Ways To Confront Negative Core Beliefs and Values The Core Belief Exploration Techniques

Ways To Confront Negative Core Beliefs — Core Belief Exploration Techniques

Unhealthy beliefs are the direct cause of conflict and violence.  The core belief exploration process is a method for identifying negative core beliefs and correcting them.  Are you ready for this journey?

The path to understanding core beliefs is an inward journey.  The good news is that these scripts are not set in stone.  With the right tools, we can replace harmful scripts with positive ones.  By delving into your conscious and subconscious beliefs, you can gain valuable insights.  You learn why you think and act the way you do.

The Core Belief Exploration Process

The process is to gather data and analyze it to see if your values and beliefs are healthy or not.  If you find some beliefs are negative, then we can change them.  We recommend using four tools to gather data.  Each tool uses a different approach.  That way, we don’t miss anything important.  It’s simple as 1, 2, 3.

1.  Use tools to identify harmful beliefs
2.  Confront your beliefs
3.  Replace negative with positive beliefs

But, before we begin, we need to learn about core values and beliefs.  What are core beliefs and values?  These are ideas, values, and thought patterns that determine our actions.  It doesn’t matter if the belief or value is positive or negative.  We have several thought scripts, values, and beliefs.

There are two kinds of core values and beliefs: internal and external.  The beliefs and values we have about ourselves are internal.   The beliefs we have about the world are external.  Beliefs can be either positive or negative, healthy or unhealthy.

Positive beliefs are empowering and supportive.  They boost our self-confidence and help us navigate challenges.  Positive beliefs make us socially responsible.  Socially responsible actions result in positive outcomes for everyone and the environment.

Here are some examples of positive internal beliefs.  I am capable,” “I am deserving of love and respect,” or “I have the strength to overcome obstacles.” Outward positive core beliefs manifest as a positive social instinct.  It prompts people to help those in need.  People risk their lives to save other living beings.

Negative internal beliefs are limiting, prejudiced, and biased.  This kind of programming has a detrimental effect on thinking.  Common internal negative core beliefs and values show up as harmful self-talk.  It includes scripts like “I am not good enough” or “I will never succeed.” An example of an outward negative belief is using religious doctrine to commit violence.  Racism, xenophobia, and homophobia are harmful mindsets that justify hate and prejudice.

The Core Belief Exploration Techniques

Using techniques to question core beliefs can be emotionally challenging.  Revealing your thought scripts, beliefs, and values is serious inner work.  It reveals things that you may not want to know.  Identifying and understanding negative core beliefs isn’t something you should rush.  Take your time with the process.  It often takes several sessions because it is intense inner work.

First, although you can do this process on your own, it’s best to do this process with a group, partner, or therapist.  Having someone to help and guide, you will keep you on track.  Using these techniques can bring up strong emotions of fear or even anger.  These emotions can undermine or prevent you from completing the process.  So, don’t go it alone unless you absolutely have to.

core belief exploration process techniques to question core beliefs

The first step in the core belief exploration process is to identify and document your core values and beliefs.  It’s the best practice to record these in your journal.   You’ll use this list later.  If you find some beliefs that you want to change, you’ll also record your replacement script.

To prevent fatigue, take regular breaks at least every 30 minutes and limit your session to 4 hours.

Don’t worry about spelling or punctuation in your notes.  The main idea behind the following tools is to expose the self-talk and values that are behind your decision-making process.  The acting of writing may also be enough for you to identify negative core beliefs.  But, in most cases, you’ll need to take them apart and analyze their results.  Let’s talk about the tools you’ll be using to gather the data.

The Repetitive Questions Exercise

Repeating a question and trying to find a different answer each time forces the mind to probe deeper.  This core belief exploration technique is used with many other psychological techniques.  It is used extensively in Enneagram and conflict resolution workshops.

The repetitive question is a straightforward process for identifying negative core beliefs.  It shows you the thought scripts behind your values and beliefs.  Start with questions like “What thoughts and beliefs do I have that guide my life?” Or, “What are my core beliefs and values that are most sacred to me?”

