Wombat wrote:Australians, by and large, are rather sceptical of the benefits of analysis in all its forms. There is a tendency to regard it as self indulgent and 'something Americans do.' Intellectuals who grew up in the 30s and 40s were much enamored of Freud, though, and they reacted with dissappointment and some annoyance when their intellectual children and grandchildren regarded psychoanalysis as a fascinating but dated fad.
Interesting discussion! Maybe I can add a little more to Wombat's analysis (pun intended) on Oz cultural differences v/s the U.S.
I think what he is getting at might be characterized as a uniquely Australian suspicion of the over-elaborate and unnecessary. USA culture can, in different ways, be characterized as materialistic and even self indulgent, especially when compared with the living situations and cultures of other countries (I'm trying to word this very carefully and with respect to other people's positions -- I don't want to touch off another thread! Apologies in advance if I've inadvertently offended readers outside the U.S.).
Graham Sanders, a well known homebrewer from Townsville, North Queensland, has talked on Internet brewing lists on the differences he sees between USA and Australian culture, mostly in regards to a kind of laid back attitude in what he called TPOS. This is an acronym for a more polite UK phrase "Taking the Mickey out of someone." It's a kind of teasing that goes on between mates and other cronies, nothing serious, but quickly shows what kind of character you have, especially if you over react. Americans, folk from the USA, in Graham's experience, were often much too overserious and consequently become a set up for what he labeled as a purely Australian social convention, according to Graham.
The custom may be more wide spread -- I've heard of similar examples in Ireland and England. Maybe what Graham was referring to was a particularly Australian flavor to the practice.
Back to the more pragmatic perspective on therapy and analysis: There was a very good tongue in cheek post on a discussion group for psychological and psychiatric trauma, posted by Dave Stratton, a psychiatrist on the Gold Coast in Australia, that I think illustrates what Wombat was getting at. Keep in mind that this is a very competent psychiatrist, making a point in the middle of a flame war over some of the more esoteric modes of psychotherapy, with a sense of Australian humor that scored some good points. Might even have been what Graham called TPOS.
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There are many different ways to classify mental experience and phenomena. The DSMx system has too much of a ring of certainty about it. The danger is that people might believe it really represents 'Truth,' rather than 'Usefulness for the time being.' I prefer 'like' statements to 'is' statements generally, and for that reason I admire metaphors as ways of describing patterns in nature. One such system of classifying the patients I see in my practice goes as follows:
People are divided into two types: Tacklers and Avoiders.
Problems are divided into two types: Tacklable and Avoidable.
When a Tackler strikes a Tacklable problem, they tackle it and I never see them. When an Avoider strikes an Avoidable problem, they avoid it, and psychiatrists, and I never see them. The people I see are Tacklers who hit an Avoidable problem, and Avoiders who hit a Tacklable problem. I spend half my time teaching Tacklers how to avoid, and the other half teaching Avoiders how to tackle.
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-- Dan M.
There beside the weed and thistle, a man, a dog, and his tin whistle.
