Therapist perspectives on using silence in therapy: A qualitative study

Twelve experienced therapists were interviewed about their perceptions of why they used silence in therapy. Qualitative analyses revealed that these therapists typically perceived themselves as using silence to convey empathy, facilitate reflection, challenge the client to take responsibility, facilitate expression of feelings, or take time for themselves to think of what to say. Therapists generally indicated that a sound therapeutic alliance was a prerequisite for using silence, and they typically educated their clients about how they used silence in therapy. Therapists typically believed they did not use silence with clients who were psychotic, highly anxious, or angry. They typically thought they now used silence more flexibly, comfortably, and confidently than when they began doing therapy. Therapists typically believed they learned how to use silence from their own experience as a client and from supervision.     

组织心理所有权的前因与后果：基于“人-境互动”的视角

采用问卷调查法, 以广东地区电信企业的216名员工为研究对象, 考察了组织心理所有权的影响因素与影响效果。研究结果表明：(1)威权领导与员工的组织心理所有权呈显著负相关, 并且对员工集体主义倾向与其组织心理所有权之间的关系具有显著的调节作用：在领导者高威权作风的情况下, 集体主义倾向与组织心理所有权之间并无显著相关性; 在领导者低威权作风的情况下, 集体主义倾向与组织心理所有权之间存在显著正相关。(2)上下级关系显著调节员工的组织心理所有权与其沉默行为之间的关系。当上下级关系较强时, 组织心理所有权与沉默行为之间存在显著负相关; 当上下级关系较弱时, 组织心理所有权与沉默行为之间并无显著相关性。     

The sacred,the holy,the numinous – and religion: on the emergence and early history of a terminological constellation

ABSTRACT

At the turn of the 19th century and in the early 20th century, the sacred (Durkheim, Mauss, Callois), holiness/the holy (Söderblom, Otto) and the numinous (Otto) emerged as key terms in the nascent field of religious studies. These terms set up a discursive space for the study of religion that acknowledged its reality and relevance for modern societies and individuals, but that proceeded independent of confessional theologies and sought to transcend Western-Christian ethnocentrism. By providing a close reading of the works of the above-mentioned scholars, in particular Durkheim, this article revisits the emergence of these terms. In particular, it looks at the different ways in which the sacred, the holy and the numinous were related to religion. The article discusses some differences between the scholars of the sacred and the scholars of the holy in terms of their agendas, aims, and preconditions.     

Children’s spirituality and the practice of meditation in Irish primary schools

Abstract

This paper uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore the child’s experience of meditation in Irish primary schools and its impact on children’s spirituality. Using a phenomenological, hermeneutic, mystagogical methodology, it describes how children experience the practice of meditation, the benefits they consider they gain from it and the nature of its impact, if any, on their spirituality. Seventy children, aged 7 to 11, were interviewed. The study is original in that the interview protocol contained novel processes designed to elicit from children their experience, if any, of the transcendent in meditation and in its depth of analysis of the spiritual fruits of the practice. The study concludes that meditation does have the capacity to nourish the innate spirituality of the child. It offers a heuristic model outlining the key elements of the child’s experience of meditation, stresses the importance of personal spiritual experience and supports the introduction of meditation in primary schools.     

ENCOUNTERS WITH EMERGENT DEITIES: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SCIENCE FICTION NARRATIVE

In the mid-twentieth century, theorists began seriously forecasting possibilities for artificial intelligence (AI). As related research gathered momentum and resources, the topic made impressions on public discourse. One effect was increasingly pointed emphasis on AI in popular narratives. Although considerably earlier thematic examples may be located, we can observe swelling and generally pessimistic threads of speculation in science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s. This discussion identifies some pertinent science fiction texts from that period, alongside public discussion arising from contemporary research. One consistent theme is human receptiveness to the numinous, and the capacity to ascribe personality and even divinity to sufficiently impressive manifestations, even artificial ones. Science fiction has long contemplated such reactions, prefiguring today's anticipations of AIs that might abruptly develop themselves beyond any possible human comprehension or control. This body of exploratory projections is a useful resource for the engineers and philosophers currently grappling with realistic prospects for Western humanity's shifting conception of itself.     

