Holy Rewired - "Change is Hard"

After addressing "the problem" in the first chapter, David Phillips writes about the great difficulty we humans have in making real behavioral changes in our lives.

"We all want to change some kind of behavior that we exhibit. Many of us have a little too much weight somewhere that comes from too much food and not enough exercise. Others of us get angry over the smallest items, lashing out at family members, friends or co-workers and making relationships difficult. Still others of us struggle with spending too much money such that our debt load is excessively high. Major change is inevitable and we will have to deal with it at some point..."

He proceeds to tell of a conference held in 2006 by IBM at which a dream team of farsighted thinkers were invited to propose solutions to some serious societal problems, one of them being the health care crisis. Surprisingly they did not propose that advances in science and technology were the key but stated that the root cause of the health care crisis had not changed for decades and that the medical establishment had no solution for it.

"Dr. Ralph Levy...told the audience, '...Even as far back as when I was in medical school many articles demonstrated that 80% of the health care budget was consumed by five behavioral issues.' While Levy did not bother to mention them, most of us could guess what he was talking about: too much smoking, drinking, eating, and stress, and not enough exercise."

The author goes on to show that most people, even when faced with the decision to change their behavior or die, do not change behavior.

Phillips then writes about four ways that we typically try to change our behavior:

1. Willpower. "When people begin to explore behavioral change, one method they try is to simply invoke willpower...However, whether it is a sin or simply a behavior that needs adjusting, willpower alone will never succeed in dealing with these issues. It may produce outward success for a time, but eventually there will come a time when the 'careless word' will slip out to reveal the true condition of the heart.' ...This is not to say, however, that willpower is unimportant in changing behavior, just ineffective alone."
2. Spiritual disciplines. "Richard Foster states that the spiritual disciplines are 'an inward and spiritual reality' that seeks to bring transformation from the inside...However, the Disciplines are not enough to bring total behavioral transformation. Practicing the disciplines often ends up causing people to dwell on the pathology of the issues (the symptoms) rather than working on emotional health and strength."
3. Accountability/support groups. The author points out that there are ambivalent reports about the effectiveness of groups like AA. In general, they are definitely helpful but not enough on their own for genuine behavioral change.
4. Professional counseling. "Professional counseling has been effective in dealing with negative, destructive, and addictive behaviors..." Some studies show measures of success, while "other studies specifically in regards to areas of substance abuse show that mental health professionals often have not fared well in treating this addictive behavior...Having spent several years with a pastoral coach who is a Christian counselor, I can attest to the effect of counseling...However, counseling alone was effective on a limited scale."

David Phillips concludes this chapter by suggesting that while none of these methods is effective on its own, a combination of them can be. Dr. Dean Ornish, professor of medicine at the University of California worked with over 300 patients and helped them quit smoking by doing support sessions regularly led by a psychologist, go on a special diet, and practice relaxation and aerobic exercises. After 3 years 77% of these patients were maintaining their lifestyle changes. His holistic approach proved to be effective.

The rest of the book is about looking at our journey into wholeness in Jesus as a journey that involves all of our being, particularly our emotional being.