A translation theoretical approach to three interrelated phenomena: the dozens, reading, and vogue

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Psychotherapy as making

Historically, research and practice of psychotherapy have been conducted within conceptual frameworks defined in terms of theoretical models. These models are in turn guided by meta-theories about the purpose of psychotherapy and its place in society. An image of psychotherapy that underpins much contemporary practice is the idea that therapy operates as an intervention that involves the implementation and application of a pre-existing theoretical model or set of empirically validated procedures. The present paper introduces the idea that it may be valuable to regard psychotherapy not as an intervention but instead as a process of making, in the sense of offering a cultural space for the co-construction of meaningful and satisfying ways of living that draw on shared cultural resources. We offer an overview of what a therapy of making might look like, followed by an account of theoretical perspectives, both within the psychotherapy literature and derived from wider philosophical and social science sources, that we have found valuable in terms of making sense of this way of thinking about practice. Our conclusion is that we need something in addition to theory-specific and protocol-driven therapies, in order to be able to incorporate the unexpected, the not-before-met perspective, event or practice of living, and to be open towards the radically new, the given, and the unknown

Community, Conversation, and Conflict: a Study of Deliberation and Moderation in a Collaborative Political Weblog

Concerns about the feasibility of the Internet as an appropriate venue for deliberation have emerged based on the adverse effects of depersonalization, anonymity, and lack of accountability on the part of online discussants. As in face-to-face communication, participants in online conversations are best situated to determine for themselves what type of communication is appropriate. Earlier research on Usenet groups was not optimistic, but community-administered moderation may provide a valuable tool for online political discussion groups who wish to support and enforce deliberative communication among a diverse or disagreeing membership. This research examines individual comments and their rating and moderation within a week-long Pie Fight discussion about community ownership and values in the Daily Kos political blog. Specific components of deliberation were identified and a content analysis was conducted for each. Salient issues included community reputation, agreement and disagreement, meta-communication, and appropriate expression of emotion, humor, and profanity. Data subsets were analyzed in conjunction with the comment ratings given by community members to determine what types of interaction received the most attention, and how the community used the comment ratings system to promote or demote specific comment types. The use of middle versus high or low ratings, the value of varied ratings format, and the use of moderation as a low-impact means of expressing dissent were also explored. The Daily Kos community members effectively used both comments and ratings to mediate conflict, assert their desired kind of community, demonstrate a deliberative self-concept, and support specific conditions of deliberation. The moderation system was used to sanction uncivil or unproductive communication, as intended, and was also shown to facilitate deliberation of disagreement rather than creating an echo chamber of opinion

“As it’s our last exchange next time…”. The closure initiation in email counseling

This paper reports from an interpersonal pragmatics perspective on the negotiation of closure of the counseling process in five naturally occurring email counseling exchanges between one counselor and five different clients. I focus on three aspects: who initiates closure, in what form, and in which interpersonal context. A mixed methodology consisting of a discourse-analytic approach combined with a participant interview serves to examine the closure initiation from multiple perspectives. Results show that extensive collaborative work (e. g. relational strategies such as showing empathy or praising) is carried out to create a “closure-relevant” environment in which the initiation of closure can occur. The counselor, who initiates all five closures, tailors the initiation according to clients’ progress so far and elicits specific relational work (e. g. self-praise) from clients that aims to position them as active self-helpers. It is the collaborative work by counselor and clients that facilitates the closure initiation of the counseling process. The analysis of the collaborative work from an interpersonal pragmatics perspective provides further empirical evidence of the link between relational work and identity construction

Giving an Account of One’s Pain in the Anthropological Interview

In this paper, I analyze the illness stories narrated by a mother and her 13-year-old son as part of an ethnographic study of child chronic pain sufferers and their families. In examining some of the moral, relational and communicative challenges of giving an account of one’s pain, I focus on what is left out of some accounts of illness and suffering and explore some possible reasons for these elisions. Drawing on recent work by Judith Butler (Giving an Account of Oneself, 2005), I investigate how the pragmatic context of interviews can introduce a form of symbolic violence to narrative accounts. Specifically, I use the term “genre of complaint” to highlight how anthropological research interviews in biomedical settings invoke certain typified forms of suffering that call for the rectification of perceived injustices. Interview narratives articulated in the genre of complaint privilege specific types of pain and suffering and cast others into the background. Giving an account of one’s pain is thus a strategic and selective process, creating interruptions and silences as much as moments of clarity. Therefore, I argue that medical anthropologists ought to attend more closely to the institutional structures and relations that shape the production of illness narratives in interview encounters

What Can Play: The Potential of Non-Human Players

What can post-humanism teach us about game design? This paper questions the line drawn between what species and matter can play and what cannot play. Combining works by scholars of feminist post-humanism, new materialism, and game studies, primarily Jane Bennett, Donna Haraway, and T.L. Taylor, it proposes that play is a form of communication not only between animals and humans but also between plants and cyborgs, insects and atoms. Beginning by interrogating the borders of the human that have been built on ableist and racist discourses, this paper moves towards considering the human as interspecies and outlines that we must reassess the ways in which a multiplicity of species experience the intra-action that constitutes “play.” With a brief look into the history of defining play in both game studies and animal studies and their small crossover, play is reconfigured into an outlook or an approach rather than a set of rules. It is a drive that all species and matter experience, including insects, bacteria, and metal. This moves us beyond considering solely the materiality of our bodies at play by reconsidering the objects of play as our co-players, as matter with agential force. I argue that we need to reconsider the videogame player as an interspecies being, an assemblage of human and non-human bodies. The de-anthropocentricization of the popular notions of player agency allows for a multiplicity of reactions not created in the linear cause and effect course, the belief in ultimate player control within procedural systems, which dominates game studies. This paper concludes by submitting possibilities of what considering the non-human through a feminist and anti-ableist lens can offer game designers, players, and critics, such as considering the material platform’s impact on play, reforming the individualistic agency of players, and designing for the Other(s)

The Cases They Carry : A Narrative Analysis of Crisis Counselors Working in Behavioral Health Emergency Settings

Utilizing a qualitative approach informed by narrative inquiry, this study considered the ways in which eight crisis counselors working in behavioral health emergency settings make meaning of their experiences. Participant narratives focused on the intense, multidimensional, and often emotionally demanding nature of crisis work, something they understood to be inherent to working within these settings. The findings revealed that these crisis counselors often felt isolated, unsupported, and unprepared for their positions, leaving them to negotiate the demands of the work and to make meaning of their experiences on their own. Participants developed various methods of coping, yet these techniques were not always enough to protect them from the negative effects of crisis work. In these situations, participants experienced many of the same issues documented in other helping professions, including feelings of countertransference and vicarious trauma. Participant narratives also uncovered the experience of moral injury, an emerging area of study among healthcare workers but one that has remained largely neglected in the counseling literature. The findings suggest that crisis counselors are well aware of the risks of working with clients experiencing behavioral health emergencies but continue in these roles out of a sense of purpose and appreciation for the newfound perspective the work affords them. The study provides important insights into the understudied world of crisis work, and provides implications that help to inform best practice for counselors, clinical supervisors, and counselor educators

Interpersonal pragmatics and the therapeutic alliance : the collaborative work in email counseling

