Preconditioning | ACBC Exam Question #32

         Define the concept of “preconditioning level”. Use a case history, in which you were the counselor, to show the necessity for moving from the performance level to the preconditioning level.

“Preconditioning level” refers to the root level of a problem, where it comes from; motives, beliefs, habits, the thinking out of which performance and presentation problems arise.  “Habit patterns developed over many years must be replaced by new biblical patterns.  Otherwise the client will leave counseling still programmed (preconditioned) to handle life’s next crisis in the usual sinful way.  The debilitating or performance problem is simply one example of the underlying disposition to handle problems in such a manner.  The preconditioning problem is really a kind of computer problem.  The client has programmed himself by his past activity to act in certain ways in response to given stimuli.”¹ 

Because “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5) is not only true for David, but you and I and every human being we battle sin at our very core.  “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19) We are bound to sin, and unable to live righteously apart from Christ, but once we are believers we are new from the inside out (2 Corinthians 5:17) and can reset our preconditioned programming from sinful, and wrong to truth, and God-honouring.  This takes time, intention, discipline and the Holy Spirit to guide and enable righteous living.  Right in the middle of Ephesians 4:17-32 about putting off sin, and putting on righteousness Paul writes; “…in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (vs. 22-24)

A counseling situation in which preconditioning thinking was key in aiding the counselee from performance level issues from my own experience involved a teen who was heavily wrapped up in self harm.  She was a cutter, and it was her physical way of taking blame on herself for wrongs done (low grades, not measuring up to peers standards, etc….).  It became clear that the underlying belief out of which this behaviour flowed was an improper view of God’s love for her.  She firmly believed she was saved by faith in alone in Christ alone, but somehow she had come to believe that she had to perform to maintain her standing with God.  She felt that if she didn’t read the Bible, witness enough to others, and all kinds of other actions then God didn’t love her the same, He’d be disappointed, less than happy with her…. This scale she created always left her less than perfect, feeling undeserving, and thus she had to punish herself, so she thought.  Getting to this root level preconditioning cause was vital in helping her break this thinking process in order to help her stop cutting herself.  Romans 8:38,39, Ephesians 1, and other Scriptural study lead her to comprehend that God’s love was in no way effected by her performance day-to-day.  God loves that teen girl fiercely, not for what she can do for Him, but simply because He can, He chooses to, He loves her, and that will never ever change.  Once she understood this, and it settled into her heart and changed her beliefs about God’s character she no longer felt compelled to harm herself, but could claim the unending love of God for herself.  What a freedom it gave her.  Life changing truth.

¹ “Competent to Counsel”, Jay Adams, page 149