Write down your answer in your journal and ask the question again, looking for a different answer.

If you have religious convictions, these are often the sacred ground of your values and beliefs.  Write those down as well.  This is one of the best ways to confront negative core beliefs and values.

The Enneagram Personality Profile

The Enneagram is one of the primary inner work core belief exploration techniques.  It’s also one of the most accurate psychometric techniques for questioning core beliefs.  Because it uses easy-to-understand language, it has become one of the most used systems for counselors.

Each personality and instinct has positive and negative thought script tendencies.  If we identify our personality type, we can review the list to see which ones resonate.  We recommend Russ Hudson and Don Risso’s book The Wisdom of the Enneagram.

The Cultural Assessment Questionnaire

This questionnaire is a tool for identifying negative core beliefs in your worldview.  It is one of the core belief exploration techniques that gives a numerical score of your current mindset.

You may already know that a particular belief or value isn’t healthy.  However, you accept it because it’s part of a larger belief system.  Radical religions and political organizations make it hard to leave.  People end up supporting harmful ideologies because they can’t find a safe way out.

Automatic Writing

Some are surprised to find the automatic handwriting tool here.  However, it is an effective tool in the core belief exploration process and a proven tool for delving into the subconscious mind.  Use the automatic writing tool after you gather data from the Repeating Question and Enneagram.

Sit down and take a few minutes to reflect on the values and beliefs you’ve recorded.  Then, begin writing.  Don’t give any conscious effort to what you are writing.  Allow your hand to move and let things happen.  After a few minutes, stop and see if you have conjured up any new feelings or thoughts on the subject.  This is one of the core belief exploration techniques used by Jung and Freud in the development of modern psychology.

The Techniques to Question Core Beliefs

You must be honest and fearless in your quest to uncover the truth about yourself.   The following questions will provide you with a lot of valuable data.

You can use the Repeating Question Exercise process with these questions to drill down into the psyche.  Having a partner to ask these questions helps to keep us on track.  Here is where the core belief exploration process can uncover the unexpected.

1.  Questions for Identifying Negative Core Beliefs

— What are my beliefs and values?  This question can create a laundry list, and that’s okay.  Some groups will use one question for a whole four-hour session.  This sounds like a lot of time until you start gathering the data.  You’ll be amazed at how much programming you have around values and beliefs.

After you list them, another great idea is to rank your beliefs from the most to the least important.  It’s an easy way to find ways to confront negative core beliefs that have the most influence.  This question goes to the heart of the core belief exploration process.

— Where did my beliefs come from?  Were you indoctrinated as a child?  Who or what was the source from which you learned them?  If you learned beliefs as a child, many people don’t recall where they learned their core beliefs and values.  Don’t take superficial answers.  If you belong to a religion, don’t take what they tell you as the final word.  Research their origins using sources outside of the religion.

— How long have I had these beliefs?  The length of time you’ve had negative beliefs will impact the effort you’ll need to delete and remove them.

— Are my beliefs based on facts or assumptions?  If your most important beliefs come from a religion, your beliefs are based on myths and superstitions.  If you disagree, ask yourself why you can’t accept this conclusion.

— Do my beliefs promote discrimination, prejudice, or bias?  If you have religious or political views that make a group a scapegoat for problems, this is a harmful core belief.  If you are unsure what discrimination, prejudice, and bias look like, we’ll give you some examples in a moment.  There’s a section coming up that outlines the negative beliefs and values of politics and religion.

— Am I able to change what I believe?  Your ability to choose is the basis of a healthy mindset.  If you don’t want to change negative beliefs, this reflects your exposure to groupthink manipulation tactics.  Propaganda that programs you to deny your ability to choose is a negative belief.

— Do my beliefs hold me back?  If your beliefs limit what you can read or learn, your beliefs are holding you back.  How do you know if you are spiritually and intellectually stagnant?  For instance, memorizing scripture is not spiritual advancement; it is self-hypnosis.

