Submit manuscript...
MOJ
eISSN: 2574-8130

Gerontology & Geriatrics

Review Article Volume 3 Issue 6

Senior group and therapeutic mediadores

Maria Antonieta Pezo del Pino

PhD in Social Psychology, Institute of Social Psychology, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Correspondence: María Antonieta Pezo del Pino, PhD in Social Psychology, Institute of Social Psychology of the University of São Paulo Psychoanalyst - Professor of Rede Sampa, Member of IAGP, Brazil, Tel 0051 998654012, 00 55 11 997046053

Received: May 17, 2018 | Published: November 23, 2018

Citation: Pino MAPD. Groups of elderly and therapeutic mediators. MOJ Gerontol Ger. 2018;3(6):429-431. DOI: 10.15406/mojgg.2018.03.00160

Download PDF

Abstract

The author presents the value of the meeting groups he has for people over 60 years. Consider that these groups allow redo links, projects and create new links with bonds of solidarity, companionship, fundamental in a moment of life where various losses are given (work, family). In these spaces the author offers specific groups with the use of therapeutic mediators whose purpose is to provide playful activities, which facilitate access to the word, reflect on what it feels, live, think. Presents two vignettes, one with a mediator that he calls "group pictogram" and another "dramatization of the daily"

Keywords: point groups, therapeutic mediators, group pictogram, dramatization of daily life

Introduction

We assist private and public health initiatives that congregate in groups to people who are between 60 and 90 years to a space weekly potluck, whose mission is to cultivate human values, solidarity, recognition of the value, socialization, through recreation, cultural tours, walks, conferences of various kinds. Experience shows that these people in these groups create links of friendship, companionship, solidarity and feelings of being part of a group. Such experiences come at a crucial time of life, when people stop working, producing, children who have already left to build their own projects, some to distant places. It is at this time where people are losing social references, labor and family who accompanied their trajectories can resume in these groups a way to feel that they have a utility may have new ties, projects. Feel that they can count on the group appears to be a vital element led by the encounter with colleagues group, the feeling of being able to help, live as part of a community. And for many it is to live other ways of acceptance and recognition.

The living group scheduled weekly meetings with multiple activities or some specific, like a coral or a dance group reinforces the need to work as a group and contribute to research that support these groups forms of expression of feelings, sensations, emotions, processing losses and the experiences of the everyday malaise, discomfort that occurs, especially when there are policies that favor the integration of older people in community life.

Therapeutic groups and mediators

The group is a place that facilitates the meeting of intrapsychic, intersubjective and properly group. The productions dan in a group it enables us to recognize a space that is constructed favoring these three psychic dimensions may arise and be taken into consideration. When working with groups within a psychoanalytic perspective, we must recognize and take into consideration that there is an interweaving of these psychic spaces where unconscious dimensions are content producers that would not arise if the subject would find one with a therapist, a physician or a psychoanalyst.

Kaës,1 demonstration that group work is an extension of psychoanalysis contributing to the recognition that the unconscious falls and produces various formations when it is in group. Initially, the foundation of psychoanalysis the work of the unconscious and the neurotic adult intrapsychic world was prioritized, then the method with children and psychotics were investigated. In a second moment addressed in the same space several subjects, is attending families, groups or institutions. This vibrant and rich time, allows recognition of what Kaës states:

  1. The first is recognized by those who lead groups. Freud says that intuition would confirm that "The group is the place of an unconscious psychic reality that is proper."
  2. The second related to the author's research highlights the intersubjective dimension of the birth of the subject, as subject requires to establish itself as the other. Whether through word of mother / family names what is living, with care, learning the language and introduction into the human world.
  3. The group is the place of the interfering conjunction “of three areas of psychic reality: the singular subject, the group and intersubjective links”.
  4. Everyday reality shows that these three spaces are intricate, but we can only analyze them, see ligations, knotting when we are in the presence of a group.

In group interventions with people so-called "elderly" (over 60 years) verify that the group construction gives the group a holding, a second skin revitalizing and facilitates the expression of experiences produced by the passing of time, that being shared allow reflection on the lived and the development of feelings, sensations and thoughts.

The group provides a space for support at a time of life that seems to be characterized by a sense of loss: body image, beauty, vital functions, movement, memory, thoughts, slower. The group would allow the expression of experiences and anxieties of desolation, loss of family, work and social reference. These feelings are not easily recognized, unless expressed in many of them recognize something of this order can mean disability. Accordingly, when invited to do some activity with these groups, we propose brief encounters an hour and a half or two long and use therapeutic mediators, which allow the word arises, and with it symbolization processes, elaboration and reflection.

Therapeutic mediators present from the analytic discovery have not been explored or designed. Freud enunciated the mediator par excellence is the word, so that psychoanalysis is recognized as a given by the word cure. Uttered a word and a word heard and signified by the therapist. Just the psychoanalytical work with children and psychotic find that there are other means without using the word are able to express, beyond the so valued word. Initially are the drawings, pictographic expressions, play, dramatization that arise as therapeutic mediators, which allow access and the symbolic value of the word. The dream from Freud emerges as pictograms are like words that say about the unconscious world.

Many psychoanalysts, no more looking for work "make the unconscious conscious" less translating or "interpreting" the pictograms and symbols (of dreams or drawings) into words. Drawings, colagens (photo montage with drawings or other materials) are productions that allow the emergence of a word to invite the emergence of other words meanings in associative chains producing senses and individual and group working, typical of inter-intrapsychic spaces and group.

