[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [xmca] ISCAR Newsletter?

In our times, it has become very socially acceptable to seek therapy, to the extent that that scoundrel Frank Furedi has published a book on "Therapy Culture" which he takes to be characteristic of our times. (This guy is a Marxist who has moved so far to the right that the right-wing think-tanks invite him to Oz to beef up their right-wing armoury). Seeking the help of a psychiatrist or psychologist is very socially acceptable. But their remain those who can ask for help for anything other than psychological problems. This goes so close to one's identity. I can admit to needing help to learn to drive a car or cook or strengthen my damaged muscles, but it takes a lot of self-confidence to ask for help with my mind, doesn't it? For a start I think it means the one helped also has to accept what Mike pointed to, that seeking help is what we do every moment. And that our mind isn't just something ephemeral and intangible, but takes blows and cuts just like our body does. 

Andy

mike cole wrote:

I can well understand that in the middle of gaining professional acceptance
with the data collected it could be a little difficult to
change courses, Nektarios.

Still, it is interesting to think about how, in principle, one's approach to
the "concept of helping" that is the standard of your field would be
changed by CHAT perspective.

In a way, the method of dual stimulation, taken as the "ur" act of using
a second stimulus as a tool to organize response to a stimulating problem
situation, could be interpreted to mean that we all, all the time "seek
help" as a simple fact of human existence. It could be an interesting
starting point in seeking to understand the various practices of "help
seeking" that emerge under different circumstances in different cultural
groups.
mike

On Sun, Nov 11, 2012 at 6:09 PM, Nektarios Alexi <NEKTARIOS.ALEXI@cdu.edu.au

wrote:



**

Hi Mike,

I dont know if at the end I will manage to contextualize my PhD thesis
under the CHAT principles because already it got a more mainstream
psychology form and we gonna start analyzing data soon then start writing
results and discussion by the beginning of next year. But neverthless
simoultaneously with my PhD thesis I have started to thinking in terms of
CHAT for other studies that are possible to be undertaken for the
population of Cyprus in comparison with other populations for help-seeking
behaviours for mental health problems but also for other problems. If I was
starting my PhD now I would have probably set a different theoretical
background and utilize different methodologies than those I am using at the
moment but it is a bit late now, since I am under a 3 year Australian
Postgraduate Award and I have to finish at time.

Nektarios


-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of mike cole
Sent: Mon 11/12/2012 3:31 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] ISCAR Newsletter?

Hi Nektarios--

The history of your background and the various papers you sent provide a
really helpful context for understanding your messages on xmca. Thanks a
lot for sending along.

An observation related to a question:

In skimming the references in several of the the papers, only one of them
seemed to border on the edges of XMCA discourse; Knorr-Cetina, and others.
But the rest appear to be from a completely discourse world, but
overlapping topic of concern. Is that a correct impression?

If so, how are you planning to locate the concept of "help seeking" within
whatever clan of CHAT family theories you are using to think about the
problem. It seems a great topic for cross-cultural research because it is
goes right to the issue of the differing meanings in the semantic field of
"hope" related to differing social solutions to universal problems.

All very interesting.
mike





On Sat, Nov 10, 2012 at 11:04 PM, Nektarios Alexi <
NEKTARIOS.ALEXI@cdu.edu.au> wrote:


This is a very important and considerable big study in Australia which is
focused more to young people but I think many findings and are also

applied

for older individuals.

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Andy Blunden
Sent: Sun 11/11/2012 4:31 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] ISCAR Newsletter?

Oh! Much too much for me to  cope with Nektarios.
Do you have some simple guidelines, relevant to contemporary Australia?

Andy

Nektarios Alexi wrote:

Well they could be some cultural differences between Anglo-Australians
and  Greeks or Greek-Cypriots for the simple fact that church and
state is not separated in Greece and Cyprus, therefore very often
people see them selves as Greek-Orthodox christians which very often
comes with certain attitudes towards seeking solutions for health
problems and also mental health problems. These differences we reckon
would be bigger between older population than younger people which
probably more or less 80% of the population under 40, over there, have
graduate and postgraduate qualifications.

Nektarios

(find attached some important articles on the subject)



-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Andy Blunden
Sent: Sun 11/11/2012 10:10 AM
To: ablunden@mira.net; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] ISCAR Newsletter?

I don't know about cultural differences, Nektarios, but when you've
figured out how to encourage people to seek help who either deny they
need it, or don't want to cause trouble, please get in touch! Or if
you have any good literature for a novice reader, I would be
interested, too. What are the factors?

Andy

Nektarios Alexi wrote:

        Yes something like that Andy:)

        If all goes as it is expected to goes i might be finishing
next year that time. I am going to Cyprus next week to collect the
data from there and then start writing the next part of it, results
and discussion.Literature review it is almost finished i think...

