Betrayal and its Healing Field of Loyalty
According to my biocognitive theory there are three archetypal wounds: abandonment, shame, and betrayal. I believe betrayal is the most painful and difficulty to resolve. It’s deceitful action that devastates trust. In addition to breaking a promise of devotion, betrayal shakes our faith in the best of humanity. Betrayal is not intentional when the misdeed is not grounded on wanting to consciously hurt the betrayed. Although the initial intensity of the pain is not affected by considering the intention, extenuating circumstance must be evaluated before letting betrayal destroy a bond of love. But rather than excuse the betrayal or reduce the blame, extenuating circumstances can serve to facilitate the level of compassion needed to see imperfections as flaws of our human condition that can be harnessed to strengthen character and heal the wound.
How is this possible? Well, here’s where the healing field of betrayal comes in: loyalty: The question is loyalty to what or whom? I am proposing a path that recruits the most exalted human emotions to heal the greatest insult to our trust. But before we can look at the role that loyalty plays in clearing the head and healing the heart, let’s examine how extenuating circumstances can diminish the intensity of the wound. I argue that the precursors of misdeeds set the stage for infamy by eroding nobleness and emotional connection: An…
