Social Development Systems
Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Model
The SDS Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual (BPSS) Model evolved from a lot of things, but mostly from Dennis' connection with Dr. Paula Englander-Golden during her time at the University of North Texas. Paula had in turn, derived much of her "Say it Straight" model, while working with the renowned Virginia Satir. Therefore, it is very much a culmination of thoughts from Virginia, Paula, and Dennis, among others.
Another major influence on Dennis' model is the work of J. David Hawkins and his Social Development Theory. The broad range of considerations put forth in this model also influenced the choice in naming SDS, which came to encompass a broad stroke emphasis quite organically.
If so inclined, you can download a PDF of this model at the link below.
It can also be closely linked to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
... and Viktor Fankl's Logotherapy, among other theories. Frankl believed that humans are motivated by something called a "will to meaning," which is the desire to find meaning in life. He argued that life can have meaning even in the most miserable of circumstances and that the motivation for living comes from finding that meaning. Frankl actually convinced Maslow toward the end, that Self Actualization was not achievable because in order for people to achieve their ultimate happiness, they must embrace something greater than themselves. He called this "Self Trancendence."
Viktor Frankl was one of the great psychiatrists of the twentieth century. He survived the death camps of Nazi Germany, by occupying his mind with visualizing himself playing all eighteen holes of his favorite golf course, every day. Imagine that, while others were occupying their minds with the horrors of their circumstances, he was enjoying a round of golf, in his mind. His book, "Man’s Search for Meaning," is one of those life-changing books that everyone should read.
Freud's Psycho analytical theory, and the roles of the Ego, Super-ego, and Id, has some overlaps, but we won't go into that, for now.
For purposes of our discussion, we want to focus primarily the Hiarchy of Needs, the Social Development Theory, and how we, SDS, and you, reading this, can individually and collectively move from theories to practical applications, which create solutions more members of the global population benefiting from our efforts, physically, mentally, socially, and Spiritually.
By helping people satisfy their basic survival and safety needs, through economic development and other reseources, we can help them free up energies needed to focus on their Psychological, Social, and Spiritual needs.
The ideal scenarios allow for us to address multiple levels of the Hierarchy of Needs, with single efforts and resources. A good example of this comes from Dennis' earliest research into work from home opportunities to help people with disabilities to make money from home. He quickly realized that since he was using his money to help these individuals, and almost all of them had multiple health issues, that looking into things that would benefit them healthwise, as well as financially, was a logical way to maximize the positive impact we could have on their lives.
Multi-level marketing became a quick attraction as the model fits hand in glove with standard Vocational Rehabilitation practices. In Rehab we are taught to look for natural supports, and social networks to help a person with a disability adjust to a new work environment. These are inherently built into the MLM model. The problem with connecting the dots of these two seemingly perfect fits, has most commonly been with perception of MLM, based on a track record of poor implementation, of these concepts.
Dennis and thus, SDS has been a pioneer in building bridges between these two communities. Many people in Rehab tend to be skeptical, if not downright suspicious and closed minded of anything related to MLM.
Similarly, people in MLM/Network Marketing, tend to be looking for the next super affiliates that are going to put their incomes on autopilot, not someone who's going to need a lot of time and attention, in order to help them be successful. So, while the incentive is there to help people, the mindset of most Network Marketers is not always congruent with this approach. Thats where SDS comes in. We find companies that will reward us for helping others, and then approach the model with it's full humanitarian potential front and center.
In evaluating companies that offer the most potential for those SDS seeks to help, Dennis looks for pay plans that help the most people starting out, not just the superstar marketers. As it turns out, this is not just a good Rehab practice, but also a good MLM practice, because if the company doesn’t make it easy for new people to at least reach the breakeven point quickly, then attrition will be an ongoing issue.
We'll address this aspect of the Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Model in more detail later. For now, the main takeaway here is that done correctly, MLM offers profitable ways to have a positive impact on people's lives physically, mentally, socially, and yes, even Spiritually, when done right. That's at the core of some of our most powerful economic development strategies.
We want to share with everyone a chart/graph Dennis created. This chart shows how everything in our life experiences can be compartmentalized to see how it affects us, Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritually.
In this age of instant access to virtually all the information in the world, it's easy to feel like we’ve all heard it all. It can seem like there are no new truths. We at SDS don't believe that's the case, but it can certainly seem that way, at times. What is for certain. is that many of us don't practice the truths that we already know. This chart is merely a visual reminder for everyone of things we already know. The goal is to make it easy to reflect, and to practice it.
As mentioned above, years ago, while studying under Paula Englander-Golden, Dennis developed his Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual model based largely on concepts Paula, and her mentor, Virginia Satir, had formulated, but with multiple other influences as well.
Dennis took this BPSS model, and applied it to basically every experience in life, and condensed it into an easy-to-understand chart, of only 16 cells. Imagine that! Every aspect of human experience condensed into 16 cells, which we can then assess in what ways every experience affects us, either, negatively, or positively.
If you notice, across the top, each column is labeled, as Bio/Psycho/Social/and Spiritual, respectively. Then, down the left side, each row is labeled People, Places, Things, and Thoughts, respectively. Adding "Thoughts" to this chart is one of the main advances from other models which tend to ignore the importance of this aspect of human experience.
Dennis submits that every event in our lives, can be categorized as a person, place, thing, or thought.
Furthermore, every experience impacts us negatively, and/or positively either, physically, mentally, socially, or Spiritually. Often, all four, but not always in the same way.
Here's how to use the chart; you simply jot down a note for any experience, random, or significant, in the appropriate space, based on whether it involved a person, place, thing, or thought.
Any given experience may be related to more than one row, and most will apply to more than one column.
Once you determine which row, and columns apply, simple put a plus, or minus sign in the appropriate columns affected.
Often times, an experience will be positive in some ways, and negative in others.
Let's use casual sex as an example. That is a thing, but it also involves a person, or people. We just mark the appropriate rows/columns, plus, or minus. Chances are it gets a positive mark in the physical column, since it feels good, but perhaps negative, in the psychological, and/or Spiritual column. Socially could easily go either way. In the movie, Children of a Lesser God, Marlene Matley's character explains how she used casual sex to fit in socially, in a hearing world. That was the one thing she knew how to do, where her Deafness was not an issue. However, anyone who's seen the movie probably noticed how angry she was about this reality. So, while it served her needs in a positive way socially, at least temporarily, it wound up making her angry and resentful and less socially approachable later on.
Based partially on Frelich's relationship with her hearing husband Robert Steinberg, the play chronicles the tumultuous relationship and marriage between a reluctant-to-speak deaf woman and an unconventional speech pathologist for the deaf.
Please play around with it and let us know what you think.
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Dennis developed this expanded version from something Paula taught based on her Say It Straight model. The idea is that every human experience can be narrowed down to a person, place, thing, or thought. From there, the graph allows us to consider how each of these life experiences impacts us, physically, mentally, socially, and/or Spiritually. As you can see from the chart, there is a plus and minus sign in the upper left corner. That serves to help us consider whether each life experience effects us positively or negatively, in each of the four areas. It's quite possible that the same life experience may affect us positively in one area, but negatively in another. We'll just leave this right here for you to think about, and do with what you may.