Friday Lunchtime Reading Group, 3 November 2017

THE USE OF THE SOCIAL ATOM and SOCIAL COLLECTIVES IN THERAPY

Sue Daniel is the moderator for this month’s reading group and will lead the discussion. Our theme centres around the development of sociometry in 1934 and its expansion into our community, and the use of sociometry in private practice.

This session will be of interest to psychodrama trainees, practitioners and other professional people working in private practice or in one to one counselling.

The reference is for this month's reading group: “The social collective and the social and cultural atom in the age of the social network."

This article published in the Journal for Psychodrama and Sociometry (German edition, Springer) presents the use of the social collective as applied in a current psychotherapeutic practice. The significance and use of the social collective is one that has relevance in any field and is the cornerstone of the modern phenomenon of digital social networking. Dr. Jacob Levy Moreno was the originator of the concept and his ideas have influenced the development of the modern day social network. The earliest and smallest social atom is the mother and baby. While this social unit is the precursor to all others, new life can emerge wherever mutual positive tele flourishes. As the wave and particle in physics do not exist independently, neither does the twin concept of the social and cultural atom. The use of the latter as an evaluation tool in psychotherapy is powerful and along with the concept of the social collective, can be used to analyse patterns in any group or cultural context.

Reference: Zeitschrift für Psychodrama und Soziometrie, ISSN 1619-5507 Z Psychodrama Soziom DOI 10.1007/s11620-016-0336-y

Friday Lunchtime Reading Group

First Friday of the month from 12.45 to 1.45 p.m

This group is designed to suit those with an hour to spare at lunchtime. Budding writers, trainees and practitioners are welcome! We will discuss psychodrama works; DVD’s and literature and other related material. A moderator who will send the material, or give it out at the previous meeting for reading or viewing, will lead the discussion.

Dates for 2017: 3 March, 7 April, 5 May, 2 Jun, 7 Jul, 4 Aug, 1 Sep, 6 Oct. & 3 November 2017.

Fee: $10.00 for MPS members, $15.00 (non-members) per session includes freshly brewed coffee and selection of teas and goes towards building up the PIM and MPS library.

BYO lunch (Tea and freshly brewed coffee is served).

RSVP to Sue 0417 586 791 for a copy of the article.

An excerpt from "The social collective and the social and cultural atom in the age of the social network" by Sue Daniel

"Since the beginning and proliferation of ‘social networks’ (Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, etc.) the speed of communication has increased exponentially. A letter could take weeks or months to get across the sea however when planes took over mail delivery, a few days. Then came the fax machine, but nothing compared with the rise of the Internet. When the social networks were so named and expanded, the rate of knowledge exploded. In a few seconds, the whole modern world could know immediately about an erupting volcano on the other side of the world. People now send text messages to radio stations to tell of an event they just winessed. Trial by social media takes place. Judges write to newspapers explaining why they reached their decision, reacting to criticisms of them as posted on Twitter. This is now the norm. People resign their jobs on the basis of what is written about them on Facebook. Trial by social media! Schools and organizations are evaluated online, as is the individual. But can we say this is progress, can we say that we are developing as a race, or, are we in fact, regressing? The squeaky wheel gets the attention. Negativity is given precedence over the positive. Bernard Salt, talking mainly about Twitter in the Dark Side of Social Media, deplores the social media abuse “that we now seem to accept as the norm for anyone in public life” (Salt 2015, p. 16). Anything can be said and it seems that nothing is private anymore. Are we living in a culture of bullying? Who decides what to say about whom or what? People are fearful of not fitting in, not being part of the group. It is easy to see why this fear exists (FOMO – Fear of missing out). Jacob Levy Moreno put forward the viewpoint that the social network was the kitchen of public opinion (Moreno 1946/1985). Someone in a group might decide something is cool or puts a new slant on something, and suddenly, “it” goes viral, and thousands of people are affected. Anyone can be the star of a group depending on the criteria and a star can have a negative or positive impact."