self expression

[Karen Carnabucci]

I find this discussion interesting also and wish I had more time to
compose my thoughts and put them in typewritten form. This is a question
that has come up -- directly and subtly -- in training groups. Here are
a few things I want to add to the discussion "salad":

In addition to making statements, perhaps we can also ask some
questions...

What part or experiences of myself do I want to express?
What part or experiences of myself do I want to experiment in expressing
that is outside of my comfort zone (It may be easy to attack, as Rebecca
notes in her latest post, but what is not so easy to express?)
What part of myself do I want to/am I willing to express in a safe and
structured situation? 

Etc.

Karen Carnabucci, MSS, LCSW, TEP
Companions In Healing
 
Lake House Health &  Learning Center
932 Lake Ave.
Racine, WI 53403
 
(262) 633-2645
karen at companionsinhealing.com
 
www.lakehousecenter.com

 

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at grouptalkweb.org
[mailto:list-bounces at grouptalkweb.org] On Behalf Of HV Psychodrama
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 7:24 PM
To: georgia rigg; Erica Hollander; list at grouptalkweb.org
Subject: Re: self expression

I am remembering a group in which a very disturbed man was the group
chosen protagonist. I did a simple social atom with him. He adored being
the 'sun in the center of by universe" and had the chance to be the
center of attention is a spontaneous and unpathological way. It shifted
the way the group saw him. I see that in the children with whom I work.
I have also seem people labeled sociopathic respond well to the gentle
confrontation from being appropriately doubled.
  Sociometry plays a big part in this. There is a lot of healing as
people 'work through' their sociometric challenges. Pathological self
expression can shift into more spontaneous self expression. The big
problem is with such short treatment models there isn't time to discover
and uncover a good deal of the less obvious sociometric connections and
fissures, let alone intervene.
      Last Wednesday was the first time in years where we had several
girls on the adolescent unit who had been there long enough to develop
some trust with me and with other.  They had been terribly destructive
with one another as only young adolescent girls can be, jockeying for
who is in and who is out, being brutally 'self expressive'. By the end
of some sociodrama and some sociometry ( who do you trust and why..who
do you wish trusted you more and why...) we ended up with some heart
felt recognition of hurtful behavior, apologies and a commitment to
dealing differently (with more
spontaneity) than before. I will find out in a few days if it worked.



----- Original Message -----
From: "georgia rigg" <georgiaarigg at yahoo.com>
To: "HV Psychodrama" <hvpi at hvc.rr.com>; "Erica Hollander" 
<ericahollander at comcast.net>; <list at grouptalkweb.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: self expression


> Hi Rebecca, Erica, Adam, and all, I ask us to consider
> the concept of empathy in this as well.  What is the
> purpose of self-expression?  To be more of the group?
> To be more separate from the group?  To be included
> and appreciated in the group as a Self?  How many of
> us have had the experience of (I like this term!),
> pathological self epression--realizing that we felt
> very low empathy for the person, as did the group, and
> the person did not notice the lack of connection.  I
> think a lot in terms of my blend of psychodrama and
> psychomotor therapy, and contact with other humans is
> a vital ingredient in anything I do.  Georgia
> --- HV Psychodrama <hvpi at hvc.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear Erica,
>>     I think you are articulating this very well. I
>> also deal with some very
>> disturbed people whose 'self expression' has been
>> extremely damaging to
>> others. If we take into account the concept of
>> spontaneity things get
>> clearer. Spontaneity is something we
>> psychodramatists value highly. So is
>> self expression. But just as there can be
>> pathological spontaneity, which I
>> suspect likes a lot like impulsiveness, there can be
>> pathological self
>> expression.
>> Rebecca
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Erica Hollander" <ericahollander at comcast.net>
>> To: <list at grouptalkweb.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 6:19 PM
>> Subject: self expression
>>
>>
>> > Adam and others,
>> > As to what I had in mind when mentioning that some
>> self expression
>> > can be destructive, I was thinking of the horrible
>> shooting at the
>> > Governor's mansion in CO last week.  A young man
>> walked in in a tux,
>> > declared himself Emperor, and threatened the use
>> of a gun several
>> > times.  He was killed by security officers.  Just
>> an example.
>> > Adam, I do not disagree with anything you say,
>> but do not find it
>> > answers my query.  Do you agree that self
>> expression is generally a
>> > good thing in therapy?  I think most of us would.
>> But I am not at
>> > all sure that affirmation from others is all that
>> that is about.
>> > Clearly it is about that sometimes.  I don't know
>> quite what I am
>> > looking for by way of an answer, but something
>> seems lacking still.
>> > I guess you could also say that helping others is
>> therapeutic or
>> > behaving well is therapeutic or doing good is
>> therapeutic, or that
>> > prayer is therapeutic, or meditation, and maybe
>> all those things are,
>> > but isn't self expression the very basic idea that
>> we work toward in
>> > psychodrama all the time?  And it has its limits,
>> in evil, in
>> > maladaptive behaviors, as we are saying.  But is
>> self expression not
>> > what we are after when we say "stay a half step
>> behind the
>> > protagonist"?  We are looking to the process to
>> free the person
>> > inside the problem from the problem in a sense.
>> So we have some
>> > faith in the notion that the person within will be
>> healthy if
>> > expressed.  That isn't always the case, as Georgia
>> points out.  Yet I
>> > have found in my work with sex offenders that I
>> have no more reason
>> > to worry about their self expression in the group
>> than in any other
>> > groups I work with.    Perhaps I am not
>> articulating this well.
>> > Muddling through.  erica
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
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>> > List at grouptalkweb.org
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