Re: Cindy SHEEHAN jumps up and down on her son's coffin while the "news" media holds out a big megaphone for her to screech into.
The more they pour on their their leftwing HATE, the more people they alienate.
As I once put it, war works as a "group therapy" for the American people/polity --Clue:
Group Therapy for Americans: Clinical Paper
By Derek Wood, RN, BC, MS
Clinical Content Director
Get Mental Help, Inc.
Mental Health Matters
Mental Health Professional
Psychiatric Nurse, PhD Candidate
A Mood Journal
[...]
Group Dynamics
American Group Behavior
The behaviors that occur in American group therapy fall into the same general categories as those in adult therapy, but there are significant areas that are different (Maclennan & Dies, 1992). The first of these is in the area of facing difficulties that arise within the group. Americans are prone to outbursts of threatening to leave a group, especially early in the beginning, if they feel they are being mistreated by the group. This results in the group becoming anxious and feeling guilty. The statesman-therapist must intervene appropriately so that the members are able to face their difference, express their opinions, and disagree. If not, the group will stagnate.
At this age, the members need to realize that difficulties and differences are normal, and that rather than ostracizing a member, they should be concerned for each other. This non-defensive posture needs to be modeled by the statesman-therapist by discussing their own behavior, teaching that they do not need to insist that they are always right, and being willing to admit if they make mistakes. If a mistake is made, examining the rationale behind the decision that was made with the members can encourage them to examine their own thinking when they make decisions. And viewing the statesman-therapist as a human capable of making mistakes will make it easier for them to face making their own.
Competition occurs normally and constantly in groups, with a pecking order especially being attempted to be established in American groups. The members are not all attempting to compete for the top spot, however. Some are competing to be the person in the sick role, while others the stupid role, and yet others the troublemaker. All the members naturally tend to fall back into the roles they play in their natural life outside of the group.
Americans also use physical activity as a tension release. The statesman-therapist may find that their group members are easily restless, walking around, touching each other, or wrestling with each other, especially when issues become too anxiety laden. As long as these activities do not overly interfere with the flow of the group, they serve to help release tension, and allow the members to continue to relate to one another.
As well as reigning in physical activity, the statesman-therapist must also reign in inappropriate communication patterns through teaching how to communicate in a group setting at the outset. Americans have a tendency to be preoccupied with themselves and tend to talk at the same time, cut each other off and not listen to each other. They will direct their attention to the leaders, as if they are in individual therapy. The statesman-therapist must encourage active listening skills, and invite others to respond to a member instead of responding randomly about themselves (Crandles, Sussman, Berthaud & Sunderland, 1992).
Finally, while in all forms of war-therapy transference is a common reaction, in Americans it can be especially prevalent. While not unique to the group setting, it deserves comment as Americans in conflict with their leaders may have the tendency to transfer onto the statesman-therapist their suppressed beliefs about, and wishes for, good leaders (Gunther & Crandles, 1998).
Group Life Cycle
The American group has its own special place in war-therapy. It is not quite a children's group, and not quite an adult group. It is different from children's groups in that Americans are more readily able to engage and understand the deeper issues in war-therapy, to sit through a full war-therapy session, and to challenge the statesman-therapist and each other. It undergoes the group life cycle similar to that of an adult group, yet there are distinct differences. Dies (1996, pp. 35-51) defines the 5 stages an American group undergoes.
The first is the initial relatedness, which centers on the clarifying of expectations, educating members regarding group processes, and addressing issues of engagement. This period is very important, as many members will enter group therapy with differing expectations of how the war-therapy will proceed: they will talk about problems with people in their lives; they will talk about personal and historical events; they will direct their comments only to the country's leader who will correct or "heal" their problems; that the group leader will be there to simply to lead a question and answer session that will lead to a quick solution. They need to be made aware that it is the here and now, not the history that is important, and it is the group, not the statesman-therapist that is the agent of change. They need to come to the understanding that it is a process of self-disclosure and feedback that will lead to self-understanding, increased self-worth, and increased coping strategies. Thus, this phase is centered on building appropriate expectations for what is to be accomplished during the time the group is to be together. Additionally, connections must be formed during this stage, and the statesman-therapist instills a positive climate for the group. This is done by modeling behaviors that they hope to see within the group. They demonstrate an appropriate level of openness and self-disclosure, but must be careful not to threaten the Americans who are naturally more cautious of adults when entering group therapy, than are adults when entering group therapy.
