Beethovenälskare..

Här en som gillar Beethoven och som övar flitigt!! :-)

Om Beethoven kan man läsa här till exempel. Och här intressant om honom på engelska (here interesting about Beethoven in English), där det bland annat står att han växte upp med en fysiskt och mentalt kränkande pappa!!

Och om jag förstod det rätt led Beethoven också av blyförgiftning!?

Här filmer där man använt Beethovens musik!?

Tillägg: Beethoven var väldigt kort enligt en av sidorna jag refererar till, bara 162 cm och han dog i skrumplever om jag förstod diagnosen rätt. Drack han för mycket tro? Tydligen led han också av depressioner.

Han är känd för att ha kämpat enormt med sitt komponerande. Hade inte alls lika lätt som Mozart, som i stort sett bara skrev ner sina kompositioner. Det finns en massa skisser till Beethovens verk med en massa ändringar... Enormt självkritisk?

Han skulle ha studerat för Mozart, men fick ett brådskande telegram att hans mamma var sjuk. När Beethoven väl var fri från förpliktelser, var Mozart död. Så Beethoven studerade för Joseph Haydn istället. Hans första pianosonater är ganska typiskt klassiska och de första tre är dedicerade till just Joseph Haydn. Han skrev 32 pianosonater.

Fotot till vänster är på en ganska ung Beethoven. Och foto till höger är på Joseph Haydn.

Even more about the brain…

Bosch writes at page 54 in her book:

“There are several ways to deny the truth. We [PRI] define three. All of them serve to substitute another reality for what is the truth: False Hope, False Power (Anger or Denial of Needs) and the Primary Defence [they mean that all people use all these defences to different degrees, but we prefer some before others. Women usually False Hope, False Power Denial of Needs and admits more to the Primary defence. Men usually use False Power Anger, False Power Denial of Needs and, without admitting it, Primary Defence]. All three defence-mechanisms helped the child we were to survive childhood, and all three continue to operate when we are adults. However, when we are adults we don’t need them anymore. The past is over and knowing the truth isn’t life-threatening anymore, although it was when we were children [and although it still feels life-threatening, when we really are confronted with these feelings from past events we couldn’t process then].

Unfortunately our mind doesn’t recognize this. Every time we come across a Symbol (anything that reminds us unconsciously of the past) our consciousness shifts from the adult state to the childhood state.

LeDoux’s brain research explains how this mechanism works on a neurological level. A part of our brain, the amygdala, has a special function concerning threatening events [and they trigger the defence mechanism we used as children]. When something threatening happens the memory of that event is stored in the amygdala. The amygdala is able to operate independently from the part of our brain that is more rational and so memories of threatening events are stored in the amygdala without our rational brain necessarily being aware of it. The amygdala functions as a storage place for strongly loaded emotional memories. This storage process has an explicit survival function /…/

… many events the amygdala still has ‘on file’ have become outdated, since they were threatening to us when we were children, but are no longer to us as adults [and thus cause unnecessary problems, sometimes causing us great troubles]/…/

Everytime the amygdala sounds alarm it is because something is working as a Symbol (it reminds us/our amygdala of something threatening in the past), and as a result we go into Childhood Consciousness: reacting to the present as if it were the past [and reacting in a ‘childish manner’, as the child reacted then!?].”

We have learned to switch so immediately between Adult and Childhood consciousness that we are often not even aware of that's what’s happening.

What was life-saving then has become a problem now. We are more or less unable to process difficult events in the present properly, and some of them not at all... With all what that means for our life now...

About neocortex, hippocampus, and the amygdala in English. Brain-info here.

Om neocortex, hippocampus, reptilhjärnan och amygdala på svenska.

More about the brain…

Just some morning-thoughts I just had to get out, need to pour out. I am still wondering a lot about phenomena occurring in society, the world, in forums, in debates etc. Ideas that are opportune today, and why they are. Because I think many of them are horrible… And not least the way of passing these ideas further. Triggered this morning when I once again skimmed what Miller has written on "Child mistreatment, Child abuse - What is it?" and the role Enlightened Witnesses can play.

Bosch writes at page 46 in her book:

“LeDoux’s research illustrate that certain information is repressed in a place not accessible to our conscious mind, and influences our behavior without our conscious awareness of it.

A part of our brain that plays a major part in this process is the amygdala, an important part of our brain when it comes to strong fearful emotions. The amygdala is the part of the brain that stores the memories of strong, fear-producing experiences, without needing to be connected to or communicating with the neo-cortex, that part of the brain involved in conscious and more rational processing. The amygdala, therefore, is capable of storing emotional experiences of which we have never been fully conscious, resulting in Repression and the resulting divided consciousness.”

The reactions are immediate, and without consciousness involved, on triggers. We aren’t even aware what’s happening. Even if we (which try not to harm others consciously) have the best will in the world!! But we can ALL work on this and the knowledge is there for us all!! So this is never an excuse to harming others...

I have been thinking about how we have been raised… More or less authoritarian and totalitarian, which means learned to obey without questioning the treatment we endured, punished without even being informed about the crimes we have committed. Was the child so evil so she/he didn’t even deserve to know, born evil/with the devil?? Or worth to be treated without respect and without losing her/his dignity and human worthiness?

What can this result in later in life? If we don’t have the luck to encounter a helping witness of some kind? Or if the regime at home is so authoritarian and totalitarian?

So now, if and when people in power-positions, for example politicians (and later leaders for whole nations) use this way of speaking and behaving; very authoritarian, condemning (against certain groups), maybe even totalitarian (questioning, explanations information, cooperation isn’t allowed or hardly exists) this is applauded by these who were raised by very authoritarian people?? And if the society and leaders and politicians etc. gives the permission to use this style of behavior the more harmed praise these ideas??

And what we see as “rational” people and decisions, are they? Always? Or sometimes not at all? Even if they seem to be to many of us? And the ones expressing themselves with a lot of emotions are less reliable?

Less sound leaders what can they create? Who do they talk to, which now gets rights to play their unconscious sides out? Sides they aren’t aware of and denies? Denies more the more harmed they are and the less they are inclined to work with them? Or acknowledge their problems?

Who needs power and gets it? Why do they need it?

One use to say that power corrupts… And, I don’t know, maybe one has to be very strong and self-aware and sound/healthy to resist what comes with power? Which is no excuse at all for any power-abuse of maybe any kind?

How does one more effectively handle this as individual, when one joins debates in forums, blogs etc.? And does one handle it in the public debate if one goes into it or when one analyzes what people say in media, what media pass forward?

The less you have suppressed/repressed the better you can handle it I guess? Now I am thinking out loudly… I am searching for something… The clearer you see and perceive things and the world and phenomena… And can handle it more constructively!?

I think I will write more about this and more about the amygdala and the brain later!! :-)

See earlier blogpost about the brain. And what people in power-positions also use is playing on guilt-feelings some people have a lot of!?? Or some acknowledge more than others. To make them feel ashamed and quiet and "turning" their heads to the ground... And this method isn't only used unconsciously but also consciously I would say... And horribly many approves of this and why is that? See the recent blogposts about guilt and manipulation-brainwashing: "Guilt - part one" and "Guilt - part two".

Contempt for weakness, and needs for revenge on someone (a scapegoat/s because we are still so afraid of our early parents, so we can't react on them even now as adult and not power- or helpless as the small child we once was, but have to act these feelings of anger etc. out somewhere. The fear is still so enormous, stored in parts like the amygdala), and do it as violently as possible , even if it's "only" about emotional/psychological violence/abuse?? And in the wake also coarser physical and sexual violence occurs... And the amount of this also increases! (all rage we couldn't show or even feel then has to get some outlet, and usually we let all these feelings out on weaker. But this will never cure or heal us, only cover things up even more and make us even more distanced to our/the truth).

See the American neurologist J.H. Pincus on for example the criminal (serial killer) Trent Scaggs, and the other blogposts on his research about his findings on what creates the worse criminals and what upbringing "only" creates bigotry (trångsynthet)... All with authoritarian parents/caregivers, but more or less violently...

English word of today "the wake" which in the case above means "kölvattnet".

The pianist and composer Steve Dobrogosz...

Found Steve Dobrogosz' site! He has written music, jazz-influenced, which we use with our students. Fun and nice pieces. Here about him at Wikipedia. He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, and moved to Sweden 1978 when he was 22 years.

See for instance "The Keys" 24 short pieces in all keys. And another sheet with the piece "Resting place". You can listen to three of the pieces from "The Keys" and to "Resting Place" (in a version with oboe and piano) at this site, where you can down-load his music too including these pieces!! And he has also written three pieces for four-handed music in a sheet called "Marches" (Sand Castle Music), which are fun to play too! The first there is called "Month of March", the second "Middle March" and the third "Marching Hare".