Therapeutic mediators used: The Group Pictogram and dramatization of everyday

Pictogram group named as the joint pictographic production is performed on a single sheet of paper. Working together with the other on a single sheet of paper produces effects that are different from those that may arise if each request on an individual sheet make a drawing or collage. The group pictogram group articulates strokes, scribbles, collages, singular drawings that which occurs associatively with the other in a group. Favored by intersubjective processes that allow simultaneous mediate the intrapsychic to the intersubjective and group, individual psychic reality shared reality. The group pictogram is a tool, a useful mediator in specific therapeutic interventions, when a therapeutic process begins and when a traumatic experience difficult expression. The group experience with using the pictogram group allows members practical experience of, develop and subjectively appropriating the experiences that could not be said. The pictogram as a symbolic written, links the images, sensory-perceptive words and senses, introduces unexpected elements that convey a meaning to each of the members and the meeting link. This mediator makes it possible, what Brun,2 sustains that the mediator facilitates the passage of the register of the sensorimotor to figurable.

Dramatization of everyday life is another therapeutic mediator who is also useful in specific interventions in crisis situations and experiences of vocational training, she uses other bodily experiences related to sensory records. so we call dramatization participants of a group assembled to create a free scene, which presents a situation of daily life. It is not proposed work conflict, a dream like a psychoanalytical psychodrama session, just play, some vivid scene every day, a tour of the day. Obviously, the scene presented brings significant aspects, since despite the proposal does not seek conflict, it arises without having proposed on different forms. Generally the scene is built like a dream, fragments from each participant brings to the group and weave together. Like any group construction presents interdiscursivamente, what is singular, characteristic of each of the participants, specific aspects of inter-mesh and which belongs to the group.

Vignette 1

In a small group of 8 women who meet weekly in a group calling itself as "happy age," participants were invited to produce together a group pictogram. So we set out on the table, magazines, scissors, crayons and a sheet of paper large A2 size. They discussed what they wanted to do, one began to see the magazines and said, "I like this picture with it could start our work," “it was a family sitting at the table around plates of food, drinks”. And from that, they were making other cuts: a woman walking with a dog, a girl doing gymnastics, a couple kissing. Then, when just made this collagetalk to each other, some issues raised by the pasted pictures. The dialogue that follows is about the experience of having more space to have the family together for a commemoration and difficulties from the children do not live nearby, some married with their own families. Activities that many of them perform, how to care for dogs "because no more children, now we take care of our dogs," as they are a company, the enjoyments that they have when they return home, they are so happy, moving the "tails". The need for physical activity, whether it is an imposition or something they want to do. From this brainstorming, they are thinking and talking about their families, their children, their interests, and take their own time care and care other. And, fundamentally, they talk about what they lost, husbands, other children. That which won daughters-in-law ... and as all of them are not the same as the children.

Vignette 2

We invite participants from the group consisting of 19 people to "play" and for this invent scenes of everyday life, which will be exhibited as dramatizations. As they are a significant number, we assemble two small groups. Some are worried, say they will not know what to do, they do not like the idea. But finally, some encourage the other, and after a small discussion time trials are presented two scenes. In one of them, they are in the bank, waiting for the day of payment of the pension. Among them, create two situations in the bank, in one of them, there are three talking, about prices, living costs have risen sharply, the "balancing act" they need to do to reach the money until the end of the month. In another scene in the same bank, shown as two of them, claiming the delay to be served, the difficulty in respecting the special line for people with more than 60 years. These two situations that occur in everyday life of them, show and make some current difficulties, lack of money, the need to economize, the change in the pattern of life, how all life changing them . A second group presents a family reunion and the absence of one of the children, which is fought with another and how this upsets the meeting.

Final considerations

  1. Experiences show a number of situations lived by participants that cause suffering, anguish, pain. But they can only be expressed, from the proposal of the therapeutic mediator. Probably if we had done a word group, he had prevailed silence, fear of exposing the inner life, the shame of economic hardship, sorrow for the children not understood by daughters-in-love not to be part of family life.
  2. By using a therapeutic mediator, participants speak from their "characters" or give voice to women or family that represents "the cropped picture" that simultaneously challenges and allows them to speak from there, far and near. Identified with the figures represented, but at the same time distant, since they do not talk about themselves and if you own photo, image, character represented.
  3. The therapeutic mediator allows intermediaries processes arise, they function as the "transitional object" Winnicott.3,4 It is created to say what is inside, but you can not go as an expression of a deep feeling, personal or internal simultaneously also being outside-external (it's a image, photo, is a dramatized scene) has the strength to talk about it He lived internally.
  4. The potency of the therapeutic mediator is to allow circulating the word, affections, reflect on what they feel, live and think that makes them live and reflect on themselves, without the pain of exposing with the word, speaking on behalf of the fragility the difficulty or personal anguish.
  5. The therapeutic mediator allows to transfer the mediator object itself (collage, drawing, dramatization), with group members and associate coordinator in group associative chains. Chains, showing points of intersection, knotting, of detachment, distances, intersubjective processes and constructions being in a group, sharing the experience of participating in a group, a community, sharing and discordar ideals, feelings and experiences.

Acknowledgements

None.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest within the scope of this article.

References

  1. Kaës R. Problems posed by the spread of psychoanalysis. clinical and theoretical obstacles and openings. Video Conference. APA, Buenos Aires; 2015.
  2. Brun, Anne, Therapeutic and childhood psychosis mediations. Barcelona: Editorial Herder; 2009.
  3. Winnicott D. Writings of pediatrics and psychoanalysis. Barcelona: Editorial Laia; 1958.
  4. Winnicott D. Therapeutic em child psychiatry consultations. Rio de Janeiro: Imago; 1971.
Creative Commons Attribution License

©2018 Pino. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.