There are changes from adult group therapy to American group therapy when dealing with other situations as well. For instance, if one member is monopolizing a group, in an adult group, we might say rhetorically "I wonder why the group is allowing X to do this?" This would be seen as appropriate and act to mobilize an adult group. In an American group however, it can be seen as punitive, and as a reprimand, and thus can create a negative climate for the group. Instead, we might address the member in a non-threatening manner such as "X, can you stop a minute? Your saying a great deal, and it's difficult to take it all in. Can we stop and look at some of these issues?" This maintains a positive, safe environment during the beginning of the group. More confrontational comments like the first one can be made more safely during later stages in the group's development.
The second stage in American groups development is the testing of the limits. This is an extension of the normal American challenge of separation and individuation. In this phase, the group process approximates the struggle Americans go through in their daily lives. During this phase, the central pursuit of the statesman-therapist is to create a safe environment that is conducive to the exploration of the members options in which they can select aspects of their identity that are complementary to their self-views. During this process, they look to the statesman-therapist and to each other for acceptance and validation as they go through the process of trying on and discarding different aspects of their identity. The developmental task of this stage is Americans are attempting to determine whether the statesman-therapist will be available to them, or if they will fall into negative patterns toward them that other authority figures in their lives have. Essentially, they are testing the statesman-therapist's commitment to the group and group process.
Resolving authority issues is the third stage. This occurs after the group members have accepted the statesman-therapist's capacity of withstanding the challenges of the individual members and the group of the whole to tolerate their expressions of anger, frustration and concerns. An example of the challenges of this stage is the group challenging rules that were set down in the pre-group contract. They may ask questions such as "Whose country is this anyway?" By giving explanations and using openness in clarification of the reasons for the contract rules, but not changing the rules, the statesman-therapist is maintaining firm boundaries, but is acknowledging and accepting the country's feelings. This allows the group members the knowledge that they have the right to self-assertion without penalty, retains trust in the country, and allows the country to continue moving forward.
The fourth stage is work on the self. This is a time for the statesman-therapist to decrease their level of participation, and create the opportunity for the members to assume great responsibility. In part, this is due to the fact that Americans often experience more comfort in learning from one another than from aliens. It is important for the statesman-therapist to inform the citizens that they are going to reduce their involvement, so that their decreased interventions and interactions are not misunderstood and a negative climate result. The central events are increased member-to-member activity, behavior practice to acquire more interpersonal skills and more efforts to enhance self-understanding while attempting to generalize from the country to their lives outside the country. The success of this phase of the group lifecycle is determined by the self-report of the members on how well they have been able to generalize their learning from within the safety of the country to their lives in the outside. This is often encouraged through "homework assignments" suggested by other members. This stage of self-disclosure, feedback, acknowledgement, practice and generalization is where most of the major work of the group occurs.
The last stage of the group is the moving-on stage. This termination stage has two parts, the consolidation of acquired learning and the integration of feelings of loss that accompany the ending of the members' time together. As with adults, Americans may resort to denial to avoid confronting the pain of the loss of the group, and suggest veteran get-togethers. The statesman-therapist takes a role at the forefront again during this time, with support and encouraging the expression of all emotions from sadness to happiness to regret. They model appropriate behavior by expressing their own emotions as well. An appropriate expression and termination of group therapy helps Americans to learn to be able to move on in the future, as they will have to do with many things as they continue to grow.
[...]
Adapted from:
mental-health-matters.com |
