Session 3: March 21

The depth of human experience, and what it means for our work

Expanding our view from static individuals to dynamic participants in mutual becoming

A change in a system implies a change in the behavior of the actors that make up the system. Yet behavioral change seems elusively difficult. In this session we explore the invisible experience and relational entanglement that underlies human behavior.

Lecture and activities

Activities: Role play and guided visualization as a way to experience human complexity
Lecture: A big dose of psychology to help us understand being human

Key concepts

Human depth: the rich interior world that animates our actions
Emotional interdependence: the unspoken interconnection between people
Enculturation, introjection and trauma: understanding the forces that shape us
Multigenerational transmission process, societal trauma and social autopoiesis: the processes of replicating social patterns
Individuation: how individuals move beyond the need to conform and control
Change vs. “becoming”: shifting from a mechanistic, will-powered model of change to a deeper understanding of change cycles

Hello Students. See the details and pdf’s in readings and assignments/session 3 in the course google drive folder.

Required readings

Marc Rettig, How do we work?
http://transitiondesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Rettig_Work.pdf

Excerpt from Philippa Perry, How to stay sane. (Amazon link)

Optional reading

Hannah du Plessis, The Mindset and Posture required to Engender Life-affirming Transitions: transitiondesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Du-Plessis-Mindset-Posture-Transitions.pdf

Homework

Create your genogram, based on the Perry reading and the instructions given in the course Google Drive.

3: Human depth