tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2911986427253894754.post6458033586478483401..comments2022-03-26T11:39:43.006-04:00Comments on Parasociology: Reading Notes – On Group Analysis and the Social UnconsciousEric Ouellethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02630372990055395413noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2911986427253894754.post-13130594526342872622009-02-09T19:13:00.000-05:002009-02-09T19:13:00.000-05:00Hello Sophia,Thank you for your comments. My Ph.D....Hello Sophia,<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your comments. <BR/><BR/>My Ph.D. is in sociology, as you can probably see, and I am ventruing into psychology in an attempt to link the two in a non-reductionist way. <BR/><BR/>Your comments are very helpful, and please feel free to intervene. A constructive dialogue between sociology and psychology is badly needed in the social sciences in general. A clear example, is that when I do qualitative empirical research in a sociology, I also notice the addition effect that you mentionned, especially when I attempt to assess organizational worldviews, and institutional ways of thinking. <BR/><BR/>Best Regards,<BR/><BR/>EricEric Ouellethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01985467572506352039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2911986427253894754.post-25983305211777721582009-02-09T12:10:00.000-05:002009-02-09T12:10:00.000-05:00Your entry came to me via what for me is a relativ...Your entry came to me via what for me is a relatively new discovery, “google alerts.” The alert I requested was “group psyche.” This Internet service facilitates the sharing of knowledge, or reveals content that has previously been hidden (or unconscious) to the receiver. Having never heard of parasociology I was delighted to find that others have been interested in the topic of how individual and group and collective conscious and unconscious interrelate. I wrote a dissertation, with interdisciplinary discussion, on what is occurring when a group participates in a sand tray session, that is, the placing of miniatures (which through this use are given metaphoric and highly communicative content) by group members into a framed tray of sand, and the discussion and activity that follows. The group creates a unique picture that automatically through projection reveals the current state of the collective psyche in some depth although it is expressed by and through unique individuals. I have observed how a person’s contribution may make sense personally while combining seamlessly with the larger constellation. Sometimes it is also clear that individuals are prompted to express content that is not especially pertinent to themselves, but serves the apt depiction of the collective. If there is change in one area of the tray as a result of discussion, participants tend together to adjust the remainder of the tray as well, and appear to be collectively learning, or adjusting both conscious and unconscious. Extending this dynamic to the world outside the sand tray room, it makes sense that some of us become carriers of expression, metaphoric or otherwise, that is in need of being revealed, like a resource or a symptom.<BR/> I also learned that when a group is questioned separately their answers tend to be additive rather than repetitive which indicates to me that together we function as both a learning and revealing “organism” within which we function like unique, potentially contributory “cells.” Sophia Hughes, PhD. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=06-26-2013&FMT=7&DID=1092060981&RQT=309&attempt=1&cfc=1solve ithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09451293322635104437noreply@blogger.com