4Sight Tenets: Responsible Adults

"Freedom should be a privilege that we are given as adults and maintained as long as we honor and respect the freedom of others."

• Behavior is Learned
  The way we look at the past is governed by our self-esteem (SE). The way we look at the future is governed by our self-confidence (SC). SE and SC, themselves, are governed by the thought processes we learned during development while in attachment. The basics for how we "think" are in place by the time we are three when individuation occurs. Combined, our SE and SC determine how we look at and interact with the world.  In other words, Version 1.0 of our brain is in place by age 3.
• Behavior is Chosen
  We choose what we think about. For any given moment we are looking at the past to determine our future; what to say and do. External factors, including people, may provide stimulus, but the thoughts are all our own. And what we think about is determined only by us.
• Behavior is Accountable
  As adults, we are responsible for all that we think, even if it is skewed. And thinking is what determines our behavior. We are responsible for what and how we think which is where it all starts. Our thoughts drive our feelings and our feelings drive our behavior. We are not forced to do something or not do something. We are not paralyzed, unconscious, or out of control. We must control our emotional impulses. As adults, we are *always* responsible for how we behave. Implicit in all of this is the fact that determination of responsibility is done by others. We must do for ourselves, but we must also consider the group.
• Behavior is Editable
  We can change how we behave as our brain remains forever plastic. If we want to be free adults, we must be accountable for our behavior. And if we are having problems with our behavior, we must challenge the thought processes that drive us. Emotional triggers can influence our thoughts, so, as adults, we need to control those emotions and get beyond them or they will control us. Emotions are important in that they evolved to promote constructive action, especially for the group. However, if emotions are destructive we need to arrest the thoughts that are causing them. If we feel "bad" then we should do something about it and move on. In the end, the brain is plastic. It may not be easy to undo years of undesirable thought processes. But it *is* possible.

4Sight is a model that removes the stigma of mental disorders and DSM diagnoses.  We do not look at people as having discrete or clustered behavior problems. To enable agency, 4Sight rejects the notions that chemical imbalances and genetics are the causes of behavior problems.  Rather, it distributes people on a spectrum measuring self-esteem and self-confidence which drives the conflict we experience, internally and externally. Then, based upon SE and SC, 4Sight identifies maladaptive behavior that a person may have reinforced over time to reconcile SE and SC deficiencies from development.

We are always accountable to others for what we say and do: all people, all behavior, all the time. Our ecosystem - the people with whom we live, all those with whom we interact, our neighborhood, our job, and everything around us - influences and reinforces our behavior. Change the ecosystem and the thought processes, then and only then can you change the person.