        Help-seeking behaviours for mental ilness it is simply means
to whom are asking for help individuals that are going through mental
health problems. e.g Are Greeks more willing to ask help from a family
member or friend or the priest than the psychologist or the
psychiatrist? And also are the Anglo Australians more willing to ask
for help when facing such problems from mental health professionals
than Greeks? Something like that in a nutshell:)

        Nektarios
        ,

        -----Original Message-----
        From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Andy Blunden
        Sent: Sat 11/10/2012 8:46 PM
        To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
        Subject: Re: [xmca] ISCAR Newsletter?

         From Budapest to San Diego via Darwin, eh?

        Where are you up to in your PhD, Nektarios?
        And what does "help-seeking behaviours for mental illness"

mean?

        Andy
        Nektarios Alexi wrote:
        >
        > Thats a good question Andy, it seems that a sequence of
events lead me
        > to xmca, but i think who put the seed to me of such a
comprehensive
        > approach to human development and human problems was my
professor of
        > developmental psychology Magda Kalmar when i was doing my BA
        > Psychology and MA Clinical Psychology at Eotvos Lorand
University of
        > Budapest. She has worked directly with Jerome Bruner i have
discovered
        > accidentally a week ago ''In Oxford Bruner collected a large
group of
        > graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who participated
in the
        > effort to understand how young children manage to crack the
linguistic
        > code, among them Alison Gopnik, Magda Kalmar hu:Kalmár Magda
        > (pszichológus), Alan Leslie, Andrew Meltzoff, Anat Ninio,
Roy Pea,
        > Susan Sugarman [2], Michael Scaife, Marian Sigman [3], Kathy
Sylva and
        > many others. '' (Wikipedia) and Uri Bronfenbrenner i think.
But i
        > didnt know about xmc a specifically till 2 years ago when i
started
        > writing my PhD research proposal here at Charles Darwin
University
        > where i was seeking material to write a proposal explaining
        > help-seeking behaviours for mental illness under a

sociocultural

        > framework, and somehow through google i have discovered the
infinite
        > food for thought world of xmca:)
        >
        > Nektarios
        >
        >
        > -----Original Message-----U BronfenbrennerFrom:
        > xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Andy Blunden
        > Sent: Sat 11/10/2012 7:05 PM
        > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
        > Subject: Re: [xmca] ISCAR Newsletter?
        >
        > The infinite regression happens by itself, Nektarios, along
with the
        > pleasure you will get from reading this stuff. Don't worry

about

        > "absolute answers" because you won't find them. What brought
you to xmca
        > to begin with?
        >
        > Andy
        >
        > Nektarios Alexi wrote:
        > >
        > > But what about creating questions as reading? What about
expanding by
        > > learning? And what about reading for the sake of
questioning rather
        > > than seeking for absolute answers? What about reading for
sake of the
        > > pleasure of reading by it self? But not a pleasure that it

is

        > > exhausted after its fullfillment but for a pleasure that
is getting
        > > deeper and deeper as more someone read?
        > >
        > >
        > > -----Original Message-----
        > > From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Andy

Blunden

        > > Sent: Sat 11/10/2012 2:02 PM
        > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
        > > Subject: Re: [xmca] ISCAR Newsletter?
        > >
        > > To read productively, Nektarios, I think it is always
necessary to read
        > > purposively, that is, especially, to seek for the answers
to specific
        > > questions (or betters ways of framing the question!).
Sometimes what you
        > > are reading is not at the appropriate degree of generality
to give
        > > answers recognisable to your questions, and that is a
problem in itself.
        > > But always proceed like Sherlock Holmes, looking for clues.
        > >
        > > Andy
        > >
        > > Nektarios Alexi wrote:
        > > >
        > > > Hi Andy,
        > > >
        > > > Tnx for posting your work. I am looking toward to read
it carefully
        > > > very soon and hope to come up with some relevant

questions.

        > > >
        > > > Sometime it is hard to find appropriate questions,
because i am not
        > > > always sure if i am understanding correctly what i am
reading, from
        > > > scholars of the calibre that are writing in this forum.
But i think
        > > > that all these fascinating readings that people posting
here it is a
        > > > kind of Zone of Proximal development for me since it
keeps my
        > > > intellectual curiosity always alert.
        > > >
        > > >
        > > >
        > > > Nektarios
        > > >
        > >
        >
        >
        > __________________________________________
        > _____
        > xmca mailing list
        > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
        > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
        >

        --



------------------------------------------------------------------------

        *Andy Blunden*
        Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
<http://home.mira.net/%7Eandy/> <http://home.mira.net/%7Eandy/>
        Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
        http://ucsd.academia.edu/AndyBlunden

        __________________________________________
        _____
        xmca mailing list
        xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
        http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca



--

________________________________

*Andy Blunden*
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/ <http://home.mira.net/%7Eandy/>
Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
http://ucsd.academia.edu/AndyBlunden




--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
http://ucsd.academia.edu/AndyBlunden

__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca



__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca



__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca



__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca




--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
http://ucsd.academia.edu/AndyBlunden

__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca