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.

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.

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

 

☸️

 

 

 

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”

Psychodramatic Couple Therapy

I am updating the Psychodramatic Couple Therapy Handbook. In the introduction I link to a historic Outline of the first Psychodramatic Couple Therapy Training course, preserved online here. It is the latest version from April 2021.

Adler

Just read an article on Alfred Adler: For Socialist Psychologist Alfred Adler, Collective Feeling Was the Cure.. Wikipedia is pretty good on him too.

I wonder where Moreno stood on this Red Vienna thing?

Searching in “Who Shall Survive?” — After a scathing account of psychoanalysis Moreno writes:

Adler’s system* started with another calamity, the inferiority of organs and the feelings of inferiority .

– With this footnote:

* Adler developed in his later years a supplementary system but he could never free himself from an analytic position .

“Who Shall Survive?” page lii

Describing a split in the group psychotherapy field Moreno writes:

It is significant to note that many adherents of the analytic schools with a strong sociological and actional orientation, like the Adlerians, the Jungians and the neo-Freudians are inclined towards our original society, whereas those with an individual and verbal orientation tend towards the secession group.

“Who Shall Survive?” — page xcviii

 

That does not tell me much but it a small piece in the puzzle.

The Group and its Protagonist

I wrote a psychodrama thesis that was published in 1999. it took me 15 years to write. I appreciate I did that work – not sure I’d manage it now! I could give it a good edit.

It stands up today as expressing a central idea about the interconnected ness between people… the group is more than the sum of the pars of the individuals. It is the sum of the relationships between them. That is like looking at the stars… grasping the group life is an art. And sometimes a child can do it.

I just posted the thesis on Academia.edu. No idea if that is a good thing to do!

https://www.academia.edu/2001479/The_Group_and_Its_Protagonist

Its also here on this site:

Click to access The-group-and-its-protagonist-Walter-Logeman.pdf

 

What makes being in a couple different from being in other relationships?

A couple is truly a couple when the hitherto hidden dimensions of pain surface in the relationship. The couple may not see it, but there is an interconnected web of role relationships that involve projections and yearnings from childhood.  Thus a defining aspect of couplehood is:

  • Connections at a primal wounds

Of course there are other aspects of couplehood:

  • Love
  • Sexuality
  • Children
  • Intimacy
  • A wedding ceremony
  • Significance
  • Familiarity
  • Shared memories
  • Commitment
  • Domestic life
  • Social reality & recognition

Some of these will apply and some may not.

The crucial aspect of couplehood is an uncanny reciprocity of pain. Hedy Schleifer refers to the “deepest desires meeting the darkest resistance, and vice versa.”  This can appear like a disconnect, but it is the relationship doing its purposeful work, a profound connection.

Psychodrama refers to ‘the interpyche’ with an interplay of co-conscious and co-unconscious ways of being. Evocative and useful words. Imago relationship therapy has the word ‘imago’, a word meaning image, referring to the match of the unconscious dynamics involving the unmet needs from childhood, mixed with the love that was there.

One word for it: trouble!

Who wants it? Who knows how to get through this impasse when one person’s deep desires meet the other person’s fears? And vice versa. It gets harder as regression seeps in and our usual adult functioning goes out the window. I’d rather look at facebook or go for a walk.

There is another side to the story, trouble means opportunity. The ‘interpsyche’ is not so stupid!  This mystical third entity wove a web for us to climb through impasses. They are not impossible passes, we can get through, with help. And once through we continue the adventure with new vigour.

For the therapist it is easy! “Wow, you two are here, facing this trouble! Well done. This is normal, this is healthy, this is natural and right and you can work through this. Talk and listen. Listen with great care! Talk without blame. I’ll help you do it.”

Its is not so easy when you are in it. Love is blind, and so is trouble. Have a look at this feast of quotes about love: 90 Beautiful Love Quotes from Literature I wish there were as many beautiful quotes about the purpose of trouble as there are about the glorious magic of love.

 

Walter & Kate Personal Development Psychodrama Group

Kate and I conducted a regular Thursday evening psychodrama group. We have created a free online group since the pandemic to ‘hold the space’. I sent out a reminder for the event at 4:00 today and I thought I’d put it here on the blog. Part of my ‘Journal’ and also, for those in Christchurch who might like to join.

Here is the email

Continue reading “Walter & Kate Personal Development Psychodrama Group”