Understanding Perceptual Control Theory

Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) is a scientific theory that explains the phenomenon of control. It provides the building blocks to explain and model a living system or collection of living systems through four simple principles: control, hierarchy, conflict and reorganisation. According to PCT, living organisms control their inputs - what they see, feel, hear, etc – by ‘acting against disturbances’ – doing things to deal with obstacles to their goals. These actions keep their perceptions of the world where they want them to be – at ‘reference values’. For example, our body is constantly adjusting muscle tensions to keep our drink from spilling as we carry it through a crowded bar. The most pernicious challenge to control is conflict between control systems, either between, or within individuals – wanting two opposite things. To resolve conflict we need to go ‘up a level’ to become aware of the reasons we have these conflicting goals, and we need to keep our awareness there until we get a new perspective in the problem. PCT describes a spontaneous, trial-and-error learning process that achieves this – if the problem is explored in consciousness for long enough – reorganisation. 

As you might imagine I became interested in PCT because it provides a single, logical framework to understand and help people with a wide range of problems!

The website www.iapct.org provides many good resources explaining PCT. 

Without control we would be dead. Our body is controlling our temperature, salt ions concentrations, energy supply at every moment. We are also controlling using our actions at every waking moment – to keep our heads upright, to stand up, to walk, and to talk. 

It’s not true that it doesn’t work to try to control other people. It depends from whose perspective, and with respect to what variable, we define ‘working’. The message from PCT is that chronic problems are conflicts that undermine the control of variables that are valued by the individual who experiences the problem. There is no other rule that trying to control particular things, even including other people, either works or doesn’t work. 

Realise they are human! 

Bill Powers, who developed (or discovered?) PCT, was not a clinician, but very early on he saw the implications of his theory for people with mental health problems. Conflict is a natural consequence of controlling. We all experience conflict. Yet, we have to spend most of our lives trying to resolve conflicts. We have to prioritise some over others. Yet where one or more conflicts that undermine our control are left unresolved - typically because we haven’t explored them consciously – they will persist, and the lack of control will be experienced as ‘symptoms’ of psychopathology. 

See: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X21000099?casa_token=q1owJMhkbeMAAAAA:PmVAgCMP7Svs4ENSFHJ2gZsbvohmPJbFB4rLkTGjebN9HVkLR7Iz-9lzVOXSEW8C4Ee8pGIjCQ

PCT would predict that this only happens when the increased effort to control thoughts and feelings leads to conflict. There is no problem with doing it per se. The longer and harder any one of us tries to control any one specific aspect of our lives, the more we neglect other important goals (sometimes including biological needs) and experience the distress and loss of control from them not being met. 

We listen and ask curious questions, just like everyone else. Who is to say whether Greta Thunberg’s focused determination to counter climate change is rigid? You’ll find with patient, curious questioning that even the most ‘rigid’ thinkers spend time attending to their other needs for safety, sleep, eating and maintaining relationships. Whether they are currently doing this enough and want to change or not, is up to them, but curiosity breeds insight and a wider perspective to make decisions for the self, the world, and others. 

See: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jakub-Grzegrzolka/publication/352497402_How_Do_We_Help_People_Regain_Control_Over_Their_Lives_An_Introduction_to_Method_of_Levels_Therapy_Jak_Pomagac_Ludziom_w_Odzyskaniu_Kontroli_Nad_Wlasnym_Zyciem_Wprowadzenie_Do_Terapii_Metoda_Poziomow/links/60cf3fa0299bf1cd71e20920/How-Do-We-Help-People-Regain-Control-Over-Their-Lives-An-Introduction-to-Method-of-Levels-Therapy-Jak-Pomagac-Ludziom-w-Odzyskaniu-Kontroli-Nad-Wlasnym-Zyciem-Wprowadzenie-Do-Terapii-Metoda-Poziomow.pdf

We all need to control. According to Perceptual Control Theory, healthy functioning isn’t about letting go of a need to control. It is about working out what you need to control, what you want to control, and what you don’t need or want to control at the moment, and altering this based on current circumstances. So, just be curious about how trying to control some things helps or hinders trying to control other things, and allow your curiosity to help her see when the balance might need to change.

This has been the case since the dawn of life and unpredictable change is the reason that we control. People need time and space to reflect on what they want to control and explore attempts to do so, changing as they go. Life involves ups and downs on our sense of control, as we experience ups and downs in our actual capacity to control what matters to us. 

I think I’ve answered this! In terms of conflicts between people and groups of people, we have made recommendations for how it can be used in mediation and reconciliation: https://www.jiss.org/documents/volume_9/JISS%202019%209(1)%201-38%20Mediation.pdf