Using make-believe to pretend you are advancing is not getting you anywhere.  Ask yourself, what new things have I learned?  What positive things have I done to help those less fortunate than myself?

Techniques to question core beliefs should make you think.  It may be uncomfortable or stressful because you are digging up your sacred ground.  Understanding core beliefs and their outcomes can help see if they are positive or negative.

2.  Ways to Confront Negative Core Beliefs and Values

You start to confront what you believe when you begin to identify your beliefs.  Asking questions about what you believe starts the confrontation process in motion.  It is unsettling to the ego, especially if you have strongly held religious and political beliefs that are unhealthy.

So, it is not uncommon to find yourself ruminating about what you discover.  If what you believe causes harm to others, it should make you think.  It may cause disruptions in your sleep or elicit nightmares.

Identifying negative core beliefs can activate our primitive fight, flight, or freeze mechanism.  This happens when we adopt extremist beliefs that are part of our identity.  These core belief exploration techniques challenge our assumptions.

Let’s say, for example, that you believe strongly in the existence of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.  When you encounter evidence that they don’t exist, it can make you fearful, anxious, or angry.  Some religions and political organizations use these same triggers to drive fear and anger.  Strong emotions are effective tools to garner support for their ideas.

Understanding Core Beliefs as Knots

Confronting your core beliefs and values can be a challenging process, but it is essential for personal growth.  You must be able to face your fears and doubts, and you must be willing to change your beliefs if they are unhealthy.

Many people make it to this point in the process and then stop.  It takes courage to challenge and change your deepest beliefs.  Having someone to support you in this process is critical.

Understanding core beliefs is like unraveling knots.  Many of these knots that bind us take us back to our childhood.  As children, we are impressionable and trust our caregivers to have our best interests in mind.  This is when most religious indoctrination takes place.  Religions substitute myths and superstitions for facts and common sense.

These knots of religious belief become our identity.  These knots tie us to the belief system, which makes us life-long customers.  If you have religious beliefs, learning they are based on fables and fairytales is incomprehensible.  So, we must acknowledge the truth about the harmful beliefs we hold.

Children who are indoctrinated do not use logic and reason to choose their beliefs, and neither do adults.  Believers are taught to protect their beliefs and reject anything that threatens them.  They refuse rational arguments and facts as a means to understand or challenge their beliefs.  Now that you are an adult, it is your responsibility to change harmful core values and beliefs.

It is one thing to identify your beliefs and question them, but when it comes time to change them, they stop.  Changing what you believe can also affect our relationships.  This is scary, especially if you have a number of relationships that are associated with negative belief systems.

Your beliefs affect your relationships.  It isn’t easy to maintain a relationship with someone if they have vastly different worldviews.  This is harder when someone has harmful religious or political beliefs.  This is why religions and politicians isolate people from outside points of view.

When you are in the group, you are accepted.  If you change your views, you are ejected and isolated.   Religions and harmful political groups use this social pressure to keep people in their control.  It is an effective groupthink manipulation tactic that cements people to the belief system.  Religions and extremist political groups don’t want you to use techniques to question core beliefs.  These questions always expose their tactics.  Don’t despair.  There are support groups for people recovering from cult groups.  They can help you find new positive social contacts.

Negative Religious and Political Core Beliefs and Values

identify negative core beliefs identifying negative core beliefs

As we work through the ways to confront negative core beliefs, our religious and political views will come up.  Organized religion and extremist political groups are becoming more emboldened and powerful.  They have mastered the use of groupthink manipulation tactics to shape society.  Here are the harmful value propositions they promote.

1.  Discrimination and Exclusivity.  Many religions and political ideologies promote the idea of superiority.  This “chosen one” mindset leads to discrimination.  This concept is used to exclude those who do not align with their beliefs.

2.  Control and Power.  Both religion and politics can be used as tools to gain absolute power and control of a group or culture.  Power gained by coercion and deceit always leads to oppression and injustice.

