Atrapos.eu » Quotes

Geertz (1973) quote about culture & webs of ‘meaning’

atrapos — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:33:23 +0000

After attending Jo F’s talk, i came back with a quote that is suitable for my thesis, from Geertz (1973):

“man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spur, i take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of a law but an interpretation of one in search of meaning” (5)

On Narrative Inquiry (Webster & Mertova, 2007)

atrapos — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:37:11 +0000

In my data collection phase, i interviewed immigrant therapists who share with me their stories. It seems that the narrative inquiry approach to research is relevant to my research and thought it is good to inform my thinking with reading a bit of up-to-date literature about it. I found this excellent book:

Webster, L. and Mertova P. (2007) Using Narrative Inquiry as a research method: an introduction to using critical event narrative analysis in research on teaching and learning. London: Routledge

I am recording some quotes below that i could use in my Thesis: (more…)

modernism-postmodernism

atrapos — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:12:46 +0000

Modernism and postmodernism might be characterised as the two major forces of philosophical thought that have influenced and continue to influence the changes in thinking in research methods. Modernism is associated with the scientific understanding of truth and knowledge, claiming that there is one ultimate, objective truth; and postmodernism relates to the human-centred holistic perspective, maintaining that there are subjective, multiple truths (Webster & Mertova, 2007: 11)

movement as a ‘mode of being in the world’

atrapos — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:16:01 +0000

I found this quote from Paul Carter in his book ‘Living in the World’ that seems to be summarising some interesting dimension of the polemic around the issue of mobility and its effects that is central in my PhD (as cited in Rapport, N. & Dawson, A. (eds) (1998) Migrants of Identity: Perceptions of Home in a World of Movement. Oxford: Berg). Here it is (p.v): (more…)

Anglo-Saxons and ID development

atrapos — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:53:18 +0000

Something that seems to emerge in my PhD research is that many British (or Anglo-Saxon) people i dialogue with in research interveiws and elsewhere appear to have a difficulty in holding into awareness issues related to cultural identity etc. I compare that with my own case where, coming from Greece, a culture thathas been masively invaded and as a result our cultural identity has been repetitively attached and under threat, issues of cultural identity maybe (just maybe) come out more easily and accesible in our process (althouh, still, many of my Greek fellows appear also to be ’sleepy’ or ignoranmt about this whole area, vaccilating from extreme nationalistic views to total dismiss of heritage or anything relevant in the name of being ‘european’ = good enough). This is a very controversial issue. (more…)

counsellors and ‘belonging’

atrapos — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:30:42 +0000

A main theme is my research is the whole issue of ‘up-rootedness’ and belonging or not, as a result of having the experience of living outsied one’s original culture, or even in one’s own culture, in more existential and culture-related terms. This is something i deeply experience also, this sense of not belonging anywhere, this question of what is my place in the world, where home is, where i feel comfortable etc. It is as if many cultures live within me and in each geographical area i am in, with the cultural elements, attitudes etc it brings, some different feelings are triggered, around comfort or discomfort, belonging or non-belonging. My supervisor sent me this thought below today, which is not only reassuring but also explains something that is relevant to the professional choice of becoming a counsellor. He wrote:
“We are counsellors because we don’t belong, we live on the edge and potentially can then empathise with people from other cultures. That is the resource within us that could be taped into for cross cutlural work. The other resoruce is our (child like) curiosity of the Other”

So, i see two skills being crucial in cross-cultural work, amongst many others. Those are: the capacity to exist in liminal spaces, out of comfort zones and therefore empathise with this sense of disrupted ‘at home-ness’ and the other one is having a balanched curiosity.

Self-disclosure during interviewing

atrapos — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:25:25 +0000

Something i have been wrestling with in relation to what happens when am interviewing my research participants has been the fact that often the interviewee cannot access easily the tacit or probably unconscious insights in relation to the experience that is exlored and we are often both left frustrated by ‘not having the words’ for something that is otherwise intuitivelly felt. when discussing with Colin the other day, he confirmed that this is very common, to his experience also, when researching cultural identity etc, it is something so deeply rooted within, with so many layers that is is not easily accessed.

During some interviews, i realised that if i disclose some of my own personal experiences and insights around what am asking, then the interviewee may identify some of that within and unfold their own story. (more…)

interesting quote (Kincheloe, 2005) – each researcher would produce sth different…

atrapos — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:46:30 +0000

In the name of reflexivity as a researcher, i often wonder how somebody else would approach my topic, how another PhD Student would write this Thesis and where i am at with it, what are the factors and processes that affect my vision and choices/decisions i make during the research process. Thinking about that, i came accross this revealing quote below that shows how research is ontologically complex and personal to the person that is conducting it:

“Process-sensitive scholars watch the worls flow by like a river, where the exact contents of the water are never the same. Because all observers view an object of inquiry from their own vantage points in the web of reality, no portrait of a social phenomenon is ever exactly the same as another. Because all physical, social, cultural, psychological and educational dynamics are connected in a larger fabric, researchers will produce different descriptions of an object of inquiry depending on what part of the fabric they have focused – what part of the river they have seen”

Kincheloe, 2005, p 333 and in Denzin and Lincoln (eds), 2005

Counsellor as a Chameleon

atrapos — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:35:21 +0000

A question i pose during my research interviews is inviting the participant to think of a metaphor/image that would describe them as therapists (what they have become as a result of moving between cultures/experiencing cross-cultural transitions etc). This is something that my supervisor advised me to do in order to invite more unconscious/tacit responses to emerge, as a way of unblocking certain experiences or feelings that may be difficult to be put into words. The metaphor of a Chameleon [means "Earth lion" and is derived from the Greek words chamai (on the ground, on the earth) and leon (lion)] is one that has come up often.

