MetaFilter posts tagged with Psychoanalysis

Aaron Beck & Cognitive Therapy

Non Prosequitur — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:05:20 -0800

“The psychoanalytic mystique was overwhelming. It was a little bit like the evangelical movement.” How Aaron Beck and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helped increase empiricism in psychotherapy.

The Concept of Internal Cohabitation

memebake — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:36:09 -0800

Each person has one mind, right? Wrong, according to the Concept of Internal Cohabitation - we are all born with two autonomous, sentient minds. One of them can think rationally and relate to other people, and one of them is fundamentally negative in outlook, and opposed to relating. Both minds watch the world through our senses, but compete for control of the body. But if this is indeed the case, why is it not common knowledge? How could such a fundamental aspect of human nature go unnoticed for so long? The answer is twofold. The second, non-relational mind hates to be recognised or seen. It frequently acts covertly, influencing the actions of the relational mind and leaving it thinking that it is the only mind making choices. When the non-relational mind does take complete control of the body, it may well wreak havoc, but the relational mind is left thinking that it was responsible. After such an incident, someone might well explain that they had 'lost control'. The other part of the answer is that it hasn't gone unnoticed; the duality of humans has long been recognised, which is why it is such an enduring theme in art, literature and film. Jeykll and Hyde, the Incredible Hulk, Gollum and Smeagol, Anakin and Darth Vader, and Fight Club all fascinate us with their dualistic stories. Consider also many idioms of speech: "In two minds", "Out of one's mind", "singleminded determination". Do these stories and phrases all point to a deeper truth? The Concept of Internal Cohabitation has been developing in psychotherapy circles for about 15 years. Terminology around the subject can get complicated, because our language usually assumes one mind per body. In psychotherapy papers on the subject, 'the patient' normally refers to the relational mind, and 'the co-habitee' or 'co-habiting other mind' refers to the non-relational mind. The psychotherapy material suggests that in 'normal' humans, the actions of the non-relational mind may be fairly subtle - the odd bit of irrational behaviour, minor addictions, the occasional act of self sabotage. In 'mentally ill' humans, the distinction and contract between the two minds is much greater - as in psychosis, paranoid schizophrenia, etc. As the sitation of two minds in one body is considered to be permanent, there can be no question of 'removing' or 're-integrating' the non-relational mind. Instead, "treatment is conceived of as fostering the development in the patient of a genuine capability for making decisions in life which adequately take account of the needs of his own mind and that of his cohabiting other mind. This is complicated by the fact that the other mind never wants what he needs and hates anyone having his needs met including his own. This does not preclude having those needs met but it does mean that the process of working out how to do this requires a great deal of detailed knowledge of both minds." Internal Cohabitation is referenced in many psychotherapy journal articles, but there are very few mentions of it on free-to-view internet pages. Here is a selection of links to papers, unfortunately none of them free: Who is the mad voice inside? (Dr M Sinason, 1993) Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Vol 7 Part 3 (A longer version of the essay linked to at the top of this post) Cohabitation and the negative therapeutic reaction (Richards, 1993) Psychoanalytic psychotherapy Vol 7 Part 3 p 223-39 Clinical application of the concept of Internal Cohabitation (Jenkins, 1999) British Journal of Psychotherapy Vol 16 Part 1 p27-42 How can you keep your hair on? (Sinason, M, 1999) Publiched in Psychosis (Madness), edited by Paul Williams, Institute of Psychoanalysis, London Art Therapy And The Concept Of Internal Cohabitation (Wright, 2004) International Journal of Art Therapy, Volume 9, Issue 1 Living with an internal other: an extended review of psychoanalysis, identity and ideology (Tower, 2005) Psychotherapy and Politics International, Volume 3 Issue 1 Narcoleptic States in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (Richards, 2007) British Journal of Psychotherapy, Volume 11 Issue 4 Psychodynam ic Practice, Special issue, February 2007 Psychodynamic Practice Volume 13, Number 1 - a special issue containing 4 papers and an editorial on the subject of Internal Cohabitation. Paranoia about the existence of an internal other - a serious clinical and social problem - A talk given by Dr Sinason at the Tavistock clinic in March 2007. The talk is not online but this page has a summary of the talks that day. The most complete free link available is Dr Sinason's essay Who is the Mad Voice Inside?, the main link at the top of this post.

