The subject of this post is a little further on in the Preface of “Who Shall Survive?”. It is in a section called 1913-1914, Genesis of Group Psychotherapy. (xxviii) I’ve broken the selected passage into three sections each with my comment. Continue reading “Marx in “Who Shall Survive?” 03 – Working with Prostitutes.”
The First Mention of Marxism in “Who Shall Survive?”
The first time Moreno mentions Marx in Who Shall Survive?, is in the Preludes of the Sociometric Movement (1978; xiv, xv)
The advent of sociometry cannot be understood without appraising my presociometric background and the historic-ideological setting in the Western world, during and after the First World War. Marxism and psychoanalysis, the two opposites, each had spent their theoretic bolt, the one with Nikolai Lenin’s “State and Revolution” (1917), the other with Sigmund Freud’s “Civilization and Its Discontents” (1929). The two opposites had one thing in common: they both rejected religion, they both disavowed he idea of a community which is based on spontaneous love, un-selfishness and sainthood, on positive goodness and naive cooperativeness. I took a position contradictory to both, the side of positive religion.
To summarise: Moreno makes it clear he is not creating his work in a vacuum. Freud and Marx are the ideological setting in the Western world, during and after the First World War. Moreno says “The two opposites had one thing in common: they both rejected religion”. Moreno took the side of positive religion. Continue reading “The First Mention of Marxism in “Who Shall Survive?””
Psychodrama Practicing Certificate
I’ve had one of these every year for decades. I usually print them and have them on the wall. This is as far as this one will get. I do like having it. It is congruent with who I am and also a mark of belonging to a community of people.
Saul Alinksy and Kurt Lewin
Saul Alinksy and Kurt Lewin are both on the family tree of my preoccupation, Marx & Moreno . My old friend Dennis mentioned he went to a workshop about them both (some time ago!)
Here is a site that mentions both figures. Continue reading “Saul Alinksy and Kurt Lewin”
The relations of creativity. Moreno & Marx
Here is a follow on post to an earlier one Homo faber
What makes us human – what is the one thing?
Humans are creators: Homo faber. Continue reading “The relations of creativity. Moreno & Marx”
Working with Couples April 2024
Working with Couples – A Two Day Workshop in Christchurch
with Walter Logeman
Friday 12 – Saturday 13 April 2024
If you work with couples, or would like to, this workshop you. The aim is to build on the work you already do and to gain confidence and competence with couples. Whatever your training, you will learn to be present with the couple.
The invisibility of the structure of human society
The invisibility of the structure of human society
Becoming objective toward society encounters more obstacles than being objective toward our own mind. Perhaps we can pretend to grasp the involvement of the ego because it operates within us. However, we cannot pretend to know the involvement of the socius as it is outside us; but it is an outside to which we are inescapably tied.
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I’m meditating by rewriting a passage by Moreno. The lines above are where I got to. The gender & grammar needed fixing etc. I think his idea shines through in the passage above. See his original below.
I love seeing the equivalence of ego and socius.
Here is the original:
“but the degree of invisibility of the structure of human society, of its sociodynamics, is much greater than that of the single individual. The effort of becoming objective toward the socius encounters many more obstacles than to be objective toward his own individual mind. The involvement of the ego he can still grasp, perhaps he can pretend to know it because it operates within him. The involvement of the socius, however, he cannot pretend to know as it operates outside of him; but it is an outside to which he is inescapably tied.”
See this post. Where there is more on this topic.
Working with Couples – September 2023
Here is the email I’m about to send out, followed by the attached flyer
This is the 100 year anniversary of Sociometry!
The year 1933 may have been the official, but the year 1923 was the conceptual origin of sociometry ; it was the publication date of my book Das Stegreiftheater which contained the seeds of many of the ideas which later brought sociometry to fame .
J. L.Moreno, 1978 edition, “Who Shall Survive?” p xiv
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Psychodrama with Walter Logeman & Kate Tapley
Five Thursday Evenings every Term in 2023
Love. Living life to the full. Finding meaning. Global and spiritual matters. Conflict, grief and illness. Examine and be challenged by matters of importance to you in these evening workshops. You can expect to gain a deeper awareness of yourself and others. Learn to be spontaneous, courageous and effective in relationships. We will use psychodrama to explore themes relevant to you and the group. If you are in a couple relationship you are both invited to attend. No previous group experience is necessary.
Walter and Kate co-lead this group.
Continue reading “Psychodrama with Walter Logeman & Kate Tapley”