William has been writing a chapter about Pittu’s work and he came up with those relevant paragraphs, that also echo my personal experience, to some extent, he calls this section “Counsellor as Chameleon”: (more…)

Paper of a Multicultural Psychotherapist (Comas-Diaz, 2005)

atrapos — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 22:42:40 +0000

I read the paper: Comas-Diaz, L. (2005) Becoming a Multicultural Psychotherapist: the Confluence of Culture, Ethnicity and Gender. JCLP/In Session, Vol. 61 (8), 973-981

This is an exmaple of a paper written in a very personalised style which fits with heuristic research. The author narrates her own story around her cultural influences in her becoming a therapist. she mentions the terms ‘cultural translocation’ and ‘cultural osmosis’ which are very relevant and descriptive for my research.Also there is the term of ethnocultural psychotherapy defined as an approach that is acknowledging the centrality of culture and ethnicity in behaviour. There are a few useful quotes i wish to record: (more…)

Quote from Rowan (2005, p. 139)

atrapos — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:59:52 +0000

Rowan, J (2005) The future of training in Psychotherapy and Counselling: Instrumental, Relational and Transpersonal Perspectives. London: Routledge

On talking about culture, he says: “The paradox is that if we forget our own culture we become a routless thing, but if we take it for granted we become a danger to others. Holding both sides of this paradox is very important for any therapist”

Quote on ‘transformation’

atrapos — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:08:55 +0000

I have been thinking on the concept of transformation of experience and found this thoughtful quote from Baba’s Thought for the day today:

“When a sculptor transforms a piece of rock into a beautiful idol to be worshipped in a shrine, what was inert and worthless becomes sacred. In the same manner, everything which is petty and worldly should be transformed in course of time into something sacred and divine. That is the real transformation that every man must aspire for.”

In terms of my research, (more…)

Narrative quote

atrapos — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:31:13 +0000

I attended the CRG meeting earlier today and wrote down an interesting quote related to narrative inquiry. Here it is:

“When the story of our life doesn’t make sense to us, we need to explore alternatives in identity…to fashion a new myth” by McAdams, 1993

Debate about ‘definitions’ (of ‘culture’ etc)

atrapos — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:11:21 +0000

Since last Tuesday that I attended a session from the Taught Doctorate in Counselling, there has been an interesting email exchange amongst the group about how/if do we define ‘culture’ and about our methodological/philosophical stance around definitions in general. Here is the interesting email exchange: (more…)

Baba’s quote about “diversity”

atrapos — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:07:13 +0000

I just read an interesting quote at Sai Baba’s site, on the “thought for the day section”, which made me think about a different perspective around the whole diversity issue that often comes up as a theme in my research. I think it is useful to record it here for possible future use in my thesis. Here it is: (more…)

Heuristics and Truth

atrapos — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:30:34 +0000

Interesting quote about Truth, in relation to the heuristic paradigm:

“the power of heuristic inquiry lies in its potential for disclosing truth; through exhaustive self-search, dilogue with others and creative depictions of experience, a comprehensive knowledge is generated, beginning a series of subjective musings and developing into systematic and definitive exposition” (Douglas and Moustakas, 1985: p.40)

Reading Storti (The Art of Crossing Cultures, 2001- the Art of Coming Home, 2003)

atrapos — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:43:20 +0000

Today I have been reading those books by Storti which i have read before, but this time i was more ‘detecting’for interesting quotes that i could possibly use for my presentations. I am working on the review panel presentation and am still not entirely sure how to structure it. I have already prepared a few slides but I need to make a decision on the style of my presentation. The time limit is quite a strain, ho much to say and include in just 15 minutes that does enough justice to the topic. (more…)

about synthesis

atrapos — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 09:25:25 +0000

A lot of the time in this project, i will be wrestling with the idea of synthesis (of self, identity, heuristic process etc). I read this quote below at Baba’s ‘thought for the day2 (15.6.07, website) and wish to record it for future use and reminder:

“When obstacles come in your way, face them with courage. They harden you and make you mentally tough. Suffering and misery are inescapable acts of the Cosmic drama. God does not decree these calamities, but man invites them by way of retribution for his evil deeds. This is the corrective punishment meted out by nature, which induces man to give up the wrong path. All this is part of the grand synthesis in which the negatives serve to glorify the positives. Thus, death glorifies immortality; ignorance glorifies wisdom; misery glorifies bliss; night glorifies dawn.”

linking the ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ in the counsellor

atrapos — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:13:23 +0000

Something that i need to be remembering and referencing when I am referring to the personhood and professionalism of the therapist/counsellor inmy writings is the following:

According to Meier & Davis (1997, the Elements of Counseling,Brooks Cole ) “in no other profession does the personality and behavior of the professional make such difference as it does in counselling”

About liminality and liminal spaces (links to God Hermes etc)

atrapos — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:38:46 +0000

A theme that appears to re-occur in my personal and research process is that of ‘liminality’and existing at ‘liminal spaces’. I thought that is worth exploring this concept. I have been reading the book by Murray Stein (2003b) In Midlife. Putnam, CT: Spring Publications. He is a Jungian and used Greek Myth, (the ancient Greek God, Hermes, in particular, as the Messenger and ‘Guide of Souls through Liminality’), He says in Chapter one that:

“the presence, and the role, of the archetypal unconscious within transitional periods is a central theme of this book, and Hermes is a figure who represents this presence” (my emphasis). (more…)