[Xmca-l] Re: Rogers day

[Annalisa Aguilar]

Hi Adam and venerable others,


I acknowledge that we are sifting through the interpersonal and attempting to onramp to the transactional, and in that spirit I will set aside the topic of antagonizing emails of the immediate past for now, but I will briefly assert that I have received offlist emails from community members (who are women) who agree with me and my analysis, but tragically they will not post because, as I said earlier, women are expected to defer to the discomfort of others, and their view points are not considered important enough to hear "out loud," but only in an intimate circle of other women. What that means is that these women do not feel safe to post to the list. So those who praise your efforts to ensure this a safe place for discourse, well, respectfully... please don't feel so secure in that belief.


Onwards! ...as Helena W signs her emails (She was not one of the women who replied).


Adam, perezhivanie was the only Vygotskian concept I could think of that adheres to the emotional aspect of development and I was also reminded of the problem of the environment essay, thanks for bringing that up. I am almost hoping my friend Fernando L will post right about now, because his reading of Vygotskian/CHAT text is impressively encyclopedic and I think he would be able to identify some additional texts that might provide us with answers.


I thought that "threat to self" is what Freud would say creates the unconscious, and I'm apologizing but my Freud reading is quite frugal if non-existent. In the Vedanta paradigm of mind, we would say that an obstruction is created in the mind. Just like roads, there can be different kinds of obstructions. There can be too much traffic, something blocks the way, bridges washed away, accidents, flat tires, etc.


I'm guessing that Vygotsky's reply would be that the child, based upon the material on hand (i.e, the biological development completed up to that point, á la Piaget) comes up with a solution of some kind, which may be an appropriately(but also unappropriate) functioning compensation, born from the struggle of the crisis. The danger is that unless a trauma is addressed, children's minds remain distorted until such time a new crisis arises later, perhaps because the initial compensation strategy no longer works, and then a new structure reveals itself. That is, when the child must work without the help of a therapeutic support.


This is where and when the function of unconditional positive regard seems so critical. Particularly to a traumatized child. But even in the case that a child hasn't been traumatized there is something about positive regard that allows a kind of relaxation. Metaphorically, I visualize this like taking a wrinkled tablecloth, unfolding and unfurling it and allowing it to float above the table and rest upon it flat and neat and allowing the wrinkles to relax flat.


Adam, I'm unsure if I understand what you mean by the unconscious being a symbolic tool. Would you say more about that?


Thanks for posting the link and also your contribution. I haven't had the opportunity to check out your article, but I shall. "Funds of identity" Is an interesting phrase.


Kind regards,


Annalisa

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