The Body of Shame in the Circle of the Group

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bracha Hadar
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Bioenergetic Analysis ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Bodily Shame ◽  
The Mind

This paper suggests an integration of two therapeutic domains in which the author was trained and certified: group analysis and bioenergetic analysis. Bioenergetic analysis is a psychodynamic psychotherapy, which sees the individual as a psychosomatic unity and combines work with the body and the mind. The author considers the pioneering book The Group as an Object of Desire by Morris Nitsun as a facilitating environment for the ideas of this paper to be accepted. Nitsun opens up the importance, on one hand, and the neglect, on the other hand, of sexuality and the body in the discourse of group analysis. The paper brings the body to the front of group analysis. It illuminates the body as the stage on which the drama of shame occurs. The paper discusses five dimensions of shame, categorized into five degrees of pathology, having to do with the developmental stages in which it occurred. The most archaic one (degree 1) is the most malignant and inhibits the social life of the individual. The fifth degree, social shame, is necessary in order to be part of society. A bridge of understanding between group analysis and bioenergetic analysis is suggested in which social shame, the more superficial one, serves as a defence against or displacement of the bodily shame. The ultimate space for working, therapeutically, on shame is the group, provided the body is not dissociated from the arena. A clinical example of working with a group in the integrated model is described, followed by a discussion. It is suggested to consider the matrix as the group body-mind instead of only the group mind.

scholarly journals The Dimension of the Body in Higher Education: Matrix of Meanings in Students’ Diaries

Human Arenas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramiro Tau ◽  
Laure Kloetzer ◽  
Simon Henein
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
General Process ◽  
Emotional Dimension ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
The Mind

AbstractIn this paper, we attempt to show some consequences of bringing the body back into higher education, through the use of performing arts in the curricular context of scientific programs. We start by arguing that dominant traditions in higher education reproduced the mind-body dualism that shaped the social matrix of meanings on knowledge transmission. We highlight the limits of the modern disembodied and decontextualized reason and suggest that, considering the students’ and teachers’ bodies as non-relevant aspects, or even obstacles, leads to the invisibilization of fundamental aspects involved in teaching and learning processes. We thus conducted a study, from a socio-cultural perspective, in which we analyse the emerging matrix of meanings given to the body and bodily engagement by students, through a systematic qualitative analysis of 47 personal diaries. We structured the results and the discussion around five interpretative axes: (1) the production of diaries enables historicization, while the richness of bodily experience expands the boundaries of diaries into non-textual modalities; (2) curricular context modulates the emergent meanings of the body; (3) physical and symbolic spaces guide the matrix of bodily meanings; (4) the bodily dimension of the courses facilitates the emergence of an emotional dimension to get in touch with others and to register one's own emotional experiences; and (5) the body functions as a condition for biographical continuity. These axes are discussed under the light of the general process of consciousness-raising and resignification of the situated body in the educational practice.

Fast Cars and Vital Exhaustion

2020 ◽  
pp. 171-214
Author(s):  
Sarah Waters
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Vital Exhaustion ◽  
Physical Limitations ◽  
Art Research ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Conditions Of Work

Chapter five examines a series of suicides at car manufacturer Renault, situating them in the transition from an industrial model to a knowledge economy, in which value is expropriated from the resources of the mind. Suicides did not take place in the emblematic spaces of the factory, where cars were once mass produced, but in a state-of-the art research centre, where cognitive workers conceptualised and designed cutting-edge cars of the future. In the knowledge economy, the mind is treated as an endlessly productive resource that reproduces itself continuously and is unencumbered by the physical limitations of the body. I argue that suicides were the end point of a form of vital exhaustion that transcends the corporeal defences of the physical body and depletes the mental and emotional resources of the self. Suicides do not reflect a deterioration in formal or material conditions of work, but rather a transformation in forms of constraint, as the individual worker internalises modes of discipline and becomes his or her own boss. Suicides affected workers who experienced a phase of chronic overwork in which the quest to achieve productivity targets pushed them to work continuously and obsessively.

Clinical Neuropsychologist, 20 years’ experience, UK

2020 ◽  
pp. 229-232
Author(s):  
Markus Reuber ◽  
Gregg H. Rawlings ◽  
Steven C. Schachter
Keyword(s):  
Epileptic Seizures ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Body Awareness ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Epileptic Attack ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Experience Of Illness

This chapter explores how dissociation of awareness of either the mind or the body can be experienced by everyone to some degree. It has been suggested that in Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder (NEAD), a protective mechanism of enabling individuals to detach from the difficult emotions they have not yet been able to make sense of has led to a detachment from the awareness of the body, thus resulting in physical symptoms that resemble epileptic seizures. Treatment therefore lies in improving both mind and body awareness. Working with individuals with NEAD or Dissociative Seizures introduces one to the multifaceted nature of humanity. Although there are common themes that emerge through psychological assessment—such as prior experience of illness, neurological insult or physical injury to a specific body part, difficulty recognizing stress in the body or mind, or a tendency to use unhelpful coping strategies during prolonged periods of stress,—no two persons with NEAD have the same seizures because each individual’s experience is unique, making the nature and clinical presentation of the seizure-like experiences idiosyncratic. Despite this, it is always possible to discover the reason that individuals with NEAD experience the symptoms they do, even if it is sometimes initially hard for the individual to accept or believe this.

