Great article - my interest was piqued at its conclusion, in particular. I wrote my dissertation on the importance of stories for human development, understanding, and mental health - on both an individual and broad societal scale. As a result - I wrote a novel as methodology. You can find its sequel https://karijanz.substack.com/p/episodes (if at all interested). The dissertation novel is in publication so it has not been posted but the series as a whole integrates/weaves features and symptoms outlined in the DSM-V into the lives of story characters. It focuses on existential and narrative therapies/theories as well as classic mythology as praxis. Excerpts from my study:
“Myths are healthy, necessary, and growth facilitating while providing structure for the development of meaning in one’s life (Hoffman et al., 2009). Stories are a way of being that evolved to reflect the structure of reality and all its patterned manifestations. A Darwinian-like feature of humanity, mythological interpretations of the world transcend history and have proven to be the most effective path to survival. There are standard occurrences in daily life that are portrayed and acted out universally. It turns out that the stories we tell have exactly the same structure, or core elements, that we see in Western mythology and the classic archetypes (Brunel, 2015). These have been developed as a way to deal with a world that is complex beyond comprehension, and one that often shifts in unpredictable ways.”
“We learn, grow, and understand our own stories through the stories of others, something Carl Jung (2014) believed to constitute a collective unconscious, one that is shared by all. Stories and mythology in Western culture evolved to have a common structure that is made up of the classic archetypes.”
“We all live in a story whether we realize it or not, and it is up to each of us to write it, otherwise we end up with a bit-part, living out the malevolent tragedy of someone else. When our personal story has been denied or rejected, mental health challenges emerge. Healing, then, requires the reintegration of story and self.”
Big fan of the theory and the paper, insofar as one can be for academic stuff.
I feel like you got the descriptions turned around here(?):
Openness, which involves cognitive exploration of abstract and semantic information, and is associated with the experience of apophenia (inaccurate pattern matching, as in psychotic delusions); and Intellect, which involves exploration of perceptual and sensory stimuli, and is linked to intelligence/IQ.
Fascinating! Thanks for your thinking, research and writing on this topic. I found you through some work I'm doing exploring Cybernetics in Leadership.
As a psychologist I've often struggled with the lack of a unifying framework and your point about most psychotherapeutic approaches being reinterpretations of the same few ideas really resonated.
Great article - my interest was piqued at its conclusion, in particular. I wrote my dissertation on the importance of stories for human development, understanding, and mental health - on both an individual and broad societal scale. As a result - I wrote a novel as methodology. You can find its sequel https://karijanz.substack.com/p/episodes (if at all interested). The dissertation novel is in publication so it has not been posted but the series as a whole integrates/weaves features and symptoms outlined in the DSM-V into the lives of story characters. It focuses on existential and narrative therapies/theories as well as classic mythology as praxis. Excerpts from my study:
“Myths are healthy, necessary, and growth facilitating while providing structure for the development of meaning in one’s life (Hoffman et al., 2009). Stories are a way of being that evolved to reflect the structure of reality and all its patterned manifestations. A Darwinian-like feature of humanity, mythological interpretations of the world transcend history and have proven to be the most effective path to survival. There are standard occurrences in daily life that are portrayed and acted out universally. It turns out that the stories we tell have exactly the same structure, or core elements, that we see in Western mythology and the classic archetypes (Brunel, 2015). These have been developed as a way to deal with a world that is complex beyond comprehension, and one that often shifts in unpredictable ways.”
“We learn, grow, and understand our own stories through the stories of others, something Carl Jung (2014) believed to constitute a collective unconscious, one that is shared by all. Stories and mythology in Western culture evolved to have a common structure that is made up of the classic archetypes.”
“We all live in a story whether we realize it or not, and it is up to each of us to write it, otherwise we end up with a bit-part, living out the malevolent tragedy of someone else. When our personal story has been denied or rejected, mental health challenges emerge. Healing, then, requires the reintegration of story and self.”
Looking forward to your new series!
Big fan of the theory and the paper, insofar as one can be for academic stuff.
I feel like you got the descriptions turned around here(?):
Openness, which involves cognitive exploration of abstract and semantic information, and is associated with the experience of apophenia (inaccurate pattern matching, as in psychotic delusions); and Intellect, which involves exploration of perceptual and sensory stimuli, and is linked to intelligence/IQ.
You're talking my language ... 😉🙂
You may have some interest in my kick at that kitty, particularly at the idea of "rationalizing gender":
https://humanuseofhumanbeings.substack.com/i/64264079/rationalized-gender
Fascinating! Thanks for your thinking, research and writing on this topic. I found you through some work I'm doing exploring Cybernetics in Leadership.
As a psychologist I've often struggled with the lack of a unifying framework and your point about most psychotherapeutic approaches being reinterpretations of the same few ideas really resonated.