Category: Issue 3

JOURNAL OF GENIUS AND EMINENCE, 5 (2) 2022 Article 3 | pages 59-75
Issue Copyright © 2022 Tinkr
Article Copyright © 2022 Cheryl A. Gibson

ISSN: 2334-1149 online
DOI: 10.18536/jge.2020.01.04

Intentional Dreaming: The Secret Creative Life of Experienced and Senior Psychotherapists

Cheryl A. Gibson

School of Psycholog y and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne

Abstract

Experienced and senior psychotherapists must inevitably negotiate the practice/ research divide and avoid burnout. This article reports on an inquiry into the creating activities of senior therapists as one example of how they themselves may be attempting to negotiate this challenge. The inquiry aimed to understand the experience and meaning of creating activity as an aspect of participants’ clinical work. Six experienced and senior therapists from a major public hospital participated. Whilst the method drew on the classical Continental traditions of phenomenology as quest, the analysis tools of the more pragmatic North American form were also employed. Participants’ creating activities were found to be higher-order, contributing something novel and compelling to their clinical work and to their experience of meaning in the work. This clearly qualifies participants as performing at a high-level. The findings also extend current understandings of the phenomenon ‘creating in psychotherapy’. However, the contribution of creating activity was found to be largely invisible to the wider psychotherapy profession. Recommendations were made for changes to peer supervision protocols and professional development activities of senior therapists to take into account this aspect of their clinical practice.

Cheryl Gibson | PACFA Registered Clinical 23282 | Consulting & Clinical Psychotherapist | Adjunct Lecturer | School of Psychology & Public Health | La Trobe University | Melbourne, Australia
Correspondence: cgibson@meaningsmade.com.au | [ORCID id – 0000-0002-4025-8845]
Correspondence address: Consulting Rooms, 17 Grattan Street, Carlton, Victoria, Australia 3053

Note: The author attests that there are no conflicts of interest, that the data reported here are not used in any other publications and there are no infringements on previous copyrights

JOURNAL OF GENIUS AND EMINENCE, 5 (2) 2020 Article 4 | pages 44-58
Issue Copyright © 2021 Tinkr
Article Copyright © 2021 Yulia Furlong

ISSN: 2334-1149 online
DOI: 10.18536/jge.2020.01.04

“Diagnosing” literary genius:

A concise look at the

life and works of Alexander Pushkin

Yulia Furlong

University of Western Australia & Perth’s Children Hospital, Australia

Michael Fitzgerald

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

This paper examined the phenomena of literary genius by providing a retrospective case study and an analysis of the creative works of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837). Taking the readers into Pushkin’s unique world, we attempted to elucidate salient points of his short life, to understand his giftedness and his creative evolution, and to solve the mystery surrounding his spectacular downfall. Building on the works of Cesare Lombroso and Howard E. Gruber, we have utilised unique phenomenological method in “diagnosing” Pushkin. We considered several hypotheses relating to a number of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions, and highlighted ADHD-associated cognitive and behavioural profile which may have contributed to Pushkin’s creativity and subsequent demise. Recognizing that Pushkin was confronted by psychological tensions and interpersonal issues and both sublimated and sought resolution in his poetry, we argue that the vicissitude of his life and his literature were inextricably interrