Today's psychology readings
Long. Mostly for my own reference/learning. No obligation to click!
Trauma
“Thinking Through the Body, An Interview with Allan Schore - 'the American Bowlby'.” http://www.thinkbody.co.uk/papers/interview-with-allan-s.htm
“The early social environment, mediated by primary caregiver, influences the evolution of structures in the infant’s brain. He shows how the maturation of the orbitofrontal cortex, the executor of the right cortex, is influenced by dyadic interactions of the attachment relationship. This is critical to the child’s future capacity to self-regulate emotions, to appraise others’ emotional state, and manage stress.” That is, child abuse in infancy produces bad long-term consequences.
“I have been convinced that these essential regulatory mechanisms - fast acting events occurring at levels beneath awareness - are the ones really which move us in and out of relationships. This is very compatible with Freud’s concept of the unconscious.” […] “I’m talking about a face can be picked up within 40 milliseconds and appraised within a 100 milliseconds. So a person is walking down the street right all of a sudden sees a particular face and for reasons that are purely intuitive and non-conscious starts moving away.”
“My interest is in social emotions [including positive ones] and how they develop and how they’re influenced by the attachment relationship and how social emotions, such as shame, regulate the ongoing interactions between human beings.”
“The attachment to the mother is therefore not only minimising negative states but she’s maximising positive states.”
“One other point is that much of psychotherapy is still geared towards the removal of symptoms and negative emotions and not towards the implication of positive states.” Note: this has potentially very interesting implications. Keep this in mind.
Personality
Chapter One in Summers, F. (2005). Self creation: Psychoanalytic therapy and the art of the possible. Very, very dense. Not for the layperson. I am still a layperson.
Psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy have a notorious flaw: analysis and insight often don’t translate into change. What to do?
Possible remedies: focus on therapeutic relationship. Don’t treat client as passive. [Me: Start from an explicit assumption that change rather than only insight is both possible and the goal? Narrative therapy and CBT do this.] Integrate CBT. (Ha, author hates this suggestion, saying CBT puts client back in position of student being taught, crushes client’s agency. [Me: Bullshit.]) Insight is necessary but not sufficient. Analysis must leave room for client to bring their own creativity to the table.
“Potential space is defined by the very fact that it has no determined meaning…” Not seeing how this is different from “shut up and listen.” See material not as indicating old experiences, but as possible directions for future growth. I think.
Isay, R. (1989). Being homosexual..
Discusses some gay male clients who have difficulty with intimacy. Many gay men report feeling “different” as children before they were aware of being gay (that usually happens between ages eight and thirteen), and of having distant relationships with their fathers. Author thinks that fathers were probably aware that their sons were “different,” and unconsciously and homophobically withdrew. From a Freudian perspective, Oedipal conflicts (in love with Dad) also made sons withdraw. Author speculates that this causes difficulty with intimacy later on. (He’s not saying this makes anyone gay, but that it affects later gay relationships.)
No such consistent reports with mother relationships, but gay men who felt their mother was at least a “good enough” parent are more positive about themselves and their sexuality.
Adolescence: Homophobic therapists often screw up gay teens. Ditto homophobic or narcissistic parents. It often takes a sexual experience or falling in love to make gay teens confront/accept their desires.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1001184.html. Comment here or there.
Trauma
“Thinking Through the Body, An Interview with Allan Schore - 'the American Bowlby'.” http://www.thinkbody.co.uk/papers/interview-with-allan-s.htm
“The early social environment, mediated by primary caregiver, influences the evolution of structures in the infant’s brain. He shows how the maturation of the orbitofrontal cortex, the executor of the right cortex, is influenced by dyadic interactions of the attachment relationship. This is critical to the child’s future capacity to self-regulate emotions, to appraise others’ emotional state, and manage stress.” That is, child abuse in infancy produces bad long-term consequences.
“I have been convinced that these essential regulatory mechanisms - fast acting events occurring at levels beneath awareness - are the ones really which move us in and out of relationships. This is very compatible with Freud’s concept of the unconscious.” […] “I’m talking about a face can be picked up within 40 milliseconds and appraised within a 100 milliseconds. So a person is walking down the street right all of a sudden sees a particular face and for reasons that are purely intuitive and non-conscious starts moving away.”
“My interest is in social emotions [including positive ones] and how they develop and how they’re influenced by the attachment relationship and how social emotions, such as shame, regulate the ongoing interactions between human beings.”
“The attachment to the mother is therefore not only minimising negative states but she’s maximising positive states.”
“One other point is that much of psychotherapy is still geared towards the removal of symptoms and negative emotions and not towards the implication of positive states.” Note: this has potentially very interesting implications. Keep this in mind.
Personality
Chapter One in Summers, F. (2005). Self creation: Psychoanalytic therapy and the art of the possible. Very, very dense. Not for the layperson. I am still a layperson.
Psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy have a notorious flaw: analysis and insight often don’t translate into change. What to do?
Possible remedies: focus on therapeutic relationship. Don’t treat client as passive. [Me: Start from an explicit assumption that change rather than only insight is both possible and the goal? Narrative therapy and CBT do this.] Integrate CBT. (Ha, author hates this suggestion, saying CBT puts client back in position of student being taught, crushes client’s agency. [Me: Bullshit.]) Insight is necessary but not sufficient. Analysis must leave room for client to bring their own creativity to the table.
“Potential space is defined by the very fact that it has no determined meaning…” Not seeing how this is different from “shut up and listen.” See material not as indicating old experiences, but as possible directions for future growth. I think.
Isay, R. (1989). Being homosexual..
Discusses some gay male clients who have difficulty with intimacy. Many gay men report feeling “different” as children before they were aware of being gay (that usually happens between ages eight and thirteen), and of having distant relationships with their fathers. Author thinks that fathers were probably aware that their sons were “different,” and unconsciously and homophobically withdrew. From a Freudian perspective, Oedipal conflicts (in love with Dad) also made sons withdraw. Author speculates that this causes difficulty with intimacy later on. (He’s not saying this makes anyone gay, but that it affects later gay relationships.)
No such consistent reports with mother relationships, but gay men who felt their mother was at least a “good enough” parent are more positive about themselves and their sexuality.
Adolescence: Homophobic therapists often screw up gay teens. Ditto homophobic or narcissistic parents. It often takes a sexual experience or falling in love to make gay teens confront/accept their desires.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1001184.html. Comment here or there.