Archetypes of Cyberspace

Archetypes of Cyberspace (pdf) HTML
Began this in the late 1990s and got it to this stage by 2003.

I have a Writing page – but it missed this essay, one of the ones I spent a few years on. I have now added it to the writing page.

It is a long essay, it was itself a journey, began just like the one I am on in the blog right now. I doubt it many people have read it. I could find no links to it. I just read it through and found it to my liking, though I would want to edit it all over the place!

Here is a quote from the conclusion, linking the theme of the essay to psychotherapy.

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The use of Technology in Supervision

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New Chapter on Technology in Supervision!

Authored by DeeAnna Nagel, Stephen Goss and Kate Anthony, a new chapter called “The Use of Technology in Supervision” has just been published under the section heading “Emerging and Specialist Issues” in “The Clinical Practice of Supervision”, edited by Pelling, Barletta and Armstrong, published by Australian Academic Press (2009).

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Therapy – can you trust it?

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/therapy-web-effective-beware

Online psychotherapy works. Sessions conducted between patient and therapist via the internet can be just as effective as face-to-face treatment. But it’s not for everyone and,
because there’s lots of money to be made, it’s difficult to be sure about the quality of what’s being offered.

Its not the money really, it is the fact that the net is unregulated. There is no clear jurisdiction. However the problem is almost the same off-line. There are all sorts of healers who do not fall under any professional body. It is a case of buyer be ware.

The problem is that even registrations do no not really ensure just how good the therapy will be.

Seven tips for choosing or sticking with a therapist

  1. Check out any therapist online. Google them.
  2. Check an online therapists claims by contacting their professional body.
  3. Talk about your therapy with others. (Don’t trust a therapist wo suggests you do not talk about it with others)
  4. Have a session with another therapist if you have doubts about your current therapist.
  5. Trust your instinct.
  6. Be wary of “special relationships” where usual boundaries don’t count.
  7. Be alert about any therapist who focuses on their own story or their own needs.

Phronesis – knowing through performance, action

A few years ago I printed out this article to read!  Today I began reading it.  Wonderful.

Art as action or art as object? the embodiment of knowledge in practice as research
Dr Anna Pakes, Roehampton University of Surrey, England
<A.Pakes@roehampton.ac.uk>

If I can make a short summary: Through action we know stuff.

This is right on the topic of my science & Psychodrama paper, and goes back again to Aristotle:  Phronesis (see earlier post of mine) I have highlighted a bit in the quote below that may as well describe a Psychodrama session.  She relates the knowing to dance, but and I am sure it applies equally if not more so to Psychodrama which is a conscious form of experimentation in addition to all that she describes.

Quote follows.

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In Treatment

It has been fun, but also frustrating to watch “In Treatment” and to see the therapist, Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne), not following his patients. To see him have poor supervision, have poor insight into his own life & relationships and clueless about relationship therapy. (Its only TV, and I am intrigued by the programme, I wish somone could make a movie with good therapy in it).

It shows some good moments, but sadly it misses the mark of giving accurate insight into therapy. The acting is good, but all too frequently the dynamics become ingongruent, I cease to suspend dis-belief and see the writer, and director coming through.  Unfortunately the poor practice and poor supervision may be all too accurate, though I think we do better in New Zealand where personal therapy & supervision are standard practice for psychotherapists.

Psychotherapy… following the psyche

Following the client is the essence.

Letting go of all ideas about a solution to a problem.

The pattern of behaviour or situation what we draw attention to, not the particular behaviour.

The pattern is something that can be transformed at any instance of it. Status Nascendi is the most potent instance, but only if the person is ready to go, trust their pace.

The situation the client chooses to work on for that pattern is up to them, that is where we follow them, to that place where they are most ready to go.

This way the person is less likely to blame or place the experience onto another person.

And if they do…

“Focus on your experience, in this moment, your pain, your anger, your sense of injustice. Stay with that.”