A different take on Orientation - The Blank Slate

The Blank Slate

Thank goodness for artificial intelligence.
That's right - art- I-ficial, my art,
In using my PC to deny the existence
Of my history.

You may say, ' for what purpose'?
It's a hidden agenda of course, and
A game thats quite complicated.

Even I have phobic disturbances
Working it out.
Not wanting to be ever hurt,
Placing myself in a physical
Space where you can't touch me.

And yet, there is a desire to love
And be loved, to touch and to link.
And I find myself wondering...
What's the secondary gain?
Maybe an influence of kin fitness, or a selfish opportunity to capture your projections instead!

Indeed. So, What has Blame Slate got to do with all of this?

(c) 3.2012

Tavistock Seminar Notes on Arrogance Paper, "Orientation"

Bion seminar Tavistock
11 Feb 2012 - notes by J Hooper

Paper by Bion 'On Arrogance' paper

Projective identification, PI, projecting parts of the unwanted self into the other, that is, leaving a split off, of good or bad feelings in therapist/other- a primitive form of communication ultimately dependent on verbalisation, notably, 'an obstructive force', likened to throwing a tantrum !

PI is really about experiencing powerful feelings and being able to contain them oneself ideally, with the satisfaction of balance.

Originally a maternal functioning, the baby must manage 'tollerance of frustration.' over time.  Whereas, 
thinking is an internal dialogue developing the prototype of linking to objects,  a theory developed from Plato. Therefore, negotiation of 'orientation' is key.   The baby has to orientate himself towards the breast and the mother has to orient towards the baby, forging a link, "a negotiation."  Resulting in a dynamic of moments of orientation an reorientation.  Thus the breast is thus 'home'.  Compared to a situation, like meeting another person who wants to meet you and their capacity to do so. Helping you to recognise their emotional side inside themselves. No meeting of 'orientation' means no meeting of 'the container contained'!

This is likened to creating attunement rather than imposing how you want another person to act - joint monalogue, rather than, invading the child's space - leading and following, without a space to learn!  In such situations, the child is not seen as separate. A rather early chronic situation of a missed encounter with the mother in the context of orientation.  Moreover, emotions might be so powerful that 'thinking' is lost creating an incapacity to orientation 'towards' the mother/other. Therefore, feeling nourished and understood is temporary.

Psychosis is failure of containment , environment, the psychotic personality is confusion.  Hence, containment and orientation go hand in hand. In otherwords a sense of 'I am sad', therapists create a place for patients to talk, a place in an abstract sense - a space to function. What therefore needs to be contained is not projections, but the experience of  DISORIENTATION, even if  orientation might happen or might not happen.

Overall PI is a defence against anxiety. Therefore, it's important to orientate and disorientate as a form of "my getting feedback from the other."  The leader needs the opportunity to be a follower and vice versa. The follower is not actually a follower but a person who gives information.

If the baby is unhappy day after day you need help.  Triangulation need to be there from the word go. Not just mother and baby but the other.

Furthermore, as the client, if you are unable to feel the pain you are also unable to experience the joy of life.

Question: is the lack of orientation something to do with pampering? J Hooper


The Analyst answer:
Pampering is good . However, it can be unhealthy in the sense that the mother wants the baby to become part of the mother, by the mother forcing the prevention of separation - smothering.

End .
Brief seminar notes

Future History For 2012

I'm still working through the Lacan epilogue of reading line by line, 'a complicated type of psychotherapy', a friend Gloria B., seems to remind me, however, I am determined to get my head around it.

In the meantime, I thought that I would indulge in a Change Your Mind coaching seminar for 20 hours over one weekend with plenty of NLP and Timeline Therapy, in January.  Well I was out of it for a week, but realise the power of resilience it has given me now for challenges for 2012 in my future history.  I guess I was setting myself up for getting rid of obstacles much sooner rather than later as they pop up.

I find myself working on the areas of career, business and finance these days, that is, getting myself settled in GP Counselling work and getting my own private practice on track.  You might ask, what's happened to the poetry?  It's very much alive, I can tell you, it's all inside and bursting to come out and I will find a way to integrate it into therapy work as I originally intended on starting this blog, and as a supervisor once emphasised.  In my view you can't beat self expression and there is a modern view it's intertwined for finding words that may be inexpressable verbally.

Now that I am a bit more concious how I spend my time, it's been all about going to beneficial seminars and networks that will help tap into the diamonds that I already have, as an experienced businessman tactfully reminded me of the other day.  Thank you Michael P.

Talking about relevant seminars, it was a delight to attend the Tavistock in February, for a talk entitled "On Arrogance" by Alfred Bion, and to hear the perspective of the speaker on 'orientation', and I may share my notes with you later.

Also at the Institute of Psychiatry in March, there was a lively debate on whether Psychoanalysis was just history, even a comedy, and whether CBT was the preferred evidenced based treatment?  Although there seemed to be no argument about Psychodynamic Therapy!  Thank goodness.  Well I was happy to find a seat in the auditorium that was packed right down the front, but did find myself thinking to ask the question, "I wonder whether the patient would really care, especially if they had a good relationship with their therapist"?  All in all, I find myself going 'neck and neck' with my psychotherapy and coaching training, despite the different view around on what works.

Even though I tend to work as an Integrative and Psychodynamic Counsellor, it's not uncommon to address myself as an Integrated Therapist-Coach, mixing a number of models of therapy to bring about effectiving lasting therapy by break through, time-limited interventions.

Now that you know how my start to the year has been may be I can share my notes "On Arrogance".