From the Historical Collection of the work of Dr

From the Historical Collection of the work of Dr. Clare W. Graves
William R. Lee - presentations, papers, recorded transcripts, notes - February 2002
Seminar on Levels of Human Existence, Washington School of Psychiatry, October, 1971

II. The Area of Research Concern:

So I chose, as I said that in roman numeral II, as an area of research concern, the confusion and contradiction, the conflict and controversy in psychological information and theory. God knows, it was there and is still present today. If you, for example, turn to some of the writings of Carl Rogers you’ll see that he says that the view of psychotherapy is in a mess. And he goes on and describes the horrible mess that it is in. Well, you can generalize that to the totality of the behavioral sciences. The field was an ungodly mess and still is. I went into this area.

III. The Basic Research Problem:

My basic problem in the beginning, roman numeral III there, was to find a means through which to study the area of concern, namely, the confusion, contradiction, conflict and controversy in human behavior. Now, I considered many possibilities. But there were problems that arose with each of these possibilities. Such problems at time and facility and opportunities to really study the region I was concerned with and the opportunity to do something without having to live to be a thousand years old and so on.

IV. The Selection of the Basic Research Vehicle:

So I finally arrived at the idea that if I took some area of human behavior about which there is confusion, one in which there was a great deal of controversy, and one in which the different points of view conflict with one another . . . that possibly I could begin to get the kind of information with which I was concerned. So I chose as my area of investigation what a group of human beings, just like you, would say is the psychologically healthy human being in operation. Now, you are not going to agree any more than my subjects agreed. There would be controversy between you as to what a psychologically healthy human being is. There would be contradiction as to what is the psychologically healthy human being. So I said, all right, here is a vehicle. Here is a means into the region of conflict and controversy, contradiction and confusion that is present.

So, first of all, looking now at roman numeral V, having settled on the vehicle for investigation, I asked myself a number of general questions before I formulated them into what I would call a piece of scientific research.

V. Primary General Questions asked at the Beginning of the Project:

1. Can one substantiate that conflict and contradiction, confusion and controversy is represented in conceptions of psychological health?

2. If so . . . what are the concepts of psychological health extant in the minds of biologically mature human beings?

- - - my subjects were 18 to 61 years of age . . . male and female.

3. Do the concepts which exist suggest that psychological health should be viewed as a state or a condition or as a psychological process?

- - - I found that there were differences in that some people thought that there was that thing that one could call psychological health and that in theory that one could think of the time in the future when we will be able to put down on paper what is the psychologically healthy human being. But at the same time I thought that it was possible that this is not so, that it may not be a state or a condition, it may be a process and so this one of the things I was interested in.

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