Amos became resentful of the time his studies took up in his life. He became negative about everything. His erratic attendance in classes eventually came to the notice of the university administration, who encouraged him to seek counselling.

Can you see what floor of his House Within Amos is on?

Amos has spiralled down into a Basement state of mind. He is floundering in negative thinking. Amos feels he will not find another relationship. He has lost hope. He feels alone and rejected. He takes the ending of his relationship personally, telling himself it ended because he wasn’t good enough.

In reality, the relationship may have ended for any number of reasons. For example:

• The other person may have only wanted a short-term relationship from the beginning.
• The other person might have decided to put more time into their studies and couldn’t prioritise the relationship.
• The other person might have become attracted to someone else, which would be a common experience for people in their twenties.

Amos is feeling all the things everyone feels in the Basement state of mind:

“Poor me.” “What’s the point?” “Nothing ever works for me.” “I’m not good enough.”  “I’m alone.”

There are no windows in the Basement. When you are in a Basement state of mind you cannot see that there are other states of mind you could be in. The Basement is all-consuming. You feel like you are in a deep dark hole and there is no way out. The Basement state of mind feels like it is the only space there is.

The negative state of mind Amos had spiralled down into has taken over his whole perspective on life. It has spread from relationship issues to his studies. It makes him seek his own company rather than spend time with mates. He has lost his previous focus on his uni work, and he has lost interest in other people. All his motivation has fallen away.

But he did find his way to counselling, and this achievement is acknowledged in the first counselling session.

In the first few sessions Amos is introduced to the emotional structure offered by The House Within framework. He learned that he has become stuck in negative thinking and is therefore in his Basement. He is helped when he learns that everyone has a Basement, and that all our Basements sound the same. This normalises his experience and helps him to feel less alone. It also gives him some emotional structure to hold onto.

The visual image of The House Within resonates with him. It makes sense. He can see that the feelings he has all fit with the description of what the Basement state of mind is like.

The simple structure provided by The House Within, and the fact that someone can listen to him and quickly understand what he is feeling, what state of mind he is in, what floor of his house he is on, provide great relief. He is not mentally ill; he has just become stuck in a Basement state of mind. This emotional structure gives him some scaffolding to help him climb out of his Basement. 

The House Within offers a series of tools and techniques to help you change floors; that is, to help you change your state of mind. Over several weeks, Amos is taught these techniques and begins to practise them. Practising is key to developing a new way of managing and understanding your emotions. 

First he needs to recognise what floor he is on in different moments or interaction with other people. He gets better at this.

 Just the image of the location of the Basement and that there is a map and a staircase helps visually. He is learning tool and techniques to help him change floors when he wants to giving him a sense of control over his state of mind. It gives him agency. He can change how he sees the world.

In the Basement Amos felt hopeless, trapped and resentful of authority. As he becomes capable of generating a Ground floor state of mind, through taking very small steps, he begins to see he has options. He decided to approach one of his lecturers about his course of study. The interaction is helpful.

 He sees a mate at the shops and he makes a move to say hello. He is making different choices as his mood comes out of his Basement.  The mate says hey do you wanna do something on the weekend? He does.

Amos knows that if he starts to resent his studies again, he can change his state of mind and find a way through whatever is causing him to go back into Basement thinking.

Amos has become alert to pessimistic thinking when it arises around relationship issues. He knows to not let these thoughts take hold. He remembers how hard it was to come out of the Basement and he pulls back from the temptation to spiral down again. He knows it is delicious to go into the spiral but that is not what he wants to do now. He has other plans. He wants to make progress in his studies and in his relationships and he knows spiralling down will get him nowhere.

 Amos has become more aware of his internal thought processes. He can readily hear what floor he is on, and he knows how he can change floors.

When he first came for counselling, he had no way to understand what was happening in him emotionally, other than medical labels such as mental illness and depression.

All his issues are not magically resolved, but Amos finished counselling feeling that he now owns his House Within, with all its concepts and tools. Amos leaves counselling feeling better equipped to move forward in his life and to navigate future difficulties.