A tip for the piano-teacher and piano-amateur! And for those who are only listeners.

PS. Dobrogosz visited my work-place maybe 20 years ago, together with a jazz-singer, before he had written any of the mentioned pieces...

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Eskil has upgraded his blog too! About relaxation, Nordic Walking, jogging and stretching!! :-) Things he is a master of (except then Nordic Walking!! :-)). With a photo of a cat that also knows what relaxation is - if Eskil isn't in the environment that is!!!

I want to quote the whole letter...

photo on Dr Phil added January 9, 2008.

I want to quote the whole letter I linked to in the previous post as it seems as this blog is going to be closed (but hopefully not rubbed from the net. Addition: I saw afterwards that it still exists on the net, which I am glad for):

"Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Dr. Phil’s House = Abu Ghrayb

(Updated 9/23 with info from the website at the bottom of this post)

When I wrote that letter to Dr. Phil last week and described his suggestion to take away a 3 ½ year old boy’s teddy bear because he talked to his mother a certain way, I had no idea that Dr. Phil was just getting started on what seems to be a season-long mission to make me practically blind with rage.

Today I had a few moments and I turned on the TV to see what Dr. Phil was talking about. He was talking with the parents of a child whose age I missed who for whatever reason doesn’t fall asleep in the “usual” way of being put in his bed, parent kissing him and closing the door, and then falling asleep without protest. I gathered that he climbs out of his bed, protests, or does something “bad”. There was some reference to his mother responding to this by letting him come to the kitchen and eat ice cream.

(I tried to log on to the website now to try to get the particulars I missed since I tuned in after the segment had already been introduced but the website is all tied up now because of his little “Prime Time Special” which I have decided is not worth watching.)

Dr Phil’s solution was absolutely disgusting, horrifying, infuriating. Remember my post on Crying and Sleeping? Remember the “leave them until they throw up and let them fall asleep in their vomit” routine? Remember the “enter the room coldly and don’t make eye contact” routine? Well, Dr. Phil not only advocated that, he went about two steps further.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, he said that if the screaming at bedtime is repeated, that each time they should go into the room (remember, stone-faced, no eye contact or talking) and just take something that is important to him such as his blanket or his lamp! THEN, (can you believe this goes on?!) he said “make sure he never sees the thing again”, so the next day you make a “ceremony” (Dr. Phil’s words, not mine) of taking the child and his prized possession to the local shelter and dropping that thing off as a donation.

!!!!!!!!!!!

He told the parents that this is what they “have to be prepared for”. He said “this is called socializing your child.” He said “it’s an eat what you kill world and if you don’t…[something like—do what you gotta do you’re not going to get anything in life]” and he used his little recurring phrase about “dealing in your child’s currency”.

@@@@@@@@@@!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not afraid to call this what it is: abusive. It’s emotional abuse and it’s absolutely unacceptable. It makes me wonder more and more why Dr. Phil is so adamantly anti-spanking. You know what, I don’t wonder anymore, I know why. Saying that he’s opposed to spanking is a cosmetic thing for his image, it makes him look like he’s gentle, or at least like he’s treading a middle path somehow.

But what he said today clears up all doubts as to his true position. Before maybe there was a small chance that he didn’t understand that Pooh Bear is the child’s beloved teddy bear and comfort object, that in the heat of the moment in the live, unscripted (?) interaction, he was in a hurry and didn’t reflect on what he was saying for a moment. (Although as I mentioned at the end of my letter it was only a sliver of a chance since those tapes were viewed over and over again and chosen carefully after lots of analyzing by producers and such.) Now there is no doubt in my mind that this man actually meant what he said and that he is, in fact, actually that cruel.

So be warned, all. Dr. Phil’s “Family First” may sound nice. He may have a few nice suggestions and soundbites here and there. But ultimately what he is about is rigid, unbending authoritarianism, emotional blackmailing and manipulation, even torture. Yes, parenting Dr Phil style is about having an Abu Ghrayb family. Do what we say, follow us, or we’ll throw all human rights conventions, all respect for human dignity and feelings, all religious, moral, and ethical considerations in the garbage can because the most important thing is that you do what we say when we say for you to do it even if it’s harmful, wrong, or it scares the crap out of you.

********************

UPDATE: I got on the website this morning and got the rest of the information on this child from this particular episode. He's 3 1/2 and here's what Dr. Phil proudly recounts on his website:

Dr. Phil instructs the couple to use commando parenting. "If you have to, cut the top half of his door off and lock the door from the outside so he cannot get out," he says.

When Tracy looks shocked, Dr. Phil continues, "You put him in there, he stays ... Then if he yells, ignore him. If you're worried, then get a little camera and put it in there."

Dr. Phil also explains that they should expect Christopher to be frustrated at first. "When he doesn't get what he wants anymore, you're going to pay," he warns. "First he'll throw a tantrum. Then he'll yell and scream. Then he'll say, 'I have to go to the bathroom. I'm sick.' He'll choke and gag and puke on the floor ... You have to be prepared to go there. Get him up, clean him off, put him in bed and go back out."

Dr. Phil suggests that they remove something that Christopher values when he doesn't listen. "Take away his toys. Take away his covers. Take away his blanket," he advises. "Whatever his currency is, he needs to know, 'When I do A I lose B.' ... On Saturday, take it to the shelter and give it to the poor children. He needs to know 'When I don't behave, my life goes away.' It's called socializing your child because that's how the world works."
Yeah, I'd say Tracey "looked shocked", her eyeballs just about fell out of her head each time he stated the "next step" in this torture regime. You can click on the little "slide show" and see her face.

And look how he tried to sanitize it just a little bit for his website! See above where its says "He'll choke and gag and puke on the floor ... You have to be prepared to go there." That ellipse (...) where he cut out something-- that's where he said you'll find the child "ASLEEP IN A POOL OF HIS OWN VOMIT".

On another page called "Advice for Getting Your Child to Do Anything" he recounts the exact words he used from part of the segment:

"Whatever his currency is, he needs to know, When I do A, I lose B.' Take it away and he doesn't see it again ... Make a ceremony out of it. On Saturday take it to the shelter and give it to the poor children." Once you understand what your child values, and you control the currency, then you shape the child.
There's more but it all just makes me too sick."

See this letter on Miller’s web about ”Terrifying nightmares of children”!!! (No wonder children have nightmares?) And if you treat a child like mentioned above no wonder she/he gets obedient!!!??? And I want to add that I dislike all Nanny-programs from deep in my heart, I think they use similar or even the same methods (as Dr Phil)...

Emotional abuse as harmful as corporal punishment?

See this interesting posting about ”An outdated worldview”, that little is said about how to improve attitudes to parenting worldwide, and about racist bigotry directed against Muslims, where it also for instance stands:

“[from a woman with the blog "A Muslim Mother's Thoughts"] … a letter to the television psychologist, Dr. Phil:

Quote:

Although I applaud your opposition to spanking and other physical punishments of children, I find the emotional manipulation you often recommend in its place to be equally harmful. ... ... your recommended punishment will cut to the core of the child's sense of well-being and will hurt him more intensely than any spanking [yes, what Dr. Phil recommends is nothing but manipulation, and thus maybe even more harmful than physical abuse, because it is more covered up!!?? I can't watch his programs at all... And thus more difficult to deal with and shake off? And more difficult to see? Made "for the child's own good" by perfect parents which never makes anything wrong, at least against their children, because they are said to love them!!?? If they really, genuinely loved and was capable of loving, and if they aren't truly that has reasons, then - what?].

In another post she explains that although Islamic scriptures contain contradictions about corporal punishment, they aren't as extreme as traditional Christian teachings:

Quote:

This is just so typical of arguments in favor of corporal punishment in which parents seek to dodge any responsibility for their children's behavior whatsoever. This view holds the parents to be godlike figures of perfection who have no responsibility to change themselves and that every problem lies with the children. They recoil in horror if any suggestion is made that a child's misbehavior is actually due to the parents' behavior or the family environment. Some authors have traced this very idea back to the Christian idea of the "Original Sin" and the idea that children are born stained with that "Sin" and therefore they are born inherently evil. Remember that in Islam we do not believe in the "Original Sin" being carried on into each individual and we believe that children are born, as the Prophet Salla l-laahu alayhi wa sallam said, on the 'fiTrah,' or 'of pure nature'."

