Contexts, choice, and agency in 21st. Century therapy and counseling Ursula Riedel-Pf Pfäfflin, fflin, Germany Charles Waldegrave, New Zealand
Acknowledging contexts Living and working in diverse contexts Connection and Cooperation with ICPCC- colleagues and their work since 1983 Connection and Cooperation with European colleagues in ECPCC and Asian colleagues in India, Korea, Japan Connection and cooperation with colleagues in Australia, Aotearoa, the Family centre Lower Hutt and planning with Jim Biddle for this congress since 2004
Contexts of Care Diverse contexts and their rich heritage: the development of Pastoral care and counseling/care of souls/spiritual care as an ongoing process of exploring different and yet cohesive contexts: Awareness in ICPCC since 1983: PCC is about structures/conditions of life and death, and also persons; About body, environment, and mass events and also individual souls and spirit; about public action, reflection, rituals and also listening into speech
Traditions of existence, care and healing Rotorua as a conscious choice for the world congress to experience and learn from Maori and Pacific traditions of healing: connecting cosmos, environment, relation to other humans, and a self- relationality Aotearoa/New Zealand as a land of hope, new projects, diverse population, old traditions, also struggling to work through a history of colonization, loss of Maori land, decimation of population, immigration, earth quakes and trauma Chances of diversity and leadership for other countries in concepts of connecting old wisdom traditions with postmodern/postcolonial developments Integrative progress is possible when/if past traumata are acknowledged and worked through
Contexts of family wellbeing
Presentation: Part one: Ursula Riedel-Pfaefflin Exercise for small groups of two Part two: Charles Waldegrave Exercise for groups
Wellbeing of families Importance of more-generational and more-cultural approach: roots and development Roots of family systems: influences of generations Roots of ecological system: influences of climate/conditions of living Roots of societal systems: influences of historical developments Roots of economical systems: influences of changing life conditions, access to existential basics of life Roots of cultural traditions: gender arrangements/ ways of knowing/ arts/belief-systems systems
Systemic work in pcc Roots of systemic worldview in ancient traditions see Samoan view of harmony Roots also in pre-biblical and biblical wisdom traditions Re-discovering relational, systemic view in 20 th century sciences of nature (physics, chemistry, cybernetics, communication, and therapy)
Confluence : systemic models and methods Emphasis on resources in the midst of problems/traumatic experiences/challenges: choices Questions that include life conditions, historical events in family life over generations, arrangements of gender, belief systems Inclusion of several generations/contexts in process either life or symbolically Awareness on relation of body/sensual/emotional/intellectual/spiritual aspects
Areas of more generational/ contextual care and counseling Trauma and recovery regarding ecological disasters Trauma and recovery regarding political systems e.g. forced migration/dictatorships Trauma and recovery regarding sexualized violence in churches/school systems/family systems Addictive systems Family systems in economic hardship Intercultural marriage/partnership counseling
Context, choice and agency in training programs of pcc Training social workers in systemic care and counseling/ 2 years training program, Dresden; Seminar: Projects and institutions of social work, impact of laws, description of workplace and biographical development of participants Group of Intercultural Women s s University Network, Dresden: biographical work and writing about impact of world war I, world war II and German post-war societies on families
Public protest in health care: Psycho-social social situation in Germany: 30 % of people psychically ill Men and women between 30-40 cannot imagine working like they do until 60 Young people do not want to make career within present structures Many young people not able to work in jobs, receive welfare because of psych. Problems like depression, psychosis, addictions, eating problems Many children in poverty especially in single mother households, Many children exprience violence, neglect, abuse in sexualized violence
Dominant knowledge Belief-system by global turbo-economy Contexts do not matter, you can do everything, everywhere with everybody You have all the choices you want everywhere - everytime; the individual counts; Agency is dependent on individual interests, use of others, money and unlimited use of matters/materia
Subjective knowledge Contexts matter, contextual knowledge helps to survive; contexts shape the brain functions before birth and after birth Choice is limited; acceptence of limitations is crucial for every living existence and for co- existence; brain needs to reduce and select in order to construct reality Agency is based on con-fluence; co-operation operation as basic action of development
Therapy and counseling/care Con-fluence matters: therapy and counseling/care need to raise awareness of dominant knowledge and strengthen subjective knowing of persons, people and peoples deep layers of wisdom Con-fluence: therapy, care and counseling are political in what they address or do not address, in their contexts, choices, and agency Con-fluence: cooperating with other movements: indigenous people, grandmothers of the world, health care professionals, scientists, and artists
The importance of public rituals Rituals of mourning in catastrophies/traumatice experiences and celebrating sources of life Rituals of protest/confrontation and alternatives visions Rituals of re-membering subjective knowledge Rituals of strengthening ressources and agency in the con-fluence of life
Samoan family
confluence In pairs of two: Introduce yuourself to one other person: I am the daughter of... I am the son of... Listen to each other, exchange
confluence Chose another person and introduce yourself: I am the granddaughter of... the grandson of... listen to each other and exchange
Awareness Has there been any difference in introducing Yourself in a way that brings to expression your generational, gender and context relation?