"I think that the mad voice inside is someone who is conceived at the same time as the patient and shares the same sex as the patient since they share the same body. Living all of his life out of sight and out of the mind of others the cohabiting other mind becomes attached to his isolation and hates to be seen. He never has his own name and will hate any name that anyone gives him. The profound isolation and abandonment which is intrinsic to his experience gives rise to autoerotic preoccupation with bodily sensations and an extreme negativism in relation to the human interpersonal environment. The mind of the cohabiting other is impaired by his preference for relating to body experiences rather than the interpersonal world. This leads to difficulties in language development and emotional processing so that this internal other being has a very different childhood from the patient."

Now, assuming that the Concept of Internal Cohabitation is correct, then bear in mind that while you have been reading this, your co-habiting other mind may also have been reading it, and quite possibly misunderstanding large parts of it on your behalf. So if you are now feeling that this idea is 'crazy', or you are feeling angry or feel like dismissing the whole idea out of hand, it could be that you are experiencing interference from your cohabiting mind.

Enlightenment Therapy

homunculus — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:24:53 -0800

Enlightenment Therapy: How a Zen master found the light (again) on the analyst’s couch. [Via]

The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination

jrb223 — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:35:53 -0800

"The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination was established to promote an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of creativity and the imaginative process." To this end they hold regular roundtable discussions, streaming videos of which are available online. Some past highlights include: Psychogeography: The Landscapes of Memory (featuring Andre Aciman, Vito Acconci, and Russell Epstein)
Paraphilias (featuring Arnold Davidson, Richard Krueger, Linda Williams, and Susan Winemaker)
The Body and its Image (featuring Marina Abramovic, Paul Campos, Marcel Kinsbourne, and Sabine Wilhelm)
Hypergraphia and Hypographia: Two Diseases of the Written Word (featuring Alice Flaherty, Alan Jacobs, Jonathan Lethem, Francis Levy, and Pedro Reyes)
The Presumption of Rationality: Psychological Challenges to Legal Certainty (featuring Peter Brooks, Carol Gilligan, Nomi Stolzenberg, and Kenji Yoshino)

Žižek!

homunculus — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:00:20 -0800

"Žižek!" is a feature documentary exploring the eccentric personality and esoteric work of the "wild man of theory": the eminent Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7. Democracy Now! did a two-part interview with Žižek which concluded today: Part 1, Part 2. His latest book is "In Defense of Lost Causes". Žižek was previsouly discussed here and here.

Psych class last place to look for Freud

AceRock — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 15:47:47 -0800

Freud Is Widely Taught at Universities, Except in the Psychology Department.

Russian Psychoanalytic Art Mystery

themadjuggler — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 02:49:04 -0800

"This was painted by a person with a rare and severe mental disorder. He was constantly seeing his own fantasies all around him. He also had a certain phobia..." (via Digg). The image is an imperfect reproduction of a particular postcard dated 1972. A blogger (in Russian) claims his psychiatry professor found one aspect of this eerie painting that reveals the patient's disorder. Allegedly, only one of his students in the past 15 years has figured it out. The psychoanalytic mystery has piqued the interest (in Russian) of the online community. A number of supplemental hints from the professor and thousands of guesses later, the case remains unsolved. Skeptics have already decried the mystery as a traffic-boosting hoax, but a few signs still point to its authenticity. Most notably, the artist's reproduction of another classic painting contains the following note: "transferred in 1990 from Moscow mental hospital."

A Century of Pyschoanalysis

trinarian — Mon, 08 May 2006 11:51:27 -0800

Reflections on Psychoanalysis: 150 Years.

Happiness Machines

gsb — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:43:01 -0800

The Century Of The Self. It's a documentary, and the four parts are available at archive.org [2][3][4] -- with a higher quality bittorrent option [via mindhacks]. The program is about the use of psychoanalytical techniques to manipulate and control the "bewildered herd", "engineering consent" in a world fraught with "irrational impulses" [more inside].

PervertFilter

Gyan — Sat, 08 May 2004 09:40:19 -0800

If the Marquis de Sade were alive today, would he have a web site? (Front page OK, rest of site: make up your own mind).