Kroniskt trötthetssyndrom är en stressjukdom/Chronic fatigue is a stress-disease…

I en artikel i norska Dagbladet står det att ME eller kroniskt rötthetssyndrom är en stressjukdom. Se ACE-rapport nr. 4 om skadliga barndomserfarenheter och stress samt blogginlägg här om exhaustion/utmattning samt inte minst vad I. Bosch har skrivit om burn out.

I ACE-rapporten menar de att om man inte tar tänkbara skadliga/negativa barndomserfarenheter beräkningen vid behandling av dessa klienter kan behandlingen bli mindre lyckosam. Och jag undrar över kognitiv beteendeterapi, som förordas överallt, med hänsyn till senare tiders rön inom hjärnforskning... (dock detta är behandlingar som går snabbare, och därför också blir midre kostsamma och snabb, akut hjälp är kanske nödvändig, men... Kan DETTA också inverka i dess popularitet?).

Se också läsarbrev på Millers webb från en läsare som undrar om hormonell obalans och rädsla kan vara kopplade.

Och det är ganska bedrövligt hur det resoneras, med skuldbeläggning kring sjukskrivningar (av en massa som slår sig för bröstet skulle jag frankt vilja säga)... För de troligen duktiga, som nog redan skäms för sin "svaghet"... (se länken nedan till essä om att ingen är så säker som den som vet för litet, just dessa vet bäst? De som kan mest inser också hur litet de kan? Och är kanske inte alltid lika tvärsäkra? Och kanske mindre påstridiga än de som kan minst?).

Men var sitter denna "svaghet"?? Dessutom kan höga ambitioner (för att duga t.ex., även om detta är omedvetet hos individen ifråga, vilket det kan vara) resultera i annat än utmattning. Insikt om detta (hos både behandlare och klient är viktig och första steget, men det är bara början). Vilket ACE-studien också visat.

Liksom Anna Luise Kirkengens forskning.

En sjukgymnast (manlig) hade skrivit en insändare (som jag inte hittar på webben) i en lokaltidning i lördags om debatten kring utbrända, den i hans mening moralistiska. Han var ganska arg. Han jobbar med dylika patienter.

Han skriver bland annat i slutet av en ganska lång insändare att:

"Att strama upp sjukskrivningarna kan ju vara ett sätt att minska på sjukskrivningarna [skattesänkningar som måste finansieras överalltoch med alla medel, trots att sjukskrivningarna fortsätter att minska - och varför minskar de? Har folk blivit verkligt friskare?] och minska på kostnaderna, om det fungerar. Viktigt är då att inse att minskat ohälsotal inte är samma saker som minskad ohälsa. Man försöker arbeta fast man är sjuk helt enkelt. Detta ökar på det mänskliga lidandet och jag tror att det i värsta fall kan leda till ökat antal självmord.

Jag blir både arg och ledsen när jag läser Kickans [troligen tidigare insändare] åsikter. Ledsen då jag vet att många som idag är sjuka och som läser detta kommer att känna ökad skam över sin sjukskrivning. Arg blir jag då människor utan insikt i sjukdomsbilden, och som saknar empati, uttrycker åsikter som inte bara sårar utan också sprider denna åsikt hos fler.

Visst finns det säkert dem som utnyttjar systemet, men låt inte detta drabba de faktiskt sjuka genom att neka dem sjukskrivning när de av läkare diagnosticerats med stressrelaterad sjukdom. Att de gör roliga saker på sin fritid, som att anordna fester [vilket kanske tidigare refererad insändarskribent ondgjort sig över?] istället för att bara ligga i sängen, är något som ska uppmuntras och är en del i rehabiliteringen."

Jag är så pass till åren, så jag vet hur det har varit: som sjuk skulle man hålla sig inomhus till varje pris. Annars var man inte riktigt sjuk. En utmattningsdrabbad behöver vara ute i friska luften OCH ha sociala kontakter, saker som kan vara nog så kämpiga!!! Sådant bör istället uppuntras och stöttas, men bör hela tiden ske på den sjukes villkor.

Och det känns också som antalet "konstigare", mer långvariga förkylningar och kanske också andra infektioner har ökat!!! Förmodligen också antibiotikaanvändingen med allt vad det innebär. Vi binder ris åt egen rygg och skjuter problemen framför oss? Vad kan det handla om?

Läste också någonstans, om det var i någon lärartidning, att någon vill föreslå att karensdagen slopas för magsjuka!!! (så kommer en massa sådana undantag och allt krångligare regler!?). Grundanledningarna till varför människor är utmattade och sjuka överhuvudtaget diskuteras inte...

Man vill gärna tillskriva dessa saker som genetiska defekter... Genetisk svaghet och sårbarhet (och det gör de som anser att de själva inte har dessa "defekter"?? Slår sig för bröstet: det kan inte drabba mig! Vilket det kanske inte gör, men varför gör det inte det? Beror det på bättre geer? Fler kvnnor drabbas av dessa saker. Är de svagare? Eller vad handlar det om?). Inte minst i psykitariska kretsar!? Men, ja, vad handlar denna sårbarhet och svaghet om?? Jag bara undrar litet ironiskt och tyst...

Apropå kunskap och vetande; Arthur Silber har skrivit en essä med titeln ”Ingen är så säker som den som vet för litet”.

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In an article in a Norwegian newspaper it stood that chronic fatigue is a stress-disease. First see a readers' letter on Miller's webb with a question if hormonal imbalance can be linked to fear.

Arthur Silber has written an essay titled ”No One Is So Sure as the Man Who Knows Too Little”.

And he also writes in the essay “The American Way of Doing Business”:

“I note in passing that almost everyone is quick to condemn the torture and murder of dogs, but the casual, daily, virtually universally accepted cruelties visited upon children elicit almost no one's concern. I will be writing much more in the near future about Alice Miller's critically important work, but pay very careful attention to this further instance of the fundamental displacement of our moral priorities. We rush to protect animals, but not children. Curious, that. With much more to come on this subject, I'll give you a very brief indication of why this happens: fortunately, most of us are not implicated in cruelty to animals. The absence of guilt makes the condemnation easier; because we are so anxious to establish that we still have some vague sense of right and wrong, we are quick to take up the cause. But most people are implicated in numerous cruelties to children, all of which are defended as being for the children's "own good." That is a lie with particularly terrible consequences -- and it is the identical rationalization used by many to "justify" the invasion and occupation of Iraq (as it was the justification for any number of horrors, going back at least to the Mexican-American War: "To conquer Mexico, in other words, would be to do it a favor"; see below for further details). What we learn and internalize as children, we reenact as adults.”

See the ACE-reporter no 4, about adverse childhood experiences and stress, which means that if you don't take possible early childhood experiences into account the treatment will be less successful (and I wonder about the over popular cognitive-behavioral therapy if one see to recent brain-research. But this form of treatment is faster and costs less, maybe a strong reason to their popularity: people want quick-fixes, which is understandable, and the society want to pay as little as possibl. And how are their longterm effects?), and blogposts here about Anna Luise Kirkengens work and on exhaustion and not least what I. Bosch has written on burn-out.

Addition later: and no wonder people are tired if they have such experiences as the one mentioned in the two later blogposts today; this and this!!! To keep such things in check and down!! If one doesn't act it out that is?? And are allowed to act it out (on others) or has the power to do that (you are the one above or stronger etc.)? In the worse case on a whole nation!! As Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and now for instance Bush?? And why does people let such persons get so much power? Is it because they have themselves been raised in similar manners?? Though maybe not so severely, but severely enough to support such regimes or not daring to react or protest against them?

And why do people land in manipulative therapies and concepts and groups and circumstances?? Without seeing them through? Even if they are very harmful to them, or because they are?? We use to say something in the style "You need to be well (not sick) to be sick"...

Övergrepp i terapi...

Jättebra om övergrepp (i första hand sexuella) i terapi här.

Där står bland annat att:

"De resurser klienten ofta hade i utgångsläget [vid terapins start], kan försvinna i en sådan situation [en situation i vilken han/hon usätts för övergrepp] och krafterna går åt till att tackla tillvaron efter den skadliga terapin. Oftast kommer klienten sämre ut ur en sådan terapi [än han/hon var innan den] /.../

De ursprungliga svårigheterna hon hade, och som gjorde att hon sökte hjälp, kan öka i både omfång och styrka /.../

Misstro till terapeuter generellt, till hälsopersonal och andra hjälpprofessioner, samt människor överhuvudtaget, kan bli konsekveserna för en del [för alla trorjag, mer eller mindre, ibland allvarligt skadad] /.../

I tillägg till sexuella övergrep, kan det också ske andra, verbala och etiska, övertramp [kränkningar] som strider mot facketiska principer, i ett stängt terapirum. Alla typer av övergrepp är svåra att dokumentera för klienten. Journalen är det terapeuten som skriver, och ofta står ord mot ord om klienten klagar på behandlaren. Som det är idag är klienter och patienter inte tillräckligt skyddade."