Habitus and Field

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Leander
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Social World ◽  
The Body ◽  
International Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Heuristic Devices

The terms habitus and field are useful heuristic devices for thinking about power relations in international studies. Habitus refers to a person’s taken-for-granted, unreflected—hence largely habitual—way of thinking and acting. The habitus is a “structuring structure” shaping understandings, attitudes, behavior, and the body. It is formed through the accumulated experience of people in different fields. Using fields to study the social world is to acknowledge that social life is highly differentiated. A field can be exceedingly varied in scope and scale. A family, a village, a market, an organization, or a profession may be conceptualized as a field provided it develops its own organizing logic around a stake at stake. Each field is marked by its own taken-for-granted understanding of the world, implicit and explicit rules of behavior, and valuation of what confers power onto someone: that is, what counts as “capital.” The analysis of power through the habitus/field makes it possible to transcend the distinctions between the material and the “ideational” as well as between the individual and the structural. Moreover, working with habitus/field in international studies problematizes the role played by central organizing divides, such as the inside/outside and the public/private; and can uncover politics not primarily structured by these divides. Developing research drawing on habitus/field in international studies will be worthwhile for international studies scholars wishing to raise and answer questions about symbolic power/violence.

The body in group analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bracha Hadar
Keyword(s):  
Group Analysis ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bodily Sensations ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Embodied History

This article explores the history of the exclusion/inclusion of the body in group analytic theory and practice. At the same time, it aims to promote the subject of the body in the mind of group analysts. The main thesis of the article is that sitting in a circle, face-to-face, is a radical change in the transition Foulkes made from psychoanalysis to group analysis. The implications of this transition have not been explored, and in many cases, have been denied. The article describes the vicissitudes of relating group analysis to the body from the time of Foulkes and Anthony’s work until today. The article claims that working with the body in the group demands that the conductor gives special attention to his/her own bodily sensations and feelings, while at the same time remaining cognizant of the fact that each of the participants is a person with a physical body in which their painful history is stored, and that they may be dissociated because of that embodied history. The thesis of the article is followed by a clinical example. The article ends with the conclusion that being in touch with one’s own body demands a lot of training.

Stress and Coping Strategies

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-487
Author(s):  
S. Suresh
Keyword(s):  
Performance Appraisal ◽  
The Body ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
Organizational Life ◽  
Coping With Stress ◽  
Health Maintenance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Strategies ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Coping

Stress is believed to be a state of the mind as well as the body, created by certain biochemical reactions in the human body as well as psychological responses to situations, and is reflected by a sense of anxiety, tension and depression and is caused by such demands by the environmental forces or internal forces that cannot be met by the resources available to the person. The greater the gap between the demands and the resources, the greater is the degree of stress. Some of the individual strategies for coping with stress include: readjustment of life goals, support from family and friends, planning certain events of life in advance and keeping the body in good physiological shape by proper diet, exercise, yoga, meditation and biofeedback. Some of the organizational strategies for coping with stress include organized health maintenance facilities as a part of the organizational life, matching of employees qualifications with job requirements, job enrichment and job work redesigns, equitable performance appraisal and reward systems, participation in organizational decision making and building team spirit in the sense that there should be no interpersonal conflict within the group. All these strategies or a combination thereof should be applied to make the work environment less stressful to a level which is positive and challenging.

Is Music an Archaic Form of Thinking?

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimmo Lehtonen
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
The Body ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Central Idea ◽  
Thinking Processes ◽  
Daniel Stern ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Interpersonal Dimension ◽  
Developmental Phases

The central idea of this article is based on the assumption that there is a close parallel between the forms of music and ‘archaic’ forms of thinking. The article discusses the Piagetian developmental model of assimilation and accommodation processes and their resemblance to the increasing and decreasing inner tensions caused by music. At the most general, pervasive level, music can be viewed as being parallel to bodily experienced, non-verbal forms of meaning, and, as such, may be described as ‘archaic thinking’. This dimension of musical experience is common to all known cultures, and it is similar to the body schemas and ‘bodily forms of thinking’ of an infant. Forms of ‘archaic thinking’ as a hierarchy are also discussed. Theories concerning the different developmental phases of thinking are considered. The cognitive and psychoanalytical theories of Eva Basch-Kahre shed new light on the phenomenon of music, as do the infant developmental research and writings of Daniel Stern. Basch-Kahre distinguishes different forms of thinking according to the different developmental stages of the individual, e.g. chaotic, emotional-sensomotoric and operational thinking processes. Stern considers developmental stages of the infant in an interpersonal dimension, the dynamic processes of which manifest ‘musically’, or in ‘musical’ forms. This author's thesis is that, by using music and musical symbols in the therapeutic situation, for example, it is possible to meet and address all these developmental stages within the individual.

