trademarked brand known as Moral Reconation Therapy-MRT®. MRT has since been employed in all 50 states, in 9 countries, and is the premiere cognitive behavioral treatment method employed with offender populations. It is estimated that it is used in over 10,000 sites. MRT is an officially designated “evidence-based program” by the relevant governmental accreditation agencies. Around 300 published studies have come out supporting the method’s efficacy.

For decades I was urged to create a self-help book for the general population, meaning to help people who were simply trying to deal with real-life issues and engaging in some form of self-improvement or self-understanding. People need help in relationships, their work life, and in their dealings with others. However, from 1985 to about 2018, I was simply too busy in other professional activities to do so.

Since the 1970s I had been distilling a set of principles and fundamental truths about life from many sources including Native American spirituality and a host of what can be called ancient and modern philosophical sources. In 2018 I joined with two close friends (Kim & Stan Prachniak), both professionals with extensive experience, to complete a new book that would be carefully put together into a systematic life-evaluation and life-change program. The result was a primary book, entitled Freedom To Change.

The program was “cognitive-behavioral: meaning that it focused on thinking and behavior. It would eventually have three workbooks. One of them is available now and the other two will be released soon. The subtitle of the main book explains the general focus. It is: “Why you are the way you are and what you can do about it.”

Freedom To Change extensively draws on many ancient ideas about truth and the human condition. The beginning of the book relates that there are three fundamental truths about human nature that explain almost everything humans do. These are: 1) The will to survive; 2) An overwhelming drive to reproduce, and; 3) A drive to make life easier and more pleasurable.

The ideas in the book represent a very old concept believed to stem from the historic clash between the European cultures that were systematically pushing the surviving Native American cultures further to the west into increasing small lands. That concept is known as “True Truth.” True truth represents the true reality of situations, not White Truth or Red Truth. True truth is what is left after you strip away all the lies, deceptions, excuses, and blame. True truth can be harsh, but it leads one to see reality in a very different way.

Another major idea in the book is derived from a very old concept (from Native American and others) that our reality stems from a continual conflict between two competing forces. These are creation and entropy. Life and reality are always changing and creation happens continually. At the same time, everything is breaking down starting at the moment of its creation—in a state of entropy. Everything gets old, everything breaks down, everything changes. From the old comes the new in the form of new creations. Our task in our lives is to create order and to find meaning in what seems to be a world of chaos.

Making our task increasingly difficult is the fact that our lives are becoming easier and easier. This has taken us further from our original purpose and perhaps given us a lesser—or different—meaning to our existence. Many people experience less purpose as life gets easier. And many people constantly struggle with the question of whether or not they have any life purpose—other than existing until they no longer do so.

The fundamental underpinning of the concept underlying Freedom To Change is that we come into life with a set of possibilities stemming from our genetic inheritance interacting with our culture and experiences. Encoded within our genetics are built-in potentials and a True Path, a path that leads us to not only happiness, but to the best version or ourselves as individuals. When you become aware of various realities, everything becomes a matter of choice. Finding one’s true path, and starting down that path, are the first steps.

Our world is changing rapidly and everyone faces constant changes and “upgrades” in a life that is increasingly linked to the digital world. Yet we tend to experience less happiness and more angst in our lives. Some of the solutions are to assess your beliefs, understand your feelings and emotions, and to accept control over the things you truly do control. You have to truly understand your choices, see your true path, and accept that there are fundamentally right choices that exist over how you conduct yourself and live life.

Freedom To Change is more of a philosophy of life derived from many sources, both ancient and modern. It is an optimistic outlook on what each person can be. If you read the book, we’d be very interested in your comments. Visit www.freedom2change.org for more information.


Friday, March 29, 2024