Jag tror att skammen kan vara så stor över vad man utsatts för att man tiger och klandrar sig själv, kanske oerhört. Så den klient som kommer ur en terapi sämre än innan - vad kan han/hon ha utsatts för?

Jag skriver han/hon för även män har blivit sexuellt kränkta i terapi (av manlig terapeut), även om det nog är vanligare att kvinnor blir det och kanske ovanligt att män blir det? Kirkengen skriver om detta (övergrepp av män i terapi) i någon av sina böcker.

Och jag tror att det är helt rätt att kränkningar/övergrepp i terapi kan vara av annan natur än sexuella också! Och sexuella övergrepp kan nog också ta sig olika uttryck, ha olika natur, dvs. behöver inte vara liktydigt med samlag...

Och man behöver få bearbeta dessa upplevelser efteråt!

Se tidigare blogginlägg om "Abuse in therapy..."

Tillägg: se kommentar om amerikansk forskning om övergrepp i terapi!! Vilka som är offer och vilka som är förövare.

About the brain/om hjärnan…

Bosch about the brain page 117-118:

“Those things that we could not process as children are stored in our brain (the amygdale stores emotional memories and via the hippocampus factual memories are stored) and body (body sensation memory). These truths remain hidden and
only parts of the memory show when we are adults and are confronted with a
symbol. Most often bodily sensations and feelings will manifest themselves when
confronted with a present-day event that is Symbolic. The factual parts of the
memory (the facts of what happened, how, by whom), however, usually remains
hidden from consciousness. If the factual part of a memory would show up as
well, we would instantly know we are feeling something about the past.

Unfortunately this doesn’t happen since, as we have seen, the hippocampus and
the amygdale are separate memory systems, and the old, stored painful memory is
not accessible for rational processing [occurring in the neo cortex, things in
amygdala and hippo campus has not been integrated and processed in neo-cortex,
because these things were too pain to experience consciously then] /…/

Joseph LeDoux’s research revealed how the processing in our brain takes a shortcut when it comes to assessing danger[it did then and it still does a roundabout by neo-cortex.

According to Bosch these findings are recent (her book was written 2002).

She writes further at page 118:

“In non-threatening situations the brain assesses the meaning of a particular situation in the neo-cortex. The neo-cortex is the part of the brain believed to be responsible for rational thinking and logical reasoning. However, when it comes to dangerous situations, this more evolved part of the brain is bypassed and instead the brain activity goes straight to the amygdale. The amygdale is a less evolved part of our bran and is responsible for intuitive, nonrational judgment. Bypassing the neo-cortex results in the inability to profit from logical, rational, cortical processing.

When threatened (be it a perceived or actual threat), however, we derive meaning from the processing that is done by the amygdale (which is very instinctive) instead of by cortical processing [“His logical thinking you know!!!” Isn’t what it should! And why not? Because something threatening of some kind is triggered and touched upon*] /.../

LeDoux’s brain research implies that therapies directed at the rational/cognitive level will not be able to change our basic way of reacting to emotionally threatening stimuli. In those instances [when we encounter a threatening stimuli, the reaction can be so immediate so we don’t even realize that this has happened and don’t even feel the fear or pain that is there beneath actually] the brain just bypasses the cortex, the ‘home of logical reasoning’ and is governed by the amygdala’s alarming response. All events that we needed to repress as children fall into the category of emotionally, threatening stimuli. Therefore anything that resembles or seems to resemble these original painful events, in other words anything that works as a Symbol is perceived as a threat (by the amygdale). The results of LeDoux’s brain research indicate that when we symbolize we bypass cortical processing and instinctively and immediately employ defensive behaviors [protection-mechanisms, adequate then for the child we once was, as to fight or to avoid or putting the blame on ourselves]. We can’t break through this defensive cycle of defensive behavior because we remain the ‘prisoners’ of the amygdale, which tells us we are in danger and need to protect ourselves.”

Bosch writes at page 56:
“Daniel Goleman writes: ‘The lack of precision of the emotional brain at such times (reacting to the present as if it were the past), is increased because o f the fact that many emotional memories date from the first few years of our, from the relationship between the child and its caregivers. This holds especially for traumatic experiences such as abuse or neglect. During this early period of our life other brain structures still needed to be developed, especially the hippo campus, crucial in the formation of narrative memories, and the neo-cortex, the seat of rational thinking. In memory formation and retrieval the amygdale and the hippocampus work hand in hand; each saves and retrieves its own special information. While the hippo campus is retrieving information it is the amygdale that determines whether this information has any emotional significance. But the amygdale, which develops quite rapidly in the brain of the young child, is much closer to full development at birth.’ [And this means that early trauma gets such a great effect and is felt as so horrible: the child just can’t handle them on her/his own!! Amygdala is closer to full development while the parts where processing take place aren’t!! Therefore small children should need much more help and support and sensitivity to handle difficult things to a much higher degree than they usually get or we think they need??]

LeDoux confirms that the interaction during the first few years of life will lead to the imprinting of emotional lessons based on the harmony or disruption of the contact between parent and child. These emotional lessons have so much influence and yet are so difficult to understand from an adult perspective because they, according to LeDoux, have been saved in the amygdale as undefined wordless blueprints of emotional life. These earliest emotional memories are imprinted at a time when a child does not yet have words for her experience. One reason why we can be so surprised by our emotional outbursts is because often they date from a very early time in our life when things were still confusing and we had no words to understand what was happening. We do have the chaotic feelings, but we lack the words for the memories that formed them/…/

The mentioned inaccuracy of the amygdale can have disastrous effects on our life because we might e.g. fight or flee from the wrong person or situation. Before the cortex, the seat of rational thinking knows what is going on; the amygdale can react with an outburst of raw anger or acute fear. Reactions which would have been accurate a long time ago [but isn’t any longer, most often, if we aren’t confronted with a person and situation we can’t defend ourselves against at all].”

Bosch also writes at page 104 that:

“… thinking and analyzing can also be misleading. When we are in a rational, neo-cortical state of processing information, which is where we are when we are
talking about and analyzing what we consciously remember about our childhood, we cannot retrieve he information stored with the help of the hippocampus (factual) and in the amygdale (emotional) that are usually associated. And if we
misinterpret the cause of the feeling we can inadvertently hinder the healing
process, since in order to heal we need to be aware that a specific feeling goes
back to something (be it a general or a specific situation) and let ourselves
feel that.”

*) Bosch writes at page 47:

“In our western society there is a strong tendency to think that although love, respect, physically affectionate touch, emotional warmth and safety, etc. are important, a lack of such things could not be life-threatening.”

But they can! And thus the child can have to suppress these things. She writes about the phenomenon “marasmus” in connection with this as an example on this. I have written about this somewhere in one of my blogposts here with the label “I. Bosch”??

It struck me now in the shower when I should wash my hair how awful it was when I got shampoo not mixed up at all with water into my eyes a couple of times this summer. Came to think about when I was babysitter to my nephew which then had no siblings, and he got soap (or maybe only water) in his eyes when I should shower or bath him in the shower and almost panicked because of that… As adult to be calm and let the small child feels and be empathic and calm him/her with something…

And I also thought now (as I have done earlier too I guess) that we as grown ups are probably totally insensible to things children experience and how they feel for phenomena around them… We just don’t understand how frightening and painful things can be and are??? And we grown ups are more or less insensitive depending on our own early experiences and if, and to what extent, we got an opportunity to process them then or later on…

This is no excuse for our insensitivity, only an explanation. We can work on this or chose not to work on it…
-//-
Bosch om hjärnan på sidorna 117-118:

”De saker som vi inte kunde bearbeta som barn lagras i vår hjärna (amygdala
lagrar känslomässiga minnen och via hippocampus är faktiska minnen lagrade [av
det som faktiskt skedde, händelsen, eller av den allmänna känslomässiga miljö
där vi växte upp]) och kroppsförnimmelse (känslan i kroppen). Dessa sanningar
förblir dolda och bara delar av minnet visar sig när vi är vuxna och
konfronteras med en symbol. För det mesta kommer kroppsförnimmelser och känslor att manifestera/uppenbara sig när de konfronteras med vardagshändelser som är symboliska.