Mind-Body Dualism in the Textual Record

2019 ◽  
pp. 100-140
Author(s):  
Edward Slingerland
Keyword(s):  
Weak Form ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Individual Self

The xin is most commonly characterized in pre-Qin texts as a locus of thought and decision making, sometimes linked to cognition or moral emotions like worry or compassion, but primarily concerned with what we could very well call “reason.” Especially once we enter the Warring States, it is represented as at most only vaguely located in the body, with an extremely tenuous relationship to both the body itself and other bodily parts. It is reasonable to describe the xin as metaphysical, somehow free of the limitations of the physical world. Focusing on the term xin (heart, heart-mind, mind), this chapter uses qualitative textual analysis to make the case that early Chinese texts were written by people who embraced, at least implicitly, a “weak” form of mind-body dualism. This includes the idea that the mind is at least somewhat immaterial, qualitatively different from the other organs, and the seat of reason, free will, and the individual self.

scholarly journals Interactions between Personality and Types of Mindfulness Practice in Reducing Burnout in Mental Health Professionals

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 6721
Author(s):  
Raquel Ruiz-Íñiguez ◽  
Ana Carralero Montero ◽  
Francisco A. Burgos-Julián ◽  
Justo Reinaldo Fabelo Roche ◽  
Miguel A. Santed
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mindfulness Practice ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Registration Number ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind

Research on mindfulness-based interventions reports mainly on improvements at the group level. Thus, there is a need to elaborate on the individual differences in their effectiveness. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to examine which personality factors could influence burnout reduction associated with different types of mindfulness practice and (2) to evaluate the interaction between personality factors and the amount of home practice; both aims were controlled for sociodemographic characteristics. A total of 104 Cuban mental health professionals, who participated in a crossover trial, were included. The effect of personality (Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors) was analyzed through regression analysis. First, the results revealed that Emotional Stability and Vigilance could negatively moderate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions. Second, participants who scored low in Sensitivity or Vigilance could benefit more from the body-centered practices (i.e., body scan and Hatha yoga practices), but no significant results for the mind-centered practices (i.e., classical meditation) were found. Third, participants who scored high in Self-reliance could benefit more from informal practice. Other personality factors did not appear to moderate the effect of the interventions, though previous experience in related techniques must be considered. Recommendations and clinical implications are discussed. Trial registration number is NCT03296254 (clinicaltrials.gov).

scholarly journals Ken Donald and Muscular Christianity

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Mark Loane
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Physical Development ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Public ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
The World ◽  
Muscular Christianity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind

?MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY? was a system which relied upon sport to allow people to grow in a moral and spiritual way along with their physical development. It was thought that . . . in the playing field boys acquire virtues which no books can give them; not merely daring and endurance, but, better still temper, self restraint, fairness, honor, unenvious approbation of another?s success, and all that ?give and take? of life which stand a man in good stead when he goes forth into the world, and without which, indeed, his success is always maimed and partial [Kingsley cited from Haley, in Watson et al].1 This system of thought held that a man?s body is given him to be trained and brought into subjection and then used for the protection of the weak, the advancement of all righteous causes [Hughes, cited in Watson et al].1 The body . . . [is] . . . a vehicle by which through gesture the soul could speak [Blooomfield, cited in Watson et al].1 In the 1800s there was a strong alignment of Muscular Christianity and the game of Rugby: If the Muscular Christians and their disciples in the public schools, given sufficient wit, had been asked to invent a game that exhausted boys before they could fall victims to vice and idleness, which at the same time instilled the manly virtues of absorbing and inflicting pain in about equal proportions, which elevated the team above the individual, which bred courage, loyalty and discipline, which as yet had no taint of professionalism and which, as an added bonus, occupied 30 boys at a time instead of a mere twenty two, it is probably something like rugby that they would have devised. [Dobbs, cited in Watson et al]1 The idea of Muscular Christianity came from the Greek ideals of athleticism that comprise the development of an excellent mind contained within an excellent body. Plato stated that one must avoid exercising either the mind or body without the other to preserve an equal and healthy balance between the two.

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