Odysseus’s Apologoi and Narrative Therapy

2020 ◽  
pp. 87-114
Author(s):  
Joel P. Christensen

This chapter discusses how Odysseus, in the telling of his own tales, may function as a poetic representation of the stages of necessary therapeutic intervention, rather than a clinical record of a patient in treatment. It argues that Odysseus's narrative shares many features with one psychological intervention, the modern counseling approach called Narrative Therapy. The Odyssey shows Odysseus using his tale of travels in order to revise his own past among the Phaeacians, ultimately re-authoring his tale and creating a sense of identity that prepares him to act in the future. This process is therapeutic for the epic's audiences as well, insofar as it advances concerns about agency and human identity explored in the epic's first few books and models the ways in which identities and concepts of action are constructed through narrative. Through Odysseus's story, the epic affirms that people can be affected negatively by their experiences, that controlling narrative is an important part of agency, and that problematic worldviews can, in fact, be rehabilitated through action and speech.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Forde ◽  
S. Peters ◽  
A. Wittkowski

Abstract Background Postpartum psychosis is a rare, yet severe disorder, in which early identification and immediate intervention are crucial. Despite recommendations for psychological input, little is known about the types of psychological intervention reported to be helpful. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences, needs and preferences for psychological intervention from the perspective of women with postpartum psychosis and from the perspective of family members. Methods Thirteen women and eight family members, including partners were interviewed. The data from these semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and inductively analysed using thematic analysis. Results Twelve subthemes were identified and then organised around three main themes: 1) Seeking safety and containment, 2) Recognising and responding to the psychological impact and 3) Planning for the future. These themes highlight the temporal element of recovery from postpartum psychosis, because women’s psychological needs and preferences changed over time. Emphasis was initially placed on ensuring safety, followed by a need to connect, process and adjust to their experiences. Additional needs were reported by women and family when planning for the future, including managing the fear of relapse and help to reach a decision about future pregnancies. Conclusion The results illustrate a range of areas in which psychological intervention could be delivered to facilitate and enhance recovery. Further research is needed to develop meaningful and effective psychological interventions and to investigate the most appropriate timing for this to be offered.


2020 ◽  
pp. 115-148
Author(s):  
Joel P. Christensen

This chapter explores the creation of narrative agency by examining Odysseus's lies in the second half of the Odyssey from a perspective informed by correspondence and coherence in memory. The lying tales offer a continuing although coded probing of the relationship between the self, internal motivation, external action, and an evaluation of consequences. Odysseus's storytelling changes from reflective of his own experiences to manipulative of his addressees and, finally, in addresses to the suitors in particular, predictive of future actions. In an important way, this pattern continues the process of Narrative Therapy, as Odysseus continues to re-author his past in order to predict and act in the future. But this process also entails a complex negotiation between the correspondence of narrative details, which may be shared by a community, and the agent's need for coherence. The chapter's reading of the lies echoes what others have said — that they are instruments by which he achieves his psychological homecoming — but also argues that they have other functions as well in helping to distinguish Odysseus's character further and in providing insights for the Homeric understanding of the interdependence between storytelling and the working of human minds.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Uzzell

The stories we tell ourselves about our beginnings are a vital part of our sense of identity and belonging. For Druids living in the UK those stories tend to be deeply rooted in a sense of connectedness with the landscape and with the ‘Ancestors’, usually situated in an imagined and often idealized pre-Christian past. Since the time of William Stukeley, himself associated with the Druid Revival of the Eighteenth Century; the Druids have been associated in the popular romantic imagination with the ancient burial mounds that proliferate in the landscape. The fact that this association is not historically correct has done little to weaken its power. This paper will focus on the construction, in recent years, of a number of barrows, mimicking the Neolithic monuments, and designed to take human cremated remains in niches built into the construction. The fact that this initiative has proved hugely popular with Druids, but also with many others testifies to the power that the barrows hold over the imagination. Why is this? What stories are being told about the barrows, and do those stories have to say about connections to ‘deep time’, to the land, to each other, to community and to the future.


1999 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Garner

Aims and MethodsThis report was prepared as the basis for wider consultation within the Old Age Faculty and the College. Some literature and practice is reviewed and practical suggestions made for the future in this area.ResultsAlthough older patients are less likely to be refused for psychological intervention attitudes are slowly changing.Clinical implicationsThe clinical implications of this development include a greater consideration of the unique emotional life of each of our patients and an improved understanding of our reluctance to engage in psychotherapeutic work with older people.