De faktiska delarna av minnet (fakta och vad som hände, hur och av vem), förblir dock vanligen dolda för det medvetna. Om den faktiska delen av minnet också skulle visa sig, skulle vi omedelbart veta att vi känner något som handlar om det gamla. Tyvärr så händer inte detta eftersom, som vi har sett, hippocampus och amygdala är separata minnessystem och det gamla, lagrade minnet inte går att knyta an till för att rationell bearbetning ska kunna äga rum [en bearbetning som sker i neo-cortex, vilket betyder att saker i amygdala och hippocampus inte har blivit integrerade och bearbetade i neocortex, för att de var för smärtsamma då att upplevas medvetet] /…/

Joseph LeDoux’ forskning visade hur bearbetandet i vår hjärna gör en omväg [???] när det handlar om att uppskatta fara [det gjorde då och gör fortfarande en omväg förbi neocortex].”

Enligt Bosch så har de här fynden om detta sätt att fungera hos hjärnan kommit nyligen (hennes bok trycktes 2002 och de var alltså nya då, för fem år sedan).

Hon skriver vidare på sidan 118:

”I ickehotande situationer uppskattar hjärnan betydelsen i varje enskild situation i neocortex [där det medvetna bearbetandet av saker sker]. Neocortex är den del i hjärnan som anses vara ansvarig för rationellt tänkande och logiskt resonerande. Dock, när det handlar om farliga situationer, så passeras denna mer utvecklade del av hjärnan och istället går hjärnaktiviteten direkt till amygdala [reptilhjärnan??]. Amygdala är en mindre utvecklad del av vår hjärna och är ansvarig för intuitiva, ickerationella bedömningar. Att passera förbi [utanför??] neocortex resulterar i en oförmåga att dra nytta av logiskt, rationellt, kortikalt bearbetande.

När vi är hotade (vare sig det är ett uppfattat eller verkligt hot), erhåller vi dock betydelse av det bearbetande som sker i amygdala (vilket är väldig instinktivt [vi reagerar känslomässigt och direkt]) istället för genom kortikalt bearbetande [”Du vet – hans ’logiska tänkande’!!! Är inte vad det borde vara! Och varför inte? Därför
att något hotande av något slag har triggats och blivit berört *] /…/

LeDoux’ hjärnforskning innebär att terapier som riktas mot den rationella/kognitiva sidan [hos oss] inte kommer att kunna ändra våra grundläggande sätt att reagera på känslomässigt hotande stimuli. I dessa fall [när vi möter ett hotande stimuli, kan reaktionen bli så omedelbar att vi inte ens inser att detta har hänt och känner inte ens rädslan eller smärtan som faktiskt finns under] passerar hjärnaktiviteterna bara förbi cortex, ’sätet för logiskt resonerande’ och styrs istället av amygdalas alarmerande svar. Alla händelser som vi behövde tränga bort som barn hör till kategorin känslomässiga, hotande stimuli.
Därför kommer allt som liknar eller verkar likna dessa ursprungligen smärtsamma
händelser, med andra ord allt som fungerar som en symbol, att upplevas som ett
hot (av amygdala). Resultaten av LeDoux’ hjärnforskning indikerar att när vi
symboliserar så passerar vi förbi kortikalt bearbetande och använder försvarsbeteenden [eller skyddsbeteenden, adekvata hos det barn vi var, som att
kämpa eller undvika eller lägga skulden på oss själva] instinktivt och omedelbart. Vi kan inte bryta genom denna cykel av försvar därför att vi fortfarande är ’fångar’ i amygdala, som talar om för oss att vi är i fara och behöver försvara oss själva.”

Bosch skriver på sidan 56:

“Daniel Goleman skriver: ‘Avsaknaden av precision hos den känslomässiga hjärnan vid sådana tidpunkter (att reagera på nuet som om det var det förflutna), ökar på grund av faktumet att många känslomässiga minnen är daterade till våra första få år i livet, från relationen mellan barnet och dess vårdnadshavare. Detta gäller särskilt traumatiska upplevelser sådana som kräkningar/övergrepp och försummelse [vilka alla kan vara eller är väldigt traumatiskt]. Under denna tidiga period i vårt liv behöver andra hjärnstrukturer fortfarande utvecklas, speciellt hippocampus, som är avgörande/kritiskt i formande av berättande minnen, liksom neocortex, sätet för rationellt tänkande.

I formandet och återvinnandet så arbetar amygdala och hippocampus hand i hand. Medan hippcampus återvinner information så är det amygdala som bestämmer om denna information har någon känslomässig betydelse. Men amygdala, som utvecklas ganska snabbt i hjärnan hos det lilla barnet, är mycket närmare full utveckling vid födseln.” [Och detta innebär att tidiga trauman får sådan stor effekt och känns så hemska: barnet kan helt enkelt inte hantera dessa!!! Amygdala är närmare full utveckling medan de delar där bearbetning sker inte är det!! Därför skulle små barn, redan den lilla babyn och troligen redan fostret, behöva hjälp att hantera svåra saker i betydligt högre grad än de får och vi tror de
behöver!!??]

LeDoux bekräftar att interaktionen under de första få åren i livet kommer att leda till inpräntande av känslomässiga lektioner baserade på harmonin eller störning i kontakten mellan förälder och barn. Dessa känslomässiga lektioner har så mycket inflytande och är också så svåra att förstå ur ett vuxenperspektiv därför att de, enligt LeDoux, har blivit sparade/lagrade i amygdala som odefinierade ordlösa Blueprints av känslomässigt liv. Dessa tidigaste känslomässiga minnen skrivs in vid en tidpunkt när barnet ännu inte har ord för sin upplevelse. En anledning till varför vi kan bli så förvånade/överraskade av våra känslomässiga utbrott är därför att de ofta är daterade till en väldigt tidig tidpunkt i vårt liv när saker fortfarande var
förvirrande och vi inte hade några ord för att förstå vad som hände. Vi har
verkligen de kaotiska känslorna, men vi saknar orden för de minnen som formade
dem /…/

Den nämnda ickeprecisionen hos amygdala kan få förödande effekter på vårt liv, vi kan till exempel komma att fäkta eller fly från fel person eller situation. Innan cortex, sätet för rationellt tänkande, vet vad som pågår, kan amygdala reagera med ett utbrott av rå vrede och akut rädsla. Reaktioner som skulle ha varit riktiga för länge sedan [men som inte är det längre, om vi inte befinner oss i en verkligt farlig situation med människor som är farliga].”

Bosch skriver också på sidan 104 att:

”… att tänka och analysera kan också bli missledande. När vi är i ett rationellt, neokortikalt tillstånd i bearbetande av information, vilket vi är när vi pratar om och analyserar det vi medvetet minns om vår barndom, kan vi inte återvinna information som lagrats med hjälp av hippocampus (faktisk) och i amygdala (känslomässig) som vanligen är förenade. Och om vi feltolkar orsaken till känslan kan vi oavsiktligt hindra helandeprocessen, eftersom vi för att kunna helas måste vara medvetna om att en särskild känsla går tillbaka till någonting (vare sig det är en allmän eller särskild situation) och låta oss själva känna detta.”

*) Bosch skriver på sidan 47:

“I våra västerländska samhällen finns det en stark tendens att tänka att fastän kärlek, respekt, fysiskt tillgiven beröring, känslomässig värme och säkerhet osv. är viktiga, så kan en avsaknad av dessa saker inte vara livshotande.”

Men det kan de och är de! Och därför kan barnet måsta tränga bort dessa saker. Hon skriver om fenomenet ”marasmus” som ett exempel på detta. Och detta fenomen har jag skrivit om i ett tidigare blogginlägg (med etiketten ”I. Bosch”?).

Guilt – part two…

Bosch writes more about religion and guilt at page 70-71:

“Compared to Christian religions we tend to see Eastern religions as more
positive towards us human beings. However, outward appearance can be deceptive. In Eastern traditions similar guilt messages can be heard. The Tibetan Buddhist religion, for example, tells us how important it is to concentrate on the
following points:

• The individual doesn’t really exist. An identification with needs is therefore an illusion and induces attachment and suffering [False Power Denial of needs defence, having no needs nothing will hurt us]. We need to come to understand that everything is empty.
• Within the realization of emptiness (no ego, no attachment, no need) there has to a focus on compassion towards others. Anything that is done with an individual motivation is not done in ‘the right way’. No matter how much good you do, if you do it to attain enlightenment for yourself instead of doing it for humanity, it is not desirable [inducing guilt?? False Hope defence: “If I just…then…”].
• We need to purify ourselves. We can do this by engaging in rituals, meditations or through direct blessing from and devotion to a guru. [Primary defence; that purification is necessary implies that we are not clean in some way].

