Sorry Dave, pressed the send button too quick. Spinelli thought the entirety of Langs’ model was predicated on the latter’s paranoia. I have no views on this - just thought I’d mention it.
I too became disillusioned with psychotherapy, especially at the training institutional level - thd daft, pretentious language games; internecine nonsense, and attention-seeking, empire building among and between people we both know.
Also the fact that in addition to the shallow levels of scholarship requires, many, morally dubious sorts seemed to get on counselling/therapy courses on the strength of having a pulse and sufficient dosh.
This caught my eye, David, because I have only recently been introduced to techniques of "Non Violent Communication" as developed by Marshall Rosenberg. Rosenberg convincgly conveys the insight that language often does violence even when it appears to be at its most gentle. It requires careful analysis and extensive practice to detect the violence and avoid it. Successfully implemented, he claims, it can be enormously effective in situation of conflict, and I presume, in therapy where (as you seem to be pointing out) violence and abuse are never far from the surface.
I find Rosenberg's fascinating, and my experimentations with it suggest that it works as well as he claims. But although it is easy to understand his ideas, they nuances are far from obvious, and it requries a great deal of practice and honest feedback to develop expertise.
Seems to me that reflexive self-consciousness is behind the allocation of responsibility and likely some complexities of the resulting emotions. A dog might act guilty after chewing up a slipper, but we don't know if that's just a conditioned response from past scoldings.
We humans are on auto-pilot too, with embodied effects and memories inescapable baggage. Retraining ourselves involves new inputs (experiences). Therapists are part of that dynamic. Dog trainers likewise! Humans might remember old patterns, and think about the changes. We don't know about dogs and other species as far as I'm aware.
Sorry Dave, pressed the send button too quick. Spinelli thought the entirety of Langs’ model was predicated on the latter’s paranoia. I have no views on this - just thought I’d mention it.
I too became disillusioned with psychotherapy, especially at the training institutional level - thd daft, pretentious language games; internecine nonsense, and attention-seeking, empire building among and between people we both know.
Also the fact that in addition to the shallow levels of scholarship requires, many, morally dubious sorts seemed to get on counselling/therapy courses on the strength of having a pulse and sufficient dosh.
Interesting times; great to be out of them.
I figured that's what you meant. And you're absolutely right: it's great to be out of that shit show.
This caught my eye, David, because I have only recently been introduced to techniques of "Non Violent Communication" as developed by Marshall Rosenberg. Rosenberg convincgly conveys the insight that language often does violence even when it appears to be at its most gentle. It requires careful analysis and extensive practice to detect the violence and avoid it. Successfully implemented, he claims, it can be enormously effective in situation of conflict, and I presume, in therapy where (as you seem to be pointing out) violence and abuse are never far from the surface.
I find Rosenberg's fascinating, and my experimentations with it suggest that it works as well as he claims. But although it is easy to understand his ideas, they nuances are far from obvious, and it requries a great deal of practice and honest feedback to develop expertise.
Do you know his work?
No, never heard of him.
Hello David,
Seems to me that reflexive self-consciousness is behind the allocation of responsibility and likely some complexities of the resulting emotions. A dog might act guilty after chewing up a slipper, but we don't know if that's just a conditioned response from past scoldings.
We humans are on auto-pilot too, with embodied effects and memories inescapable baggage. Retraining ourselves involves new inputs (experiences). Therapists are part of that dynamic. Dog trainers likewise! Humans might remember old patterns, and think about the changes. We don't know about dogs and other species as far as I'm aware.
Best,
Steve
Spinelli once said to me that he thought Robert Langs was paranoid
That’s a nice tid-bit. Ugh….
Interesting take! I hadn't thought of the therapist's communications in that way!