Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!
Chapter 321 - 319: Finding Joy in Hardship Does Not Necessarily Mean Enduring Suffering

Chapter 321: Chapter 319: Finding Joy in Hardship Does Not Necessarily Mean Enduring Suffering

Teacher Xiao Zhao couldn’t help but laugh, clearly there were quite a few teachers at Jiang Yizhong like this.

Nan Zhubin brought the topic back: "Due to time constraints, I don’t know exactly what tasks you’ve been assigned, so I can only use one example of ’attitude freedom’ as a demonstration."

Nan Zhubin thought for a moment: "Imagine this scenario — a patient suffers an amputation of the lower limb due to a traffic accident and therefore feels pain. Pain itself has no actual meaning, it’s just ’pain’; but as interveners, we can guide them to endure the pain in a way that gives it meaning, thereby improving the patient’s subjective experience and mindset, even though the ’pain’ still exists."

"For this patient, we can first acknowledge their suffering, saying ’you indeed encountered misfortune’; then give their endured pain a new meaning, ’you can now try to experience the world from a new perspective and compile your insights into a book to help more people.’

"When using this method with others, be cautious with your wording, otherwise, it may turn into ’it’s easy to talk from a standing position’ or ’a mocking tone,’ potentially leading to a beating."

This little joke made Teacher Xiao Zhao’s lips curl up.

"Meanwhile—" Nan Zhubin specifically noted, "this is essentially a way similar to ’finding joy in the midst of suffering,’ so acknowledging the presence of ’suffering’ is crucial."

"But many people now skip or even deny the ’acknowledging suffering’ step, which is absolutely unacceptable. When applying this technique to yourself or even using it on others, be sure to bear this in mind."

Nan Zhubin reminded: "This technique does not eliminate suffering, nor can it turn bad situations into good ones, just like you can’t make a patient’s legs grow back, and you can’t say ’having no legs is better than having legs’ — it merely alleviates the extent of pain and gives it meaning."

When saying this, Nan Zhubin was particularly solemn.

Many excellent philosophical ideas and advanced techniques, because they were used out of context, ended up becoming unclear in meaning.

Like the issues with Li Mingchen and Xu Pengcheng that Nan Zhubin is dealing with now, in some sense, arose from this situation.

Nan Zhubin cited Teacher Xiao Zhao as an example: "For example, ’your leader forcibly assigned you to do miscellaneous tasks.’ Even if you ultimately changed your attitude towards this matter and even gained something during the process, what the leader asked you to do is still ’miscellaneous tasks’ and it indeed was something the leader ’forcibly’ asked you to do — these two points won’t change."

Teacher Xiao Zhao suddenly pressed her index finger against her temple, showing an expression like the clever Ikkyu discovering enlightenment.

"Like the time old Ma assigned me to assist you, Mr. Nan — while I was indeed fortunate to meet Mr. Nan and gained something, it doesn’t mean I have to thank old Ma because the one I should thank is Mr. Nan;"

"And in the future, if old Ma assigns me miscellaneous tasks again, I can’t readily accept because next time there’s no guarantee... no, it’s impossible for me to encounter Mr. Nan again, or even someone like Mr. Nan."

Teacher Xiao Zhao reflected: "When forced to endure hardship, I can only try to find sweetness amidst the bitterness; but if possible, should I choose not to suffer next time?"

Old Ma... oh, that refers to Vice Principal Ma.

This piece sounded odd, but fundamentally the principle is correct.

Nan Zhubin did not comment on Teacher Xiao Zhao’s ’realization.’

He simply repeated his understanding: "If possible, we shouldn’t let the situation develop to the point where we ’freely change attitudes,’ but instead stop at the ’freely choose’ stage, which is better."

Teacher Xiao Zhao took this point in.

Then, her expression started to turn somewhat inexplicable.

...

Ka-cha—

Chonghui, who had finished the data collection work and was sitting outside organizing the data, looked up to see Teacher Xiao Zhao, whose expression was inexplicable, coming out of the consulting room.

Thus, his expression also became puzzled.

"You..." after Teacher Xiao Zhao left, he pointed at Nan Zhubin, "did you consult with her?"

Nan Zhubin shrugged: "I know what you’re about to say, ’dual relationship,’ right? But what I gave her was ’peer supervision.’

Chonghui was silent for a moment: "No, I’m actually worried about ’transference.’ But considering what we’re doing now, letting her have ’transference’ towards you isn’t a bad thing..."

Nan Zhubin shot a sideways glance over to him.

"What’s the matter? Did she pay you for the consultation? Did she sign an informed consent form? There’s no professional ethical duty between or consultant and client relationship between you two."

Nan Zhubin slowly shifted his gaze back, thinking, and then shifted it away again.

Chonghui sensed something was off: "Hey, you didn’t ’transfer’ did you?"

Of course, that was impossible.

Nan Zhubin shook his head: "It’s just that her problem made me somewhat empathize. Now, as I see these students at this school every day, I can clearly see certain things on their faces... but I can’t intervene with them."

Chonghui sighed with relief: "Oh, so it was just ’empathy’.

He turned his attention back to the computer screen, after watching for a while, found he had lost the interest in work.

Anyway, it was lunchtime now, so Chonghui simply turned around and asked: "She came out with a thoughtful expression just now, it seems you both had a deep and successful conversation?"

Nan Zhubin nodded: "We had an ’existential dialogue.’

Chonghui blinked in surprise: "You were discussing philosophy with her?"

Chonghui, from the Micro-expression Analysis project team, is strictly speaking also from the ’behaviorism’ camp.

However, given Chonghui’s knowledge reserve and experience, he immediately responded: "’Existentialism school’ huh... finding joy in suffering indeed very suitable for Teacher Xiao Zhao’s situation."

But Nan Zhubin found a blind spot in Chonghui’s words: "I don’t think I’ve told you what her problem is?"

Chonghui waved his hand, indicating that he’s seen such situations many times before.

"A newly employed psychology teacher at a high school to some extent will have adaptation issues, the stronger the sense of mission for mental health education the teacher has, the more intense the inner conflict."

Nan Zhubin pondered for a moment: "Then how did you solve it when you encountered such situations before, senior brother?"

Chonghui matter-of-factly said: "I didn’t solve it."

Alright, end of conversation.

Nan Zhubin pulled over another chair, opened an exam exercise book, and started a practice set to try his hand.

"It’s only a few months into the year and you’re already doing practice problems, don’t waste real questions..."

Chonghui scratched his head: "Forget it, it’s this time the students have probably finished their meals anyway, so want me to bring you back a meal from the cafeteria?"

Test let out, but there was no response.

He turned back to find Nan Zhubin had already fallen asleep lying on the table.

"..."