Is the Self other to the self? Why does the numinosum feel like another? The relevance of Matte Blanco to our understanding of the unconscious

Using Ignacio Matte Blanco’s approach to the unconscious, this paper attempts to explain why the experience of the Self or the unconscious, for example in dreams, is difficult for the ego to understand. Matte Blanco believes that the logic of the unconscious is radically different from the logic of consciousness. The unconscious uses processes that Matte Blanco refers to as symmetry and generalization. Symmetry means that the converse of any relationship is identical to it, so that asymmetrical relationships are treated as if they were symmetrical. Generalization means that the unconscious treats any object as belonging to a larger class of objects that is a subset of an even larger class which is in turn a subset of a wider class ad infinitum. Hence Matte Blanco’s idea of the unconscious as infinite sets. These unconscious mechanisms, combined with the possibility that the unconscious has more dimensions than consciousness, contribute to the difficulty of understanding dreams, and help to explain why the Self is experienced as other to the ego.     

Organizational silence,organizational commitment and creativity: The case of directors of Islamic Azad University of Khorasan Razavi

IntroductionToday, one issue that arose in human resource discussions is the phenomenon of organizational silence (OS).ObjectiveSince it has not been carried extensive research out on this phenomenon in Iran, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between OS and Organizational Commitment (OC) and Organizational Creativity (OCR) among managers of the Islamic Azad University of Khorasan Razavi.MethodsWe based the theoretical framework of this study on the OS scale of Morrison and Milliken (2003) and the Allen and Myers’ (1990) Three-Component OC Scale and OCR questionnaire of Randsip (1979). The questionnaire's internal reliability by Cronbach's alpha for OS, OC, and OCR was 0.81, 0.89, and 0.84 respectively. Also, 200 executives, deputies, managerial and administrative directors were tested. The Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equations were used to analyze the data.ResultsThe findings illustrate that in this organization, there is a significant and an inverse relationship between OS and OC and OCR. So, the more is the OS, the greater is the lack of OCR and OC.ConclusionThe results show that OCR is moderate and downward. OCR can be because of different factors, but is more affected by the dimensions of OC. OCR and continuous commitment could explain 0.84 of the variance of dependent variables. Also, all the research hypotheses were approved and 0.89 of the total variance of the dependent variable was illustrated in terms of effective factors.     

Explorations of silence in the religious rituals of Buddhists and Quakers

This paper is a participant-observation-based study of one Quaker and three Buddhist groups. Using a sociological framework, it explores silence as actively practiced in religious ritual. It demonstrates the usefulness of employing multiple continuums to analyze practices, including a speech–silence continuum, a body movement–body stillness continuum, and a thinking–not thinking continuum. Even when silence is seen as active, it may be construed as functioning to turn people inward and away from each other. Instead, this paper demonstrates how silence for these groups is not necessarily socially isolating. For instance, participants not only learned, practiced, and reflected on silence together, but drew connections between the practice of silence and changes in everyday social interactions, including bringing compassion into these. Some persons referred to realizing a sense of interconnectedness in the silence akin to a Meadian fusion.     

Spirituality and Sexual Abuse: Issues and Dilemmas for Survivors

Abstract

Sexual abuse profoundly affects survivors to the extent that they are unable to maintain previously held viewpoints or ways of being, including those relating to their spirituality. Certainly the experience has considerable potential to complicate the spiritual lives of survivors. For Christian survivors, this may include how they perceive and relate to both themselves and God as well as affect participation in sacraments such as eucharist and reconciliation. Spiritual traditions often promote the embracing of silence, but this may be problematic for survivors who have been silenced and unable to give expression to their experiences. Similarly, socialization resulting in beliefs that Christians should always forgive and/or never be angry needs to be overcome. While negotiating these pitfalls may result in explorations of spirituality being even less straightforward for survivors of sexual abuse than it is for others, a transformative spirituality within a Christian framework can be realized.