Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 143 All the energy was used to withstand the pressure.
Nan Zhuren slowly extended his fingers, as if counting his treasures.

"First, change your behavior - smoking is harmful to health, so I will not smoke."

"That way I won't have to worry about being harmed by cigarettes again, and I won't be nervous about it."

"Second, forcibly change your [perception] - smoking is harmful to health, but I won't die in a short time, so it's okay for me to continue smoking; or change it to be more straightforward: other people smoke and are fine, and can live to be over ninety years old, so I will be fine too."

"This is like deceiving yourself, but it does improve my current life. At least I won't be tormented by negative emotions anymore."

Nan Zhuren's words were quite meaningful.

He looked at Li Minglu.

Their gaze began to leave my face, and their eyes became somewhat fixed, indicating that they were diverting some of their attention to thinking.

But... he's still blinking frequently; this is him trying to hide something, avoiding the answer.

Do I still need to point it out directly?

Nan Zhuren deliberately slowed down his speech, giving Li Minglu time to think and also to calm himself down.

When he turned his gaze back, Nan Zhuren's tone became much firmer and more forceful.

"Let's put your 'current life' aside for now and compare your 'ideal life' with your 'past life'."

Nan Zhuren looked into Li Minglu's eyes, making sure that all his knowledge and power could be transmitted to the other party to the greatest extent possible.

"Your 'ideal life' is your [perception], and your 'past life' is your [reality]."

"And your perception and reality are clearly in conflict."

"And that's why—a lot of negative emotions have arisen."

Li Minglu swallowed hard.

He felt completely exposed, as if something he had been hiding and concealing all along had been discovered.

He should have avoided or run away at this time.

But he also felt inexplicably excited and expectant—because he knew he had always hoped that someone would pay attention to these hidden corners.

He himself is unwilling to talk about his situation, and he will even hide his thoughts; but when others take the initiative to discover these things that he has buried, he will be happy.

Li Minglu slowly said, "Teacher Nan, do you mean—this is the reason for my depression?"

Nan Zhuren shook his head.

"That's one of the reasons."

If there is one, there is another.

"The conflict between cognition and reality will not immediately break a person into depression; more often than not, it just produces negative emotions."

"In this situation, a decisive person will change reality, break free from the conflicting environment, seek a new life, and liberate themselves; a more passive person may change their perception, lower their expectations and demands, and form a logical self-consistency."

"And you-"

Nan Zhuren looked at Li Minglu, and then at her visitor.

He and Li Minglu were staring intently into his eyes, and he slowly spoke, stating his judgment.

"You didn't choose either, and you've just been soaking in negative emotions."

Li Minglu possessed great motivation, but he seemed to have misdirected it, turning his gun on himself.

"You forcibly suppressed your body's instincts and did not choose any method that would make you more comfortable."

"You neither changed your own perception nor the reality around you, forcibly subjecting your body to the ravages of negative emotions." "Continuous, year-after-year ravages."

"Until one's emotions and reason gradually break down."

"Ultimately—it turned into depression!"

……

Following cognitive dissonance, the lack of cognitive readjustment ultimately leads to a breakdown and the development of depression.

This was Nan Zhuren's final assessment of Li Minglu.

Judging from his powerful motivation, which enabled him to overcome his drug addiction, he is undoubtedly a strong person.

But he didn't use his power to change his life, or even to change himself.

Instead, it is used for "patience".

However, even the thickest shell will be destroyed by years of persistent dripping water.

As a result, Li Minglu has become like this, riddled with holes.

Therefore, if we want to fundamentally solve Li Minglu's problem, Nan Zhuren can set the following different levels of goals based on Li Minglu's own condition and wishes.

Alternatively, it can be understood as three strategies: "superior," "middle," and "inferior."

First, change Li Minglu's current reality and bring his daily life to his ideal level. However, this requires not only the efforts of Nan Zhuren and Li Minglu, but also the cooperation of many other environmental factors, making it quite difficult, and the results are hard to predict and maintain—this is the worst possible strategy.

Second, change Li Minglu's current perception so that he no longer expects his real life to reach his ideal level. This plan only requires changing Li Minglu, which is relatively easy, but it is difficult to guarantee that new problems will not arise in the future—it is considered a middle-ground strategy.

Third, we need to find Li Minglu's "source of motivation" and understand what enabled him to endure the injury for so long without changing his reality or perception. By tracing the root cause, we can help him redirect this motivation from himself to the outside world.

If everything goes smoothly, Li Minglu will be able to gain enough power to change his perception or reality.

It is difficult to implement, but this is the best course of action in Nan Zhuren's opinion!
……

After Nan Zhuren expressed his judgment.

Li Minglu swallowed hard, feeling both nervous and visibly delighted.

[They leaned forward, and the time and frequency of their eye contact with me increased.]

[Your eyes have brightened up!]

This shows that Nan Zhuren's judgment was completely correct.

When a visitor's deep-seated secrets and fundamental questions are unearthed, they may experience a strong sense of exposure and shame.

However, once the counselor provides a confidential and safe environment, the client's emotions will shift in two directions.

One was, "He's amazing, he could even tell that!"

The other one is—"He understands me!"

Nan Zhuren has just completely dissected Li Minglu's inner thoughts.

At this point in the dialogue, the consulting relationship between Nan Zhuren and Li Minglu had become quite stable.

Subsequent conversations can then become more direct and efficient.

Nan Zhuren directly voiced his doubts, wanting to be the first to try his "best strategy"—that is, to explore the source of power and change the direction of power.

(End of this chapter)