States of consciousness Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

States of consciousness - Term Paper Example Dr. Bell’s thesis is that, contrary to the usual psychiatric emphasis on states of consciousness and psychopathology, the ability to change one’s state of consciousness is useful as a survival skill, when faced with severe stress. Black culture is no stranger to stress and suffering, and in fact has developed sophisticated techniques to manage intrapsychic survival and to avoid survival fatigue. Bell argues that inner-city Blacks, in particular, deal with chronic trauma (family separation, rejection, illness and death of parents, severe illness and injuries throughout life, school and residence shifting, unemployment, divorce, pregnancy complications, war and disaster). Goals are frustrated and integrity threatened by loss (Bell, 1982, p. 1018). Surviving this kind of life is exhausting and the continuous onslaught of stressful events challenges a person’s ability to focus on the problem, analyze the situation, plan creative solutions, and remember their competen cy at doing so and their hope that this too can be survived. In responding to a stressful event, an individual needs to change or escape from the stressful environment, develop new skills for action, protect against overwhelming emotions with defense mechanisms, and recover from the event and its outcomes. Altering one’s states of consciousness furthers all four of these requirements (Bell, 1982, p. 1018), and is therefore a critical skill to develop. Traditional Black culture’s approach to healing involves altering consciousness to handle natural and supernatural persecution, central to cultural cosmology. It also involves divination and possession techniques to insure natural harmony with the universe. Black Christian culture uses prayer and testimony and being filled by the Holy Spirit in a similar way, expanding consciousness. Blacks use dancing and music and singing to alter consciousness, as well as physical exertion, masks, drugs, and fasting. Altering conscious ness is a tool for survival, establishing harmony, protection, creative solutions, and change. The article on psychotherapy is entitled, Dyadically Expanded States of Consciousness and the Process of Therapeutic Change. Tronick (1998) discusses the importance of emotional connection and inter-subjectivity, from infancy, and application to the therapeutic relationship. Without emotional connectedness, the mental health of the infant is severely damaged. Tonick (1998) introduces an hypothesis, to explain this, the Dyadic Expansion of Consciousness, Hypothesis, based on his Mutual Regulation Model (MRM) of infant-adult regulation. The MRM is a micro-regulatory social-emotional process of communication that generates dyadic states of consciousness. This infant-adult process is applicable to the client-therapist relationship, as well, and if the dyadic states of consciousness is generated successfully, therapeutic change will likely be forthcoming. Interpreting therapeutic material is no t enough. The infant must regulate to maintain balance, physically and emotionally. The adult is part of the infant’s regulatory system, as critical a part as any internal part. Maintaining homestatic balance is a dyadic collaborative process (Tronick, 1998, p. 293). For example, to regulate body temperature, the infant can kick off a blanket, change positions, become more or less active, or can use crying and other dyadic communication to be picked up and held comfortably by an adult. This

Historical Analysis of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 Research Paper

Historical Analysis of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 - Research Paper Example This led to Queen Elizabeth's attempts towards religious tolerance which failed. The end result was a deep dissatisfaction amongst Catholics in England which culminated in the Gunpowder Plot to assassinate King James. Supremacy and Uniformity Act & Penal Law in the 1500s England encountered the reformation in the era of Henry VIII who passed the Act of Supremacy of 1534 which made the Crown take over the English Church from Pope1. This was due to some fundamental disagreement concerning monogamy and his desire to divorce his wife which was unapproved by the Pope. Due to this, the Church was deeply divided. The Uniformity Act of 1534 required all priests in England to swear an oath to the King of England and not to the pope. Notable bishops and priests refused to do this and they were executed. This included John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester who refused to swear allegiance to the King of England. The society was therefore divided between the Catholics, who were influenced by the need t o remain loyal to the Pope and Rome and the Anglicans who had decided to swear allegiance to the King of England. Also, the wind of Protestantism was blowing in Britain because many breakaway groups like the Calvinists and other such groups were fully operational in the country. The Protestants demanded a total breakaway from the Catholic Church and full derecognition of the Pope. However, the Anglicans maintained some of the traditions of the Catholic Church. Since the King had supreme power and authority, he managed to make important changes and reforms to the Anglican Church. He went further and married several women and had different children who were all capable of taking over from him. After his death in 1547, Henry VIII was replaced by Edward VI who reigned in 1553. Edward VI's mother was Jane Seymour and was a Protestant. He repealed six articles of the Uniformity Act and integrated some elements of Calvinism. Queen Mary took over in 1553 after the death of Edward VI. Mary's mother was Catherine of Aragon. She was a Roman Catholic and she promoted Catholicism in England during her reign. She defied all odds and married her cousin, Philip from Spain and this really angered many leaders in England who saw this as a major return to Catholicism. Mary's reign was said to be very bloody because she took so many steps to suppress Protestants and other views. In her reign, she burnt 300 people at the stake and this furthered her effort to return the country to its Catholic roots2. When Elizabeth I took over from Mary in 1558, there had been two important transitions ahead of her reign. Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and was the last Tudor to reign. At this point, the different religious had emerged. This included the Catholics, Protestants, and Anglicans. Within these sects, there were extreme groups and ideologies that sought to control affairs of the state in a more holistic manner. In order to prevent tensions in her reign, Eliza beth II passed the Act of Supremacy3. This was a kind of religious settlement that was meant to prevent further violence and promote national unity/stability. This Act canceled the pro-Catholic laws of Mary and the King/Queen of England was to become the head of the Anglican Church. People taking high public office were required to swear to the Queen.