Posted by alexandra_k on January 13, 2013, at 18:58:30 [reposted on February 3, 2013, at 1:13:05 | original URL]
In reply to , posted by on December 31, 1969, at 18:00:00
>
> > I feel disappointed that I wasn't a more effective teacher of civility.
>
> One might be the best teacher ever and be quite effective. Others may still choose not to follow your teachings. I know I do at times. Please don't assume that you have that much control. It could drive you bonkers.
>
> ggahahaha
i found this and it reminded me:
`With his uncanny powers, Mesmer is closer to the ancient magician than to the twentieth-century psychotherapist. His victory over Gassner reminds one more of a contest between rival Alaskan shamans than of a modern psychiatric controversy. However, his doctrine contained the seeds of several basic tenants of modern psychiatry:
A magnetizer, Mesmer proclaimed, is the therapeutic agent of his cures: his power lies in himself. To make healing possible, he must first establish a rapport, that is a kind of ``tuning in,'' with his patient. Healing occurs through crises - manifestations of latent diseases produced artificially by the magnetizer so that he may control them. It is better to produce several, steadily weaker ones than one severe crisis. In collective treatment the magnetizer should control the reactions of the patients on one another.
Mesmer grouped his disciples into a society in which physicians and lay magnetizers were on an equal footing. Its members, who had made heavy financial sacrifices, learned his doctrine, discussed the results of their therapeutic work, and maintained the unity of the movement.
It is an open question as to whether Mesmer was a precursor of dynamic psychiatry or its actual founder. Any pioneer is always the successor of previous ones and the precursor of others. There is no doubt, however, that the development of modern dynamic psychiatry can be traced to Mesmer's animal magnetism, and that posterity has been remarkably ungrateful to him.'
Ellenberger, H. F. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry, BasicBooks a division of HarperCollins, p.69
those pesky animal spirits ahaha.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1037205
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20130101/msgs/1037213.html