Here's a topic for the politically motivated:  Should we have medical (and hence psychiatric, etc.) privacy?  Check out some of the latest legislation being debated in the U.S. Senate and house.  This link is to an ACLU website and contains information as to how you can help.
 

Are you thinking of giving a paper on the problems inherent in DSM  diagnosis?  Let me give you a resource.  It is a list a books on nosology, that is on the science of diagnosis, in psychiatry.  Look at the last tool in the toolbox marked "Professional."

2. Easy Web authoring.

This is an introductory tool for people who are thinking they would someday like to create their own website but do not really want to get into HTML (the programming language some people write their websites in).  If you're sort of interested in this, and especially if you already have Netscape Communicator 4.0 or better, then you might want to check out an easy way to get started.  This is the last link in the tool box called "Electronic Publising."
 
 
 

Notice this newsletter inclues a new tool.  It is a link to the Philosophy of Mind dictionary maintained by philosophy professor Chris Eliasmith.  This dictionary is being created by the collaborative work of philosophers.

The orientation of the dictionary term selection is a bit different from that of the PMTH dictionary.  However, it includes many terms that are often useful to know, and there are also many names that you might run across.  It will give you a sense of the orientation of this dictionary to learn that Wittgenstein has only 9 hits when you search on his name, Plato has only 4, Foucault and Derrida are not included at all,  but John Searle has 14.

Still, although this selection is hardly postmodern you will run across names and term from time to time that are not on our own list and this is a good place for you to check them out.
 

A new relevant journal is about to be released.  You'll want to know about it, read it, perhaps submit articles for review.  Check it out by clicking here.
 

[T]ruths are illusions of which one has forgotten that they are illusions, worn-out metaphors which have become powerless to affect the senses; coins which have their obverse effaced and now are no longer of any account as coins but merely as metal.

Madness need not be regarded as an illness.  Why shouldn't it be seen as a sudden - more or less sudden - change of character?
                                      Ludwig Wittgenstein
                                           Culture and Value
                                                            1946, p.54
 

For example, Judy Weintraub and Jerry Shaffer discussed a problem in their communication that, on reflection,  seemed a consequence of their having used a word in different senses, one metaphorically and the other literally.

And the discussion in the Wittgenstein readings also had to do with the way superficial aspects of our words can mislead and confuse.  You can say to your kid, "Would you take the garbage out?" but you're not really asking.  You're commanding.  In ways like this, our clients, also, can both say and disguise what they say in the same breath.

Can it be any wonder that there is confusion?   I believe Wittgenstein offers some conceptual tools to deal with confusion such as this.
 

A few weeks ago I was puzzling over what Collaborative Language Systems (CLS) therapists mean by "not knowing."  I had a picture, I think, of the CLS therapist being asked to advise and always saying with a shrug, "I just dunno."

A number of people spoke up to correct this misconception.  One correction by Tom Strong was put in a PMTH article.  And if that did not clear the matter up for you, I would like to add this quote I ran across today.  It is a quote from a key article by the founders of CLS called Human Systems as Linguistic Systems.   In this article, Anderson & Goolishian explicitly address the issue of whether the not-knowing therapist is reduced to saying "I just dunno."  They say:
 

Recently, Jeffrey Guterman has been defending the position that Albert Ellis is postmodern - and this forum is still undecided.

However, whatever the final verdict (if any) on Ellis, I myself find Jeffrey Guterman a very convincing postmodern author.  He has sent me a package of articles which begins with a paper he wrote (1996) on social constructionism in mental health counseling .  He moves around comfortably within the clinical and psychological literature that inspires PMTH, and I like his way of putting many things he says.  Let me give you a taste (leaving out long lists of references):
 

This distinction may be attributable to a footnote of Kenneth Gergen's in his key paper on Social Constructionism in 1985. In that footnote, Gergen said:
 

Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (1966).  The social
   construction of reality.  NY: Doubleday.
Gergen, K. J. (1985).  The social constructionist
    movement in modern psychology. American
   Psychologist, 49(3), 266-275.
Watzlawick, P. (Ed.).  (1984). The invented reality.
    New York: Norton.

Click here to see an article on a conversation we had here at PMTH on social constructionism versus constructivism.
 

We continue to ponder the question of whether Albert Ellis is postmodern.  Diana Cook described Ellis' style twenty years ago and Ellis sounded authoritarian, not postmodern.  That is what I recall as well.

But to what extent is Ellis caught in a trap of his own making?  Can a person who has published fifty books and established such recognition suddenly change his mind?
Of course, but then are we to say that Ellis is postmodern, but that his theories, and his therapy is not?

Perhaps, it is so.  Jeffrey Guterman suggests it is so.  The times are changing and the evidence suggests that Ellis is changing with them -- but, still, there is a momentum to his reputation

Look for yourself.  This is what Guterman cited Ellis saying that seemed postmodern:
 

Ellis, A. (1997b). Postmodern ethics for active-directive psychotherapy.
Journal of Mental health Counseling, 19, 211-225.

Kelly, G. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs (Vols. 1 & 2). New
York: Norton.
 
 
 

Today, a group of us have pondered the question of whether Albert Ellis is postmodern.
What a question.  Ellis has been around for a long time and he is known for telling his clients that their thoughts are "irrational."  How could that be postmodern?

But our own subscriber, Jeffrey Guterman talked personally with Ellis on this matter and brought us passages from Ellis as a kind of proof.  Can we let Ellis in the postmodern door?   I still have doubts.

But, maybe.  Guterman cited Ellis saying the following:
 

Ellis, A. (1997b). Postmodern ethics for active-directive psychotherapy.
Journal of Mental health Counseling, 19, 211-225.

Kelly, G. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs (Vols. 1 & 2). New
York: Norton.

Click here to read the original Guterman paper.Click here
 

What should I do?

The other day I posted a note saying that I wanted to make a list of names that subscribers of PMTH can use when they don't know who the posters are and who they are talking about.  I wanted it to include names of famous folk as well as PMTH members, all on the same list.

This simple proposal has turned out to be controversial than I expected.  Some say that it is presumptuous for PMTH subscribers to even list themselves with famous postmodern authors.

What do you think?  This list would be  mostly for lurkers.  If you do not want to post your answer publicly, please do write me privately and tell me what you think I should do.

Would such a list be helpful to you?

click here to write me
 

Today you will find a new link to an article on Wittgenstein.  In addition to giving you  an introduction to Wittgenstein, it will take you through the first three aphorisms of the book we are reading on PMTH.
 
 
 

.
Today, I give you a new link to a page of notes I have made on a paper by one of our subscribers, Jeffrey Guterman.  The paper is titled, "Signs of Struggle in the Postmodern Era."  Although I personally feel critical of Jeffrey's paper, it is a well written and well organized paper around a topic that is very central to our community and I encourage to look not only at my notes but at the original paper as well.

This paper is for you if you ask yourself: Is postmodern theory, particularly social constructionism, so subjectivist as to be self-contradictory?  Do the authors who are not typically seen as postmodern or social constructionist, such as Albert Ellis, actually have sufficient awareness of the subjective side of the client's truth as to leave no need for more postmodern theories?

These are the questions that Jeffrey Guterman addresses in this paper and I think you'll find his conclusions provocative.

 Click here to read my notes and
 overview of this paper.
 

I felt paralogically enlightened today.  There were a number of interesting posts that captured my attention, but I was particularly engaged in a discussion on the distinction between social constructionism and constructivism.

The standard distinction between these two concepts says that constructivism tells us that the mind is filled with concepts or other structures that bias and control our consciousness.  Social constructionism, on the other hand, focuses on the social institutions and language processes that shape our concepts and way of life.  Constructivism is person focused.  Social constructionism is interpersonal.