At first these words can sound quite appealing. Who doesn’t long for a world with little or no individual greed and suffering, filled with pure and compassionate people? Taking a closer look at these focus points however, reveals an interesting similarity with the ideas Past Reality Integration has about defence structures /…/

A closer look at many religions or spiritual teachings often reveals these defensive tendencies:
‘Our suffering is caused by our own impurity, our guilt and sinful nature. We
need to be strong and do our best.’ What happens to the child early in life and
the influences hereof on our feelings and behavior when we are adults is not
addressed. Emotional problems are often referred to as ‘sand in the wind’ –
release the sand and it will blow away. This demonstrates a Denial of the truth
of the emotional suffering that was caused during childhood because we didn’t
get what we needed. The old pain won’t ‘blow away’ until we face it, acknowledge
and feel it. The idea that it will is an illusion of a False Power – denial of
needs defence.

It is unfortunate that the blindness our society has in respect to our children’s suffering, and the devastating effects this suffering has on our lives as adults, is supported by these ideas inspired by religions, be it Eastern or Western /…/ … a step away from guilt-ridden religions and a step toward the message of spiritual masters throughout the ages. Spiritual masters NOT linked to dogmatic, rigid, hierarchical religions based on power structures. Power structures and ideas of sinfulness that provide them with power over their followers. But, the tendency to minimize the importance of the effects of our childhood remains, nevertheless.”

---

Addition after a walk in the wood a sunny day with a “high, clear air”: came to think of manipulation and brain-washing… To handle these phenomena the outermost best way we shouldn’t be especially harmed, have been allowed to have access to the truth as children. Not had had to suppress things. The less the better for perceiving things and the world better and for what it truly are… The more harmed and traumatized the more difficulty this will be, in the worse cases almost impossible.

This means that the once that need help the most also are at greater risk of being manipulated including brain washed when they seek help too!! The ones that need less help are in a smaller risk!

If we get help to process things and become more and more aware of our own history and what I driving us, or manage on our own to do this work then we are at smaller risk for being manipulated and brain washed. Konrad Stettbacher has in fact written something that I think is right, namely to protect the watchers of life (their access to their own, genuine, original feelings) in children!! And do it from he first beginning. And with this helping them to protect themselves adequately and not behaving destructively or self-destructively, i.e. not harming either others or themselves…

---

By the way, read on a pair of walking poles here that walking with poles is called Nordic walking!! It stands on these poles:

“All walking with poles conditions increased walking speed, stride and stance time compared with the no pole condition. At the knee, impulse decreased a 7, 3 % between the no poles and selected poles condition 10, 4 % between no poles back conditions.

Test results show on average a 23% higher CO2, 22 % higher caloric expenditure, and 16 % higher heart rate responses compared to walking without poles on a treadmill.

---

Jag gör min amatöröversättning av citaten ovan, bara, här.

Bosch skriver mer om skuld och religion på sedan 70-71:

”Jämfört med kristna religioner har vi en tendens att betrakta österländska religioner som positivare mot mänskliga varelser. Men yttre sen kan bedra. I österländska traditioner kan liknande skuldbudskap höras. Den tibetanska buddismen till exempel, talar om för oss hur viktigt det är att koncentrera sig på följande punkter:

• Individen existerar inte riktigt. Identifikation med behov är därför en illusion och medför vidfästning [vid andra och företeelser] och lidande [falsk-makt-förnekande-av-behov-försvaret, om vi inte har några behov så kan ingenting skada oss]. Vi behöver komma till förståelsen/insikten att allt är tomt.
• I insikten om tomhet (inget ego/själv, ingen vidfästning, inga behov) måste det finnas en fokus på medkänsla med andra. Allt som görs med en individuell motivation görs inte på ’rätta sättet’. Det spelar ingen roll hur mycket gott du gör, om du gör det för att nå upplysning åt dig själv istället för att göra det för mänskligheten, det är inte önskvärt [medförande skuld?? Falskt-hopp-försvar: ”Om jag bara … då…”].
• Vi måste rena oss. Vi kan göra detta genom att engagera oss i ritualer, meditationer eller genom direkta välsignelser från och hängivelse till en guru. [Ursprungligt försvar; att rening är nödvändig låter förstå att vi inte är rena på något sätt].

I förstone kan dessa ord låta ganska tilltalande. Vilka längtar inte efter en värld med litet eller ingen individuell girighet eller lidande, fylld av rena och medkännande människor? Om vi tittar närmare på dessa punkter för fokus avslöjas dock en intressant likhet PRI-terapi har om försvarsstrukturer /…/

En närmare titt på många religioner eller religiösa läror avslöjar ofta dessa försvarstendenser: ’Vårt lidande är orsakat av vår egen orenhet, vår skuld och syndfulla natur. Vi behöver vara starka och göra vårt bästa.’ Det som händer
barnet tidigt i livet och inflytandet av detta på våra känslor och beteenden när
vi är vuxna adresseras inte. Känslomässiga problem refereras ofta som ’sand i
vinden’ – frige den och den kommer att blåsa bort. Detta demonstrerar ett
förnekande av sanningen om de känslomässiga lidandena som orsakades under
barndomen därför att vi inte fick det vi behövde. Den gamla smärtan kommer inte
att ’blåsa bort’ förrän vi möter denna, erkänner och känner den. Idén att den
kommer att göra det är en illusion från falsk-makt-förnekande-av-behov-försvaret.

Det är beklagligt att blindheten vårt samhälle har vad gäller våra barns lidande och de ödeläggande effekterna detta lidande har på våra liv som vuxna, stöds av dessa dess idéer som är inspirerade av religioner, vare sig de är österländska eller västerländska /…/ … ett steg iväg från religioner ridna av skuld och ett steg mot budskapet hos andliga mästare genom alla tider. Andliga mästare som inte är kopplade till dogmatiska, rigida, hierarkiska religioner baserade på maktstrukturer. Maktstrukturer och idéer om syndfullhet som förser dem med makt över sina efterföljare. Men, tendensen att minimera/bagatellisera betydelsen av effekterna från vår barndom blir dock kvar.”

Beteendeterapi i skolan/about behavioral therapy in school...

Fick ett mejltips om denna artikel och loggar in igen för att blogga om detta när jag smält det (har begränsad access till nätet och långsammare uppkoppling nu över helgen).

Om beteendepsykologer i norska skolor, psykiatrisering av norska skolbarn. Jo, detta låter tveksamt!!! Och skrämmande… Manipulering av barn (att bli ”duktiga barn”!!??) Över huvudtaget att elever ska behandlas och troligen också diagnostiseras, av lärare som borde ägna sig åt helt andra saker och som troligen inte heller har kompetens för detta! Säger jag som varande lärare själv… Diagnostisering förekommer redan i olika former (etikettering av elever, kanske i synnerhet de ”besvärliga”, men hur hanterar vi dem? Kanske framförallt genom ökande självkännedom, med allt vad det innebär och allt arbete det kan kräva)…

Och det finns något som heter tystnadsplikt, som jag tror är oerhört viktig att hålla på (även på vuxennivå och på personalnivå). Det där med integritet och respekt. Nu måste jag nästan också leta read på vad vi pratade om under mina pedagogikstudier i Uppsala i mitten av 80-talet, om elevvård… Att det bara är elevvårdsteamet som ska få veta sekretessbelagda saker och att de INTE får föra sitt vetande vidare (detta med att klistra diagnoser, som jag redan skrivit om, som kan bli självuppfyllande och en massa annat).

Jag vill bara tillägga att jag skummat artikeln än så länge!

Däremot tror jag mycket väl att en seende, empatisk och "upplyst, oerhört medveten" lärare, (precis som alla sådana, liknande vuxna omkring barnet) kan betyda oerhört för barn som far illa... Men det är något annat!??

I got a tip about an artcile about behaviral therapy in Norwegian schools... Sounds fairly scary!! Manipulation, brain-washing - can't it become??

Ny knapp i Blogger/new button in Blogger...

Igår när jag bloggade upptäckte jag att det fanns en ny knapp i Blogger!! För att lägga in videor! Och det ska jag testa så fort jag får en chans!!

Undrar om jag kan lägga in bara musikspår också med denna??? Eventuellt gör det det?

New button in Blogger! To add videos with. Maybe I can add only music too? I will test this later I think. Fun!

You and me/jag och du...

A leader-writer wrote in her blog today that she believes in Martin Buber's thoughts about the dialog - the meeting between Me and You - which has something to contribute with in the life in church (she is finishing her studies to "priest" now). We have to create to a dialogic culture she calls it and break with giving orders hierarchically...