2018 ◽  
pp. 60-71
Author(s):  
З. В. Шевченко

Philosophical anthropology proceeds from understanding the essence of man as a fundamentally open, unfinished entity in its formation. But it was just such a formation that the representatives of philosophical anthropology understood differently: some saw certain stages, stages of such formation, some distinguished certain classification types, and only in recent decades more and more anthropologists have drawn attention to multiple identities as anthropological characteristics of man. Anthropology, in this case, seeks objective, mainly natural, grounds for such a plurality: the splitting of subjectivity, for example, should not appear as an accursedness of chance, a psychiatric anomaly, but on the contrary - as a hidden mechanism, which gives the appearance of singularity to the surface of consciousness. Such a fundamentality of the anthropological approach is determined by most of its advantages, but it is precisely it that explains certain limits and even, in a sense, shortcomings, to identify which called philosophical anthropology - in any case, as the basic theory and methodology of the study of multiple identity of the individual.Life is heterogeneous, and therefore identity can not be homogeneous - as long as it is the identity of the living person, and not its image, created by the researchers as a certain codified version of the interpretation of this personality.Modern anthropologists, such as the French researchers Philippe Descola and Jean-Marie Schaeffer, focus on the specificity, certainty of human existence more than on its openness, uncertainty. For Descola the question is in defining of certain types of sociality that create the preconditions for the formation of different types of human identity. While Schaeffer goes much further and criticizes the metaphysical foundations of the monologue definition of human nature as the false in its basis, it is the false thesis of the exclusivity of man among all living forms.Deskola sees basic natural certainty of human peculiarities, but only takes into account existing and past versions of human identity. Future versions of human identity should also be taken into account, but this is somewhat problematic on a biological basis. Biology can only capture new versions of personality identity, but it is unlikely that they can be foreseen. However, everything that can be said about human identity has once arisen, that is, it just never existed. If Schaeffer’s critique of metaphysics and phenomenology is perfect in its orientation to the present and the past, then it clearly breaks down about the future. However, in the future, one can hardly expect the negation of most of the existing biological characteristics of a person – rather, we should talk about their very gradual, piecemeal improvement.Returning to the original contrasting theories of personality and the theory of social systems, it can be argued that theories of personality, which tend to humanitarian, interpretive interpretation of values, are closer to transcendentalist version of philosophical anthropology; however, the naturalistic version represented by Schaeffer, corresponds to the functional demands of social system theories and more rigid and invariant approaches of social sciences. Despite all the achievements of the natural sciences, one shouldn’t forget that they only realize the possibilities of actually proving counter-factual values that humanities give them. Thus, dehumanization of modern science does not appear as a world trend, but only as another challenge to the humanities. They have experienced a great number of such challenges – and giving each time new impetus for the development of natural sciences.Contradiction of transcendental and naturalistic approaches within the framework of philosophical anthropology should be regarded as somewhat conditional. In particular, both approaches provide sufficient grounds for substantiating the multiple identity of the individual. However, each of these approaches emphasizes the other aspect of the multiple identity of the individual: the transcendental one – the ability to create new versions of the identity of the person in the future, and the naturalistic one – on the classification, combinatorial opportunity to consider multiple identities in its actual diversity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 1059-1060
Author(s):  
Tara Matta

Abstract Dementia, a devastating neurodegenerative disease with over 10 million new diagnoses each year, is characterized by many symptoms including memory loss .Individuals with memory less experience changes in mood, personality, behavior, cognition and activities of daily living which affect their daily lives. These monumental life shifts often occur rapidly, leaving caregivers unprepared to deal with the changes. Caregivers face a unique situations navigating anticipatory grief and changes in their relationships with their loved ones. Current psychological intervention for caregivers includes utilization of cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychoeducation. More recently, intriguing research has emerged regarding the efficacy of narrative therapy for couples where one partner experiences memory loss. However, treating the anticipatory grief component specifically for caregivers has been largely overlooked in these studies. Narrative therapy revolves around identifying the current story that caregivers utilize as their cognitive framework, helping to find alternative plotlines and to process their newly-built cognitive framework. It involves externalizing the problem (in this case, dementia) and locating strengths that the caregiver and their care receiver share to “fight” the problem. Insights from both the current literature and the field have demonstrated a promising outlook on the use of narrative therapy. Such insights imply a need for more research regarding this modality specifically for caregivers, as its core ideas can be easily disseminated to gerontologists, mental health professionals and caregivers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6
Author(s):  
Maria Annarumma

The great catastrophes of humanity – be it the plague of 1347 or that of 1629, the Spanish flu of 1918, the tsunami of 2004, the Coronavirus of 2020 – are all showing that, despite scientific progress or the arrogance of the "Promethean syndrome", the human being is constantly in danger. Violently and unexpectedly dropped in an atypical situation, which has subverted values and annihilated ancient certainties, we keep convincing ourselves that nothing will be the same. We try to hypothesize scenarios, outline reference frames, look ahead to the future. Probably, after the first months of austerity, of virtuous assertions about moral commitments to restore the frugality of customs as well as considerations about the sense of death and destiny, we will be carried away by the joy of having survived and we just would like to forget what happened. We will be rejecting the memory of suffering, bereavement, hospitals and intensive care. We will try to forget painful traces and go back to saying yes to life.


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