ANCESTRALSTORIES

Facilitating Change: Boundaries and the Human-Nature Dialectic

Abstract

The author examines the relationship between man, nature and the tightness’ of the boundaries of the species. The individual relates to family and community, as  a set of individuals from which it derives its integrity, and self-awareness.
Expand the boundaries and ‘a way to open new possibilities for exploring human culture and its relationship with nature. The classical psychoanalysis has explored the cultural world as separate from the outside. But the individual and the group are placed in the broader Read more

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Presentation, Individual, Group and Nature

The quality of our future depends more and more on environmental balance and its stability. Nevertheless, there’s a contradiction that’s difficult to explain, without entering into complex psychological processes – between the widespread interest the public opinion has for environmental issues and, on the other hand, how little this results in specific awareness, or in a different way of behaving, and ultimately in putting strong pressure on political leadership. In point of fact, how serious is the environmental issue? The greenhouse effect? Degenerative diseases? Or energy resources? These are problems that are already a reality, and today imply a dramatic prospect for our species. The greenhouse effect isn’t just a simple idea that represents the phenomenon as a gradual rise of the temperature of the planet’s soil, the melting of the polar ice cap or other flights of fancy. Today the stability of the climatic cycle is seriously effected, something our small country pays for every year Read more

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A quick guide to the papers in this issue

Paper Title: Genius Loci: A function of a group’s affective regulation

Author: Claudio Neri (Italy)

Summary

This paper builds a picture of a characteristic that is shared by both places and groups. Each place and each group has a “Genius Loci” which can be compared to a deity whose constant presence gives character, coherence and ‘spirit’ to that place or group. In nature… <<The Genius Loci tries to maintain a congenial balance between water, wind, vegetation, buildings etc. Conversely, it gets irritated if the characteristics and harmony of a specific place are changed by actions or gestures which are outside its nature>>.

In groups the genius loci works in harmony with the group leader, but is not the group leader. Read more

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The Individual, the Group and Nature

Abstract

In this article, the author proposes to consider the complexity of the interconnections between individual, group and nature. Is there a link between mental representations of nature and psychological well-being. If the child is not, and ‘entity’ separate from the mother, the individual can not be seen isolated from its physical world. The relationship with nature and fundamental Read more

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Genius Loci: The Spirit of a Place, the Spirit of a Group

Abstract

The author divided the discussion is divided in three parts. The first, which is very synthetic, will cover some of Bion’s theories as regards “Work Group Mentality”, “Basic Assumptions Group Mentality”, and their respective leaders. In the second he introduced J. Bleger’s “Syncretic Sociality” concept, which introduces a third type of “Group Mentality” different from the one developed by Bion’s theory. The third part, which is the longest, is dedicated to the role of the Genius Loci. The Genius Loci is not a leader, like the Work Group mentality leader or the basic assumptions group mentality leader. However, it performs some important functions for the social and mental life of a Read more

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A Sense of Place: Matters of space, mind and personhood

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of the place, which acquires profound significance in the mind of the group, influencing moods and emotions. The space itself, and ‘neutral, while the place and’ a cultural landscape on which are projected and constructed meanings. The trainers, through experience, using the effects of nature on the body and mind, and outdoor Read more

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Discovering Time and Place

Abstract

The importance of place and displacement, represented in the mind as a clinical problem, is emphasized in this article. The movement takes on a double meaning, on the one hand that of metonymy, the other of spatial dislocation. The place and ‘built-in sense of self as an element of identity formation’. The attachment  theory describes the union with the body of the mother Read more

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Psyche and enviroment

Abstract

The psyche, in the totality of conscious and unconscious processes, is revealed through the image, thought, and language, and within the group phenomena in relation with the environment. Within this framework are the concepts of protomental and psychoid, respectively, in Bion and Jung, as well as the implications of transference and countertransference, but also in Read more

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Experiencing interaction: what makes up the bonds of relations with the world?

Abstract

The author of the article identifies a constant interactive relationship between people and the world to which they belong, and describes the personal experience of using the interactive link with various outdoor environments. The testing of unknown landscapes opens new routes and new knowledge. experience is not separable from perception, emerges through interconnected systems, are interconnected as well as body-mind-world. The knowledge is through experiencing the flow of actions. The interaction, Read more