And I also read an article in a magazine I got today about exactly these things (but here reverse) in the new school policies: where the question about dialog between teacher and pupil/student has come far behind populist demands on strict discipline and what's more like submission. Awful!!! (Authoritarian and totalitarian!!??). What about two authentic selves (teachers don't have to develop as human beings any more? Or the incitements for that decreases?? Or - there isn't enough resources for this time-taking dialog, it costs less with an authoritarian discipline???) Need to pour out things again!! :-) The words comes tumbling over each others!? And I have difficulties to find words and expressions on all emotions!!! :-) I have difficulties to be cool and rational and to calmly analyzing??? :-) Horrible!!??

It's possible I write fewer blogposts this weekends... Maybe none?? Let's see.

-//-

Helle Klein skrev i sin blogg idag bland annat:

"Själv tror jag att det är Martin Bubers tankar om dialogen - mötet mellan Jag och Du - som har något att tillföra församlingslivet. Vi måste skapa en dialogisk kultur och bryta med den hierarkiska ordergivningens."

Jo, men ett möte mellan två sanna själv??? Eller som är så sanna som de förmår?

Addition August 25: the authoritarian school where children shall (learn to) obey!!??

And I also wondered for myself what child that actually manages better later in life; can it be the disobedient? Not the clever really??? The clever CAN have made her/himself entirely invisible and be, what Miller calls, a false self entirely and don't know who she/he is?? Just a silent thought... (I have many former clever children in my family, and I was one myself, and we go on being those clever children, now grown up clever children!!! Look how I work for instance, despite fulll-time work! Writing as much as I do, reading a lot, educating myself, sending emails to people with photos out of the blog without getting responses or even a thank you, and these people don't even have proper hobbies, or a lot of activities out of work!! But work takes so much!!! People don't have time. But my work also takes a lot of time, both my hobby and my work, and I need to keep up my own playing. Where do I take my tíme and energy from? I am effective in what I do, and makes things swiftly, yes... What does this mean in longterm for me? What can it mean? What has it meant so far? Private in the middle of all!! Because I don't believe in super.women or men!!! A human being has limits! Sooner or less one realizes this!!! What would be the healthiest attitude?).

Can the clever, obedient child sacrifice even more??

And what are children supposed to adapt to (and learn, yes, what sort of lessons?) too? Problems children show in school can both be about problems at home and about the school... Be about either/or or both... Things easily get swept under the rug?? (in work-places too as it is now I feel strongly and ironically)... Now I am thinking and writing from thoughts I got reading the article referred to in the blogpost about behavioral therapy in school... Which I still have to read better!!!

Adverse childhood experiences and stress/skadliga barndomserfarenheter och stress…

It stands in the ACE-reporter number 4 for instance:

“… the ACE-study clearly demonstrates that children – and the adults we become – have been paying /…/ the deeds of our parents, and others who perpetrate child abuse.

Recently, scientists whose focus is neurobiological (the study of the brain and nervous system) compared he results of their research with the results of ACE-study research. The ACE-study was ideal for this purpose, not only because of the large number of people who participated in the Study (the sample size of over 17,000 people), but also because the Study was designed to asses numerous social, behavioral, and health outcomes, rather than just one condition, or one category of conditions.

Participating neurobiologists analyzed the ACE Study’s data against demonstrated neurobiological defects that result from early trauma, changes to bonding with other people, memory, and even where our bodies store fat. After careful analysis, what they found is that ‘early experiences can have profound long-term effects on the biological systems that govern responses to stress… Disturbances [in neuron-development] at a critical time early in life may exert a disproportionate influence, creating the conditions for childhood and adult depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms.’

These shared findings have ‘the potential to unify and improve our understanding of many seemingly unrelated, but often co-morbid [occurring at the same time] health and social problems that have historically been seen and treated as categorically independent in Western culture.’

Why is this important? First, it is important to recognize that our ‘functional neuroanatomical and physiological systems are interactive and integrated and that behaviors and health problems cannot generally be attributed to the function of any single or particular system.’ Our bodies’ systems work together. Therefore, treating one aspect of a problem, without addressing the other aspects cannot possibly solve the problem completely. Comprehending this essential relationship can help improve both preventive and primary care medicine, giving patients and their caregivers the information they need to achieve the best possible health and social outcomes.

Second, this convergence of colleagues and their data ‘adds support for numerous effects of childhood adverse experiences on physical health. Stress is known from animal studies to be associated with a broad range of effects on physical health, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, asthma, metabolic abnormalities, obesity, infection and other physical disorders’ /…/ Without scientific data, the long-term effects of childhood trauma are otherwise easily brushed aside in favor of a more comfortable and convenient denial of the problem.

Third, we know that ‘retrospective reports of childhood abuse [that was documented at the time of its occurrence] are likely to underestimate actual occurrence /…/ [due to] effects of traumatic stress in childhood on the hippocampus.’ In other words, the incidence of child abuse is probably much greater than is reported, and even greater than remembered and acknowledged by the victims themselves. Not only is such trauma protected by secrecy and shame, but by the function of our own brains.

Equally important, this multi-disciplinary approach to research encourages future collaboration among scientists, all working at solving different pieces of what we are beginning to understand is the same puzzle. As the puzzle takes shape, the pipers [The Pied Pipers of Hamelin by the Brothers Grimm] lose ground.”

Hippocampus plays an important role in human memory (Bosch has written about the hippocampus role too from her angle).

“Simply stated, physical, psychological, and emotional trauma during childhood can result in damage to multiple brain structures and functions.”

A little carefully said?? It always causes damage, if not in younger ages but older, if it hasn’t been processed in some way when it happened or later in a good therapy or together with someone else outside all professions, with whom he truth could be told and worked through enough so the pressure and tension on the body got milder?? Or how one shall express this? But it is important not to moralize over those who maybe don’t succeed, because they are so harmed and haven’t ad the luck to encounter a helping, enlightened witness…

There is a lot of moralizing and authoritarianism in society today again!!?? Contempt for weakness, for those which aren’t as successful and strong and managing despite even quite awful circumstances:

“But look!!! See how I/he/she manages!!! (shouldn’t you then!!?? What a weak person are you??)”

And those clever – what are they sacrificing?? (see the blogposts about "the clever child" compared to "the disobedient child"). What can be hidden behind these facades?

And the clever is held up as a good example (in a similar manner as the child was treated once? And another child was held up as a bad and warning example!? And noone of these were allowed to be themselves, but play roles?)!! To legitimize political decisions that is doubtful… I feel and think quite angrily. Arthur Silber wrote an essay recently about being “intelligence analysts”!!

It also stands on the ACE-site:

“ACEs are surprisingly common among people of all social strata, and have far-reaching consequences. For many people, it's not possible to ‘just get over it’.”

No, it isn't, cleverly!!! Easy like that! But does some have interests in that people stay in this belief?? Even (or not least) on a political level?? That people blame themselves and take the guilt on themselves for things they don't have actual power over?? Quite ironical... (am I allowed to think that there is a lot f stupid people in th world?? And extremely stupid people!!?? Or both stupid and evil? Yes, evil exists, but where does evilness comes from? I have heard "You can't only blame the parents/the bosses!!!" And did the person that was told this? I would say she definitely didn't, yes, it was a she. She blamed herself very much and had done even more before, and now it had been strengthened again! To say so to a suffering person is power-abuse?? Entirely unempathic and insensitive and authoritarian, maybe also signs of totalitarianism? The power that talked, legitimizing abuse, which is what happens today in society and political life: abuse is legitimized, and it isn't the real criminal that are punished??).

Addition August 25: But I question many of the "holistic phenomena" that occurrs today... I think some can even be harmful!! And hiding things instead of revealing things that rather should be uncovered... In a belief that the truth is/could be harmful. I don't think it is... On the contrary. But with this approach that sensitive, harmed people shall be protected and spared truths by a lot of questionable treatments... Costing a lot of money too??

-//-

Nu min amatöröversättning av citaten ovan från ACE-rapport nummer 4:

“… ACE-studien visar klart att barn – och de vuxna vi blir – har fått betala /…/ vår föräldrars gärningar och även betalat de gärningar som andra som begår övergrepp/kränkningar på barn gör.

Nyligen har forskare vars fokus är neurobiologiskt (studien om hjärnan och nervsystemet) jämfört resultat från sin forskning med resultat från ACE-studiens forskning. ACE-studien var idealisk för detta syfte, inte bara för det stora antalet människor som deltog i studien (antalet var över 17 000 människor), men också därför att studien var utformad för att uppskatta ett antal sociala, beteendemässiga och hälsomässiga resultat, mer än bara ett förhållande eller en kategori förhållanden.

