Beyond the fear....

[REGINA SEWELL]

Adam,  

I would love to read what your draft on resistance to consciousness-raising.   Recently, I have been highly influenced by Joanna Macy's work on eco-psychology in regards to consciousness-raising.  And, in my role as a self-defense instructor and a member of a feminist bookstore collective, one of the things that I learned is that people don't really want to think about, acknowledge that they are at risk.  They don't want to think about it.  I remember, doing research on anti-gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered harassment and violence and hearing people say they'd never experienced anything, only to regale me, 10 minutes later, with a horrible incident.  I still remember one young man, a high school student, tell me that he wasn't allowed to go into the bathroom at school if anyone else was in there -- bullies threatened to beat him up.  He told the principal and the principal's response was something to the effect of, "Learn to fight or have someone knock before you go in."  He had no idea that this was a basic violation of his humanity.  

This is, I think, part of Ed's push...  to raise awareness to the issues.  Perhaps this displays my cultural background, but my experience is that when it comes to things that are painful and/or scary, to smash them on the head with the facts (like with the PETA films) is to overwhelm them and shock them and leave them feeling powerless, hopeless and paralyzed.  (I actually had a social movements professor write something to this effect on one of my early papers on the anti-gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered violence movement...  and then she broke down in tears in class describing having been raped because some men perceived her to be a lesbian.)

<<AB: This merges with thoughts I've been having about the resistances to  consciousness-raising or maturity-development, what they are and how they might  be thought about. I'll soon post a paper on my website on this. Would you or  anyone else like to see a draft and to comment, make suggestions about what  should be revised or added? I was just writing about it this morning and adding  some new elements myself.>>         
<<The key point  is how specifically can we help people move past fear and guilt--- especially  regarding warming-up to becoming more  psychologically-minded.>>

This is where Joanna Macy is really helpful.  I actually put together a workshop on this for a group in Columbus called Simply Living.  I might still have the outline if you're interested.  I think Kaya out in AK has done work with local organizations to help them get on with the business of social change.  My plan focussed on Sociometry, Playback Theatre, and sociodrama and Boal's theatre of the oppressed.
 
 << Of course we do  so implicitly in building a treatment alliance with those who go out of their  way to seek help. (i.e., they voluntarily enter the sick role). Even then, a  significant number of patients, as Fritz (Perls) noted, "... don't really want  to stop being neurotic; they just want to get better at it." I take this to mean  that many patients suffer from the consequences of deeper character patterns,  misleading aims, entrenched games they play---which they don't experience as  mistaken; but they want relief from the anxiety and depression that follow being  fired, having their partners or friends leave or give up on them (disgustedly,  hurt, bewildered, angry), and so forth. They don't want to look at why they were  fired or abandoned, note, but just don't want to feel so bad. I wonder what  percentage of clients you see who would be more like this? 20,   40,   60,   80% ?

I respectfully, and perhaps blissfully in denial, disagree with Perls.  I believe that we as beings move towards balance and that we want wholeness and health and that we don't go there out of fear.  Think Carl Rogers.  I never met Fritz Perls but I did have the "pleasure" of being in a group led by a very confrontational Gestalt therapist.  What I learned in the group was to shut up, look at the floor and how NOT to do group therapy.  I was afraid to put myself out there for fear of being shredded by either the group of by the leader.  Given my limited exposure (a few films of Perls assaulting clients), I'm guessing that many of his clients felt the same way.  
    <<So envisioning our goal is good,  but we need to envision quite specifically, concretely  If we envision an  abstract idea it won't work.   
I totally agree here!  You have to envision the board your punching through, not a random something....  the landing strip you are trying to land on, not magically landing safely....

 <<    Well, about your role as a  sociometrist: I've been having some further ideas about that issue---in part  because I've become increasingly impressed with how deep the associated  sociodynamics and psychodynamics of tele are!--- so let me know if you'd like to  pursue that. Warmly, Adam

Tell me more here....   My dream/vision is to create an action/creativity oriented class on psychoneurobiology bringing in, among other things, what Moreno sensed by didn't have the capability to demonstrate re:  interaction and Ann Hale's work on psychodrama and interpersonal neurobiology 

Peace,
regina


regina sewell, Ph.D.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://grouptalkweb.org/pipermail/list_grouptalkweb.org/attachments/20090810/b3efeaf2/attachment.html>