Both David Pocock and Leonard Bohanon seem to think too much is made of this distinction.  I, on the other hand think the distinction is important, and I am inclined to make a lot of it.

In the process of arguing his point, David reminded me that he addresses this issue in a paper available through this newsletter called "Loose Ends."   I see by the counter that many of you looked up his paper today.  If more of you you do so, you might take special notice of the last section.
It is a good introduction to the issues.

And another topic of conversation is shaping up.  Judy Weintraub is discussing Thomas Kuhn with both Jerry Shaffer and me.

With me she is talking about the relationship between the Kuhnian concept of a "gestalt-switch" and the Lyotardian concept of "paralogy."  The question is: Are these different phenomena?  Or just different names for the same phenomenon?  Or even: Is the gestalt-switch something small that happens during the course of paralogy?

And with Jerry, Judy is asking if the different paradigms use language that is incommensurable.  That is, can the people in one paradigm actually share thoughts meaningfully with the people embracing another?

If you want to join in, you might get out your copy of Kuhn's Scientific Revolution.  Judy's notes will often point to the page.  And also get your copy of Lyotard's The Postmodern Condition.  You'll likely see some page numbers here, too.
 

If you have never visited the Virtual Faculty website, let me suggest that you do so.  Put together by one of the PMTH subscribers, Andrew Lock, this website is, you'll find, remarkably rich with resources for the postmodern therapist and scholar.  We should surely consider it a sister site.

These resources consist largely of articles by a contributing faculty which include:
 

Andy is a very creative man and I am inspired by his work.   I also consider the eclectic spirit that allowed him to reach out and include me in his list of contributors to be very postmodern.

Aside from Andy and I there are numerous others, as you can see, represented on the Virtual Faculty.  The site has had over eighteen thousand visitors since November 1996.  It is a great resource for online texts for many of today's most relevant authors for postmodern therapists.  It also includes a brief biography for each of the faculty.
 
 

Today there is a new link discussing one of Peter Rober's articles.  In this link, Craig Smith describes an article that discusses the importance of creating a safe culture in therapy.

I haven't actually read this article myself, but I think this concept of "safe culture in therapy" is an important one to consider.  People often come to therapy feeling much like they are being taken to the principle's office.  What makes the culture "safe"?  Is it an orientation of "not-knowing" as Anderson and Goolishian would say?  Look at the new article by Tom Strong which provides a commentary on Anderson and Goolishian's concept of not-knowing.

This also relates to Gergen's notion of "unmasking" (accusing the other of having a hidden agenda).  Gergen seems to think this creates an unsafe climate.  This notion of "unmasking" is an intersting one that is the subject of controversy between Lyotard and Habermas.  Watch for a future article that will address "unmasking."

Also notice that there is a new link to an article on differAnce, an important concept in Derrida's deconstructionism.

Every now and then, it seems, the internet's complicated system of collating all of our posts gets screwed up.  I am told this sometimes happens when people try to write me (Lois Shawver).  Sigh.  If that's the case, for now, it is probably best if you write Leonard Bohanon.  Leonard co-hosts this list with me.  He can sign people up, unsubscribe them, and do all of the other list-owner things that I can do.

Also, sometimes it is not my mailbox that becomes closed.  It's yours.  A common problem is that people's mailboxes are too full.  But often it is just that your server is temporarily disabled.  In that case, we all begin receiving error messages that indicate your mail is bouncing back -- so I am setting your subscription to nomail - which means you won't receive posts until you contact Leonard or me and we reset your mailbox.
 
 

We live with each other in a world of conversational narrative, and we understand ourselves and each other through changing stories and self-description.

I am harvesting posts for publication on this website from our daily postings. What I am looking for are posts that I think will make a continuing contribution to our ongoing conversation.  I want them to be posts that people can continue to refer to and discuss long after the particular conversation that inspired them has passed.