Online communication has become ever more present in our lives and has encompassed the personal as well as the professional sphere. This expansion has continued into the professional workspace of mental healthcare workers who conduct counseling online. Special emphasis needs to be given on how mental healthcare workers utilize online communication to work collaboratively with clients. Previous research has shown that the quality of the therapeutic alliance significantly impacts the outcome of counseling. In this book, the therapeutic alliance is examined from an interpersonal pragmatic perspective. Using a mixed methods approach, five naturally occurring email counseling threads are scrutinized to shed light on how the counselor and her clients work collaboratively to improve the clients' well-being. The content analysis reveals the specific topics that are dealt with in the counseling exchanges. The subsequent discursive moves analysis uncovers systematic discursive patterns that occur within the exchanges. Zooming in on specific aspects through a discourse-analytic approach finally allows for an in-depth description of three captivating phenomena: the use of a metaphor to combat unhelpful thoughts, the use of narratives to construct varying identities, and the intricate process of exiting the actual counseling process once clients have improved. By employing two notions from interpersonal pragmatics - relational work and identity construction - empirical evidence is provided to show how they are linked. Thereby, the book adds to research on interpersonal pragmatics, but also on online and mental health communication. Importantly, it serves as a guide to mental health practitioners by demonstrating how language in online counseling can be analyzed and utilized to negotiate the therapeutic alliance and support clients in their endeavor to improve their well-being. Franziska Thurnherr is a researcher in the public health sector in Switzerland. She has published on interpersonal pragmatics, (online) mental health and computer-mediated communication

A 'New' preschool curriculum that puts play on top: Déjà vu or second chance?

This thesis examines explanatory theories of play and an empirical study of preschoolers' play. It aims to provide an understanding of the educational purpose, value and extent of play in children’s lives. Understanding the interrelationship between play, development and learning, the writer hopes to be better equipped to facilitate and organize a meaningful play environment during the preschool years of young children to guide them into realising their potential of becoming confident and communicative beings; never mind the neat handwriting or colouring that preschool education focuses so much upon in Singapore. Considering explanations, the dominant theories of Piaget and Vygotsky's ideas in the play field are discussed. A framework towards an integrated perspective of a play- centred curriculum is presented. Considering evidence, studies of children’s play development in the domains of cognitive, language, social and emotional development are reviewed and summarized. Propelled earlier in the year 2003 by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, to accord play at the top of a new preschool curriculum, a battery of simple play experiments and tests were carried out to establish the interdependence of play, learning and development of preschoolers. Answers to two research questions regarding play in the local preschool context were processed: (1) does thematic fantasy play training conducted during English Language Arts lessons increase preschoolers' incidences of fantasy play during free play periods? (2) Will thematic fantasy play training improve preschoolers' perspective- taking ability in the domains of cognition, perception and affection? The findings (N= 28) are presented. Their implications for Singapore preschool teacher training in a play- centred curriculum are discussed. The thesis concludes with a reconciliation of understanding amongst all the high- stakes players of preschool education: parents of preschool children, preschool teachers and of course, the preschoolers themselves. The ultimate purpose of this thesis is to lay out and execute a local yet truly new preschool curriculum that puts Play at the top

Literary Laughter in Augustan Poetry: Vergil, Horace, and Ovid

This dissertation examines literary laughter in Latin poetry and, specifically, the ways in which textually-witnessed laughter functions as a guide to reader response and as a genre marker in select Vergilian, Horatian, and Ovidian poems. The introduction first describes the Latin vocabulary of laughter and the risible and then introduces the texts of Augustan poetry to be examined. The remainder of the introduction surveys theoretical treatments of laughter that appear in Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero and underlie three prevailing modern explanations of laughter: the superiority, relief, and incongruity theories. My inquiry is divided into two complementary parts, to each of which I devote three chapters. Part I (Chapters 1, 2, and 3) explores laughter's function as text-directed literary criticism--what I call a textual laugh track. My approach emphasizes that the vocabulary of laughter and the risible as used by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid often functions metacommunicatively, offering to the reader a set of directions for how to respond to particular texts. Part 2 (Chapters 4, 5, and 6) considers laughter's role as a conspicuous piece in the assembling of specific generic puzzles. Horace's Satires, Vergil's Eclogues, and Ovid's Amores all feature the vocabulary of laughter and the risible in their verses, and they utilize this vocabulary to various genre-determined--and genre-determining--ends. My objective throughout the dissertation is to present laughter as a dynamic human behavior that, through its appearance in Augustan literature, not only offers inroads to a specific "cultural psychology" but also proves itself an illuminating point of contact between the ancient and modern world