Therapeutic Applications: Using This Framework in Healing

BY NICOLE LAU

The Internal Locus Convergence framework is not just theory—it's a therapeutic tool. Therapists can use it to conceptualize client struggles, design interventions, and track progress. Clients can use it to understand their own healing journey. This article translates the convergence framework into practical therapeutic applications: how to identify convergence blocks, how to facilitate rather than direct convergence, and how different therapeutic modalities map onto the framework. Whether you're a therapist or someone in therapy, this article shows how convergence theory accelerates healing.

Therapy as Convergence Facilitation

The therapeutic stance:

NOT: The therapist knows who the client should be (external direction)

BUT: The therapist helps the client converge on their own A (facilitation)

Key principles:

• The client's A already exists (it's not created by therapy)
• The therapist's role is to remove obstacles to convergence
• The client's internal experience is the primary signal
• Therapy accelerates a process that's already happening (or should be)

The therapist as:

• Secure base (safe space for exploration)
• Mirror (accurate reflection of client's experience)
• Obstacle identifier (pointing out blocks to convergence)
• Process guide (teaching convergence skills)
• NOT: Director, fixer, or external authority on who client should be

Common Convergence Blocks in Therapy

Block 1: Weak Internal Feedback Capacity

Presentation:

• "I don't know what I feel"
• "I don't know what I want"
• Disconnection from body, emotions, preferences

Cause:

• Childhood invalidation (feelings were dismissed)
• Trauma (dissociation from internal experience)
• Avoidant attachment (learned to suppress feelings)

Therapeutic intervention:

• Somatic therapy (reconnect to body signals)
• Emotion-focused work (learn to identify and name feelings)
• Validation practice (therapist mirrors and validates client's experience)
• Mindfulness training (observe internal states without judgment)

Goal: Build internal feedback capacity so client can sense "Does this feel right for me?"

Block 2: Strong External Locus (Validation Dependency)

Presentation:

• "What do you think I should do?" (seeking therapist's direction)
• Chronic people-pleasing, approval-seeking
• Self-worth tied to external validation
• Oscillation based on others' opinions

Cause:

• Conditional love in childhood
• Anxious attachment
• Cultural conditioning (worth = achievement/approval)

Therapeutic intervention:

• Redirect to internal experience: "What do you think? What feels right to you?"
• Build unconditional positive regard (therapist models unconditional acceptance)
• Challenge conditional worth beliefs
• Practice internal validation (client learns to validate themselves)
• Boundary work (saying no, honoring own needs)

Goal: Shift locus from external to internal, build self-validation capacity

Block 3: Convergence on False Fixed Point

Presentation:

• "I'm successful but unfulfilled"
• "I have everything I thought I wanted, but I'm empty"
• Stable but inauthentic identity

Cause:

• Converged on external definition of success (not true A)
• Cultural scripts adopted without internal validation
• Performed identity that gets approval but doesn't resonate

Therapeutic intervention:

• Explore: "What do you actually want vs what you think you should want?"
• Identify true A through internal feedback
• Grieve the false fixed point (it served a purpose, but it's not you)
• Support re-convergence toward true A (this can be scary—requires destabilizing current identity)

Goal: Help client escape local minimum and converge on true A

Block 4: Trauma-Induced Fragmentation

Presentation:

• Multiple incompatible self-states
• "I don't know who I am"
• Chronic instability, no coherent identity
• Dissociation, fragmentation

Cause:

• Severe trauma (especially developmental trauma)
• Disorganized attachment
• Structural dissociation

Therapeutic intervention:

• Trauma processing (EMDR, somatic experiencing, IFS)
• Parts integration (Internal Family Systems)
• Build coherent narrative (connect fragmented experiences)
• Establish safety and stabilization first (can't converge without safety)

Goal: Integrate fragmented parts into coherent whole, establish basic convergence capacity

Block 5: Shallow Basin (Fragile Self-Knowledge)

Presentation:

• "I know who I am, but criticism still destroys me"
• Easily destabilized by rejection or failure
• Fragile self-knowledge

Cause:

• Some convergence achieved, but basin not deep enough
• Insufficient practice to build robustness
• Still vulnerable to external noise

Therapeutic intervention:

• Deepen basin through consistent practice
• Process perturbations (criticism, rejection) and practice returning to baseline
• Build resilience through repeated exposure and recovery
• Strengthen Internal Locus

Goal: Deepen basin so self-knowledge becomes robust to perturbations

Therapeutic Modalities Mapped to Convergence Framework

Somatic Therapy

Convergence function: Builds internal feedback capacity

How it works: Reconnects client to body signals, the primary source of internal feedback

Best for: Weak internal feedback, trauma, dissociation

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Convergence function: Integrates fragmented parts into coherent A

How it works: Identifies and integrates sub-personalities, reveals core Self (A)

Best for: Fragmentation, internal conflict, trauma

Attachment-Based Therapy

Convergence function: Repairs attachment, builds secure base for convergence

How it works: Therapist provides corrective attachment experience, client internalizes security

Best for: Insecure attachment, External Locus, relational trauma

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Convergence function: Removes cognitive obstacles to convergence

How it works: Challenges false beliefs that block A ("I'm worthless," "I must be perfect")

Best for: Cognitive distortions, conditional worth beliefs, false fixed points

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Convergence function: Clarifies values (A) and builds committed action toward them

How it works: Identifies true values through internal feedback, supports aligned action

Best for: Values confusion, avoidance, lack of direction

Psychodynamic Therapy

Convergence function: Uncovers unconscious blocks to convergence

How it works: Explores childhood patterns, defenses, unconscious conflicts blocking A

Best for: Deep-rooted patterns, unconscious blocks, complex trauma

Therapeutic Techniques for Convergence Acceleration

Technique 1: Internal Validation Practice

• Therapist consistently validates client's internal experience
• "It makes sense you feel that way"
• Client learns to validate themselves

Technique 2: Somatic Inquiry

• "What do you notice in your body right now?"
• "Does this feel aligned or misaligned?"
• Builds internal feedback capacity

Technique 3: Values Clarification

• "What actually matters to you (not what should matter)?"
• Identify true A through internal feedback

Technique 4: Noise Identification

• "Whose voice is that? Yours or someone else's?"
• Help client distinguish internal signal from external noise

Technique 5: Trajectory Mapping

• "Where have you been? Where are you going?"
• Help client see their convergence trajectory
• Build confidence in the process

Tracking Therapeutic Progress Through Convergence Lens

Early therapy:

• High oscillation, weak internal feedback
• Client asks: "What should I do?"
• Dependent on therapist's validation

Middle therapy:

• Decreasing oscillation, growing internal feedback
• Client asks: "What do I think I should do?"
• Starting to self-validate

Late therapy:

• Minimal oscillation, strong internal feedback
• Client states: "This is what feels right to me"
• Self-validating, converging on A

Termination readiness:

• Client has entered basin of attraction
• Robust self-knowledge
• Can handle perturbations without therapist
• Knows how to continue converging independently

For Clients: How to Use This Framework in Your Own Therapy

1. Understand your convergence blocks

• Which blocks resonate? (Weak internal feedback? External Locus? False fixed point?)
• Share this with your therapist

2. Request convergence-focused interventions

• "I want to build internal feedback capacity"
• "I want to shift from External to Internal Locus"
• "I want to find my true A"

3. Track your convergence progress

• Are oscillations decreasing?
• Is internal feedback getting clearer?
• Am I approaching A?

4. Use therapy as practice ground

• Practice internal validation with therapist's support
• Practice boundary-setting
• Practice trusting internal feedback

Conclusion

Therapy is convergence facilitation. The therapist doesn't tell you who to be—they help you converge on who you already are. By identifying and removing convergence blocks, building internal feedback capacity, and supporting the client's own trajectory toward A, therapy accelerates the natural convergence process.

Whether you're a therapist or a client, understanding this framework transforms therapy from vague "self-improvement" to precise convergence acceleration. The goal is clear: help the client find and embody their true A.

In the next article, we'll explore Relational Applications: Internal Locus in Partnerships—how to maintain your identity while being in intimate relationship.

Therapy is not about becoming someone new. It's about removing what blocks you from being who you've always been. Converge on your truth. The therapist is there to help.