Wise Way #2: Build a Strong Constellation of Support

Posted On: March 21, 2019

In May 2018, health insurer Cigna published the results of a survey conducted with 20,000 U.S. adults aged 18 or older. It found that nearly half of all Americans report sometimes or always feeling alone. Forty-seven percent report feeling left out. One in four Americans (27 percent) frequently feel that few people really understand them. And Generation Z (adults ages 18-22) is the loneliest generation of all.

Support systems can be lifelines out of loneliness and the feelings of being disconnected, but many people have never learned how to create and use an effective support network. Wise Way #2 teaches that there are many kinds of support and demonstrates how anyone can find support sources to help solve issues. This important skill is reinforced throughout the BrainWise program. Wizard Brain users know how to seek resources to help them prevent and solve problems.

Wizard brain users learn to identify sources they can depend upon for help and learn that the process is fluid enough to address different problems. They learn how to recognize that valued help has many forms: human, animals, spiritual, and inanimate, and that we all need to identify and access different types of support for our various problems. As we learn more thinking skills, we can use them to help build a strong and effective constellation of support that can apply to any problem.

The Constellation of Support shows that we connect with the “stars” in our constellation three ways: 1) Broken Lines (not helpful), 2) A Single Line (not unhelpful, but not helpful either), or 3) Double Lines (very helpful).

Sadly, some of us are unaware of the harm caused by unthinking friends and family members with their own set of problems, and don’t realize the extent of alternative help that is readily available. The course instructor is always a double line for the client or student.

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