To this end, I prefer posts that have references to other links attached to the PMTH Weekly.  I also prefer posts that have references to publicly available publications, books and articles, things people can look up.

If I select one of your posts for publication, I will write you and ask you if I can publish it.  If I do so, I will edit it, primarily, so that it is no longer addressed to a dialogue that is not included on the PMTH website.  I will also make some effort to correct spelling, etc. Then, I'll show it you for your approval before publishing it.

There are many more wonderful posts than I can publish, however.  If you find one that you think I have neglected, it may be because I have not finished preparing it.  If you want to make sure I consider publishing it, please do forward it to me with your recommendation.
Lois Shawver
 

The list of terms is short, but it will grow.  If you hear a term being used frequently that is not on the list, please submit it to me.
Lois Shawver
 

Today there two new links to Gergen articles.  One is a summary of an article on the political act of unmasking.  In this article, Gergen makes it clear that "unmasking" in social constructionism is one of the major causes of divisiveness.

The other new Gergen article is a sumary and paraphrase of a trialog between Gergen, Lynn Hoffman and Harlene Anderson (of Anderson and Goolishian fame).  This paper is on the topic of  psychological diagnosis.  This brief article contains a link to the full text of this article trialog on diagnosis.
 

Gale's article is an argument against Barbara Held's position that "postmodernism in particular ... necessitates an antirealist or
constructivist epistemology."  As such it is highly related to a number of other articles available through the PMTH Weekly.  See, for example, the paraphrase and commentary on Gergen's Constructionism and Realism.

Pocock's article is also a response to a published article.  His response is to Rudi Dallos and Amy Urry.  Dallos and Urry argue, Pocock tells us, that we should not be "docile bodies" in the face of each new complaint that previous versions of brief therapy have been insufficient.  Pocock, influenced by Lyotard's postmodernism, supports that position and finds our postmodern promise in a paralogy that is based on an eclecticism which makes use of previous theories in a new way.

Also, notice two brief new items under the tools for studying major philosphers.  One is a quotation talking about  what Derrida and Foucault thought of each other and the other is a somewhat obscure but penetratable comment by Lyotard on Kuhn.

Notice a new commentary link on the Gergen paper on the subject of realism in social constructionism.
 
 
 

If You Stop Receiving Posts

If the listowners cannot reach you to tell you about the problem, you will probably have your account set to NOMAIL.  Write one of us if you notice and then fix the problem.  We'll turn your mail reception back on.

Click here to write Lois Shawver.
Click here to write Leonard Bohanon.

If you have a suggestion of something to be published in the PMTH Weekly, write
Lois Shawver.
 
 

Wittgenstein Readings

The Wittgenstein readings can all be identified by a subject head that says something like "LW reading #22".  That makes them easy for you to delete them unread if you consider them
uninteresting.  The number in the subject head tells you what aphorism is being read.

These readings have been going on for some time, years in fact, and they involve my posting an original "reading" (the aphorism and a commentary) and a
small group of "readers" posting a response to my reading.  Then the readers and I write back and forth a few times.

The arrangement is that these readings will be made available for others to study over our shoulder, but the readings themselves are limited, by and large, to the people who have been participating in this project for some time.  Anything else would make the project unwieldly.

However, if you have a particular question or comment you want to make occasionally, go ahead.  The readers might respond. Also, at times Jerry Shaffer has been kind enough to respond to an invitation by posting commentary - so the rules for who is encouraged to participate are provisional.

An introductory article on Wittggenstein's concept of a language-game is available through the PMTH Weekly
 
 

What is the PMTH Weekly?

You can bookmark this link and return to it for updated news and updated links.  The news section in the weekly will tell you about new links when they are introduced.  To get to those new links, simply
page down to the bottom of this page.  The links are at the tail end of the PMTH Weekly.

It's called a "weekly" but it may be updated more or less frequently.  Note the date of the article.  Unless otherwise noted, the Weekly articles are all written by yours truly, Lois Shawver.
 
 

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