Deltagande neurobiologer analyserade/jämförde ACE-studiens data mot neurobiologiska effekter som är resultat av tidigt trauma, ändringar i förmågan att skapa band med andra människor, i minne och även i var våra kroppar lagrar fett. Efter noggranna analyser fann man att ’tidiga erfarenheter/upplevelser kan ha djupgående och långsiktiga effekter på biologiska system som styr responsen på stress /…/ Störningar [i utvecklingen av neuroner] vid en kritisk tidpunkt tidigt i livet kan få ett oproportionerligt inflytande, vilket skapar förutsättningar för barndoms- och vuxendepression, ångest och posttraumatiska stressymptom.’

Dessa delade fynd [mellan neurobiologer och forskarna i ACE-studien!?] har ’potentialen att ena och utveckla vår förståelse för många synbarligen orelaterade, men ofta medsjukliga/medpatologiska [också uppträdande samtidigt?] visavi ohälsa och sociala problem som historiskt har blivit sedda och behandlade som kategoriskt oberoende i den västerländska kulturen.’

Varför är detta viktigt? För det första, är det viktigt att erkänna/godta att våra ’funktionella neuroanatomiska och fysiologiska system interagerar och är integrerade och att vårt beteende och hälsoproblem inte generellt kan tillskrivas funktionen i något enstaka eller särskilt system.’ Våra kroppssystem fungerar ihop. Att behandla en aspekt av ett problem utan att adressera de andra aspekterna kommer därför inte rimligtvis att kunna lösa problemet helt. Att omfatta/förstå detta väsentliga/oundgängliga förhållande kan hjälpa till att utveckla både förebyggande arbete och primärvård och ge patienter och deras vårdgivare den information de behöver för att åstadkomma de bäst möjliga hälso- och sociala resultaten.

För det andra, detta sammanstrålande av kolleger och deras data ’ger adderat stöd åt otaliga effekter som negativa/skadliga barndomsupplevelser har på fysisk hälsa. Stress är känt från djurstudier att vara kopplat med vidsträckta effekter på fysisk hälsa, inkluderande hjärtkärlsjukdom, högt blodtryck, högt kolesterol (???), astma, onormala metaboliska fenomen, övervikt, infektion och andra fysiska rubbningar.’ /…/ Utan vetenskapliga data kan de långsiktiga konsekvenserna av barndomstrauman lätt viftas åt sidan till förmån för ett mer bekvämt och passande förnekande av problemet [sant! Som bara lugnar oss alla, men ingen egentligen tjänar på].

För det tredje, vi vet att ’retrospektiva rapporter av övergrepp/kränkningar i barndomen [som blev dokumenterade vid tiden när de skedde] troligen underuppskattar verkliga händelser. /…/ [beroende på] effekter på hippocampus av traumatisk stress i barndomen.’ Med andra ord, förekomsten av övergrepp/kränkningar på barn är troligen mycket större än vad som rapporterats och ännu större än vad offren själva minns och erkänner. Sådana trauman skyddas inte bara av hemlighållande och skam, utan också av funktioner i vår egen hjärna [skyddsmekanismer som individen måste ta till, men som senare orsakar problem av olika slag].

Lika viktigt, detta multidisciplinära angreppssätt på forskning uppmuntrar framtida samarbete mellan forskare, som alla arbetar på att lösa de olika delar i det som vi börjar förstå är samma pussel. När pusslet börjar få form förlorar pip(flöjt)blåsarna mark.”

Hippocampus spelar en viktig roll för vårt minne (Bosch har också skrivit om hippocampus roll, sedd från hennes perspektiv, som terapeut. Addering 25 augusti: jag kommer nog att skkriva ett blogginlägg om detta).

”Enkelt fastslaget; fysiska, psykologiska och känslomässiga trauman under barndomen kan resultera i skada i mångfaldiga hjärnstrukturer och –funktioner.”

”Skadliga barndomsupplevelser/erfarenheter är förvånande många bland människor i alla sociala skikt och har långt räckande konsekvenser. För många människor är det inte bara att ’komma över det’"!!!

Att hålla saker i check, ha kontroll på sig själv (och kanske vara "cool") och att inte ha några behov blir applåderat idag??? Se blogginlägget om ”the clever child ("det duktiga barnet"”!!! Att jämföra med "det olydiga barnet"

Authentic Voices International...

The ACE-study's site is upgraded!!! Watch!

I found a link to another site there "Authentic Voices International". On this site it stands:

"The Value of a Voice

We believe that by telling the stories of our lived experiences, we can help dispel the secrecy and shame that keep people from moving on toward a brighter future.

Who Are We?

Authentic Voices International (AVI) is a group of adult survivors of childhood sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse and neglect. We are dedicated to helping other adult survivors recover from the trauma of the past, and to preventing today's kids from suffering the same experiences we lived through. "

In the ACE-reporter number 4 it stands:

"Authentic Voices International (AVI) is a grassroots group of adult survivors of child abuse. AVI members come from all walks of life. What we have in common is a history of childhood trauma and a present desire to put an end to child abuse and neglect. We do this by applying our many, diverse skills and talents to dispel the ignorance, secrecy, and shame that allow child abuse to flourish."

A power battle…

In the middle of planning I try to take time to relax, on the balcony, with a book, or with a bike tour or something… Sat on the balcony now reading about the Swedish author Victoria Benedictsson who lived 1850-1888. Have been reading about her novel “Fru Marianne” (“the wife Marianne” it would be translated to English). This book, "Fru Marianne", was seen very positively by the conservative, because it was about a married couple where the wife stayed in a marriage that had problems. The woman-liberation movement had already started then!! (in a way people written about sounds pretty modern!!! It feels at least! Similar discussions and problems!!). This book came 1887, the year before Benedictsson died.

And I see it as a apology (avbön) from Benedictssons part. She used a pseudonym when she wrote, a male, Ernst Ahlgren (she married a 28 year older man in a village called Hörby, a village where I spent my life from I was 14 till I was 18. Or I lived just outside it). it was ok that women painted in this small village, but writing?? Out of question. She had a relation with the Danish author George Brandes, and I react strongly when I read how he treated her, both as human being and as author. But this didn't cool her down, on the contrary! All this contributed to her suicide in Copenhagen where she is also buried! She was probably also exposed to sexual abuse when she was a child, maybe incest...

Marianne came from a bourgeoisie family and her husband from a farmer’s family, though a wealthier. All in the south of Sweden, in Skåne.

Two people from very different worlds, almost entirely different. Which led to problems when the first love and interest and excitement had died down. Maybe this marriage was a way for both contradicting parts (the two involved) to break with the old life?? For Marianne to be someone and by the wife-role get a position in the society!? And for him, Börje, to have someone to show for the environment.

He worked hard and left his wife at home, a woman that knew nothing about a farms household…

In the middle of all this a friend (the best friend) of Börje, Pål, arrived on the scene, and stayed in the house. He was a man who had read books and Marianne and he got things to talk about!! A lot to talk about. And of course warm feelings came up…

Marianne had to choose!! It came to that point! And in the middle Marianne realized she was pregnant, with Börjes child.

Marianne was forced to some kind of penance against Börje, an awful, a history of humiliation the author of this autobiography writes.

She writes:

“It’s a story of power – nevertheless. A question of power goes through the whole novel. Already shown in Börje’s soberness which according to Pål stands for a fear for the incalculably and a need for total control in him. It’s also shown in Marianne’s half-conscious erotic radiance and the power she with this gets over Börje’s denied sides. A power-battle between seems to be unavoidable, with or without Pål’s intervention.

A new power-constellation comes with the child. One could think it was Marianne’s power that would get bigger. Instead it is Börje’s. While Marianne is awoken toa greater sensitivity for all the unknown in the father of the child, the unexplored in him, he feels he has the best of it (har ett övertag in Swedish). When he sees the fast look she gives him he experiences an instinct-like, egging gladness – maybe a feeling of power.”

Phew!!! But from where the need for power? Whether it is about the woman or the man??? And what does a grown up needs actually? And what not? What stands in the way for real, genuine nearness?

And in society and politics it’s much about power today!! But a power that isn’t really outspoken, as it was maybe twenty years ago: power and suborder. Which I think would be adequate!!

From the personal to the societal.

But there are parallels to today and to how it was for Victoria Benedictsson then!!?? A form of backlash in society both then and as it is today too I think and feel!!

English word of today “penance” which means “botgöring, ålagd botgöring” in Swedish.

The book in question (which I am reading now) is titled "Victoria Benedictsson" and is written by Birgitta Holm. ISBN 978 91 27 09778 0.

About her in Swedish. In English.