3.  Closed-mindedness.  Close-mindedness prevents us from identifying negative core beliefs.  Having strong opinions about something isn’t bad unless they are harmful and prevent you from exploring other ideas.  Religious and political groups promote a closed-minded mentality.  It’s a strategy to limit critical thinking that would expose their motives and inconsistencies.  Closed-minded people stifle those who question their authority.  They undermine those who seek progressive debate and progress.

4.  Fear and Guilt.  Religion and politics are notorious for the use of fear and guilt.  They use these groupthink tactics to control their followers.  It creates a toxic environment.   Living with ongoing stress is a significant physical and mental health risk.  The core belief exploration process often uncovers the programming for these triggers.

5.  Anti-Science.  Many religious beliefs are in direct conflict with scientific evidence.  Politics can echo false information, which is a health risk.

COVID-19 is an example of how uninformed politicians create a public health risk that kills millions.  President Trump eliminated the pandemic team, which had effectively averted several previous disasters.  Anti-science leads to constant conflict and health issues associated with cognitive dissonance.  People learn to reject factual information about health and the climate.  It is a significant hindrance to progress.

6.  Gender and Sexuality Discrimination.  Some political groups and religions promote harmful beliefs about gender and sexuality.  This prejudice leads directly to the discrimination and oppression of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Of all the techniques to question core beliefs, the subject of sexual orientation tends to expose hidden biases.  If you are a racist, you know it.  If you discriminate against women, you know it.  But, if you have feelings against what someone else feels, you may not have realized you carried that burden.  It’s time to find out why you harbor this hate.

7.  Violence and Extremism.  Extremist ideologies have taken control of some religions and political groups.  If you stomach watching any Donald Trump rally or video of Adolph Hitler, you’ll see what political hate looks like.

8.  Suppression of Individuality.  The suppression of human rights is the cornerstone of fascism.  Religions follow suit by promoting conformity over autonomy.  These harmful ideological views erode human rights and autonomy.

9.  Wealth and Greed.  Some religious leaders and politicians prioritize wealth and greed over people.  It is sad to see how some leaders flaunt their wealth, justifying greed with twisted religious logic.  Greed leads to exploitation and inequality.

10.  Lack of Accountability and Integrity.  Both religion and politics can create a culture of impunity.  This creates a culture where those in power are not held accountable for their actions.  Lack of integrity and accountability leads to corruption and abuse.

We must be courageous and confront these negative core beliefs and values.  Questioning and challenging the motives of religion and politics makes them more accountable.  They can’t hide behind the veneer of divine authority.

By critically examining these beliefs, we mandate transparency.  Transparency helps create a more inclusive, tolerant, and compassionate society.  Ultimately, it is up to each of us to confront these harmful beliefs and values in order to create a better future for all.  So, if any of these religious beliefs resonate with you, it’s time to stop and think.

3.  Replace Negative with Positive Beliefs and Values

Replacing long-standing beliefs can be difficult.  If you’ve believed something strongly for a long time, it becomes a part of your identity.  So, changing your beliefs means changing what you identify with.

Step one is creating replacement scripts for the negative ones you discovered.  For example, you find yourself saying, “I am not good enough.”  Your new script is “Yes, I am good enough.”  Create a positive affirmation with the new script.

Step two is to identify negative core beliefs in your self-talk.  You learn to “catch yourself in the act.”  For example, stop yourself when you find yourself saying, “I am not good enough.”  Immediately repeat the positive affirmation, Yes, I am good enough.”  It’s important to put positive emotion behind the new script.  You’ve got to believe it.

Reprogramming positive thought scripts takes patience.  Repeat positive affirmations daily.  Visualize success, and surround yourself with people who support and uplift you.  It’s good to have a support group or therapist that can help you.

By following these steps, you can begin to unravel the layers of your core beliefs and values.  In doing so, you can create a healthy, skeptical mindset.  Change takes time, but it is worth it in the end.  We hope you decide to begin the core belief exploration process.

Conclusion

The techniques to question core beliefs provide us with access to the programming of the mind.  Learning and understanding core beliefs gives us the opportunity to change those that are harmful.  It helps us identify negative core beliefs that are driving our thinking and corrupting our moral compass.