We know what you’re thinking; what’s exactly source coding therapy, and does it have to do with technology? While the new therapy practice doesn’t directly involve technology, it’s adjacent to it.
Think of your brain as an internal program; how amazing would it be if you could rewire yourself by rewriting your source code (scripts of your morals, beliefs, and behaviors)? Source coding, created by psychologist Dr. Sam Rader, allows you to recode outdated patterns, to start anew, as many find it difficult to shift harmful behavior patterns as they navigate the ups and downs of life.
Dr. Rader’s process represents a new approach to the growth and evolution of the psyche and emotions, as she aims to see beyond the surface of emotional distress and patterns to identify the very behavior (code) that runs us, as she believes that there won’t be too much positive change in therapy sessions without first identifying the root issue. According to Dr. Rader, the source code is a new map that allows us to step out of our lifelong negative patterns to be present and co-create the life we desire and deserve. But how does it work exactly?
This self-help therapy process is meant to identify a person’s “glitch” as a possible dysfunctional coping style. A trained coder, also known as a “solvent,” will guide the session to help the client identify their coping style, so they can begin to heal through channeled energy work. According to Dr. Rader, everyone’s internalized programming was written during their early childhood years, ultimately shaping how they interact, bond, connect with people, and manage their trauma or difficult emotions. Like most of us, depending on what the individual has experienced at home with caregivers or close family members, those memories can affect coping styles and interactions with others as an adult.
However, the source coding therapy practice shies away from asking patients to describe their early childhood experiences, as they would in talk therapy. Instead, it delves into the source, addressing current thoughts and behavioral patterns to identify the coping style. Dr. Rader believes a person may embody 12 dysfunctional coping styles based on their early programming: symbiotic, disconnected, premature, idealizing, squashed, indulged, deprived, frustrated, omnipotent, frictive, constricted, and provocative. Each coping style has a corresponding functional coping style — an antidote.
Once the coping style is established, the solvent can partner with the patient to work through embodiment practices like breathwork, which are key to processing and understanding memories and difficult emotions, to gain self-awareness through the body, holistically, and not just the mind. If done correctly, the result is receiving a healthy coping style or antidote. The source coding practice is best for people who overthink and intellectualize problems instead of finding a solution.
If you decide to try the practice, it’s important to familiarize yourself with embodiment, energetic healing, and chakra balancing concepts. If you’re familiar with these concepts already, try deepening your practice by leveraging crystals, incense, or essential oil before your session begins. According to Dr. Rader, source coding combines the wisdom of counseling with those of computer programming and Eastern medicine.