Subcortical relief

An ambivalant greeting from Nils Petter; happy to find such an interesting forum, unhappy to find it one week too late.

I have just finished my thesis were my companion, Geir Berg, and I have been relating shame to the ethiology and symptom formation in narcissism as it is seen by self psycologists and as how we infer the same concepts could be can related to Tomkins script theory.

After we had discoverd Tomkins last fall, seen in the references in a self-psychological oriented book on therapy (Jon Monsen), we experienced an increasing interest in his theories and experiments. In this book Tomkins was used to argue that awareness of affect is vital to adapt to our inner and outer, interpersonal, environment. We followed the references and an Atlantis of theory and research rose out of the sea. What a relief!

After my freshman year Kurt Levinīs proverb "There is nothing as practical as a good theory" reflected an attitude that I could easily identify with. Greater was the dissappointment when theory guiding practical clinical work did not have concepts refereing to this whole modus of being; the emotions. Well, there was anxiety laying as a snake in the outbacks of the cognitive theories and in the panties of the psychoanalysts, but not formulated in a way that would not reveal me as overly simplistic (the cognitive theories), or a refugee from the theology department (psychoanalytic). What a shame.

Were I study, at the University in Bergen; Norway, we aim at being "eclectic". Consequently there are biopsychologial and neuropsychological directed components of our education, in addition to the strictly clinical ones. In these courses we have been guided through the cortical functions on a structural and biochemical level. Limbic structres has also been focused upon, especially in relation to pathology as schizophrenia, alcohohol indused traumas etc. But, there has never been mentioned that there exists personality theories based upon empirical studies of the subcortical correlates of affect.

As an apropos to your discussion on domestic violence, I will mention an article dealing with the question if men abusing women are guided by the values of their society or by prior traumatic experiences. This article is an excellent example of how script theory can be applied in empirical research, and is written by Ekelund and Tscudi at the University of Oslo. I hope it is possible for American students and clinicians to get access to it, try.

Well, I do not know if messages like these fits int your concept at all, but I am sure happy that I was scriptet to expect that me writing this to an unknown "audience" would be an excitement-scene, it was.

Thank you for your possible attention

Nils Petter Lauvrak; Uib; Bergen Norway @mail address: Nils.Petter. Lauvrak@ psych Uib.no

Ps 1: Are there any coprehensive reference lists giving an overview of Tomkins theories related to practical psychotherapy?

Ps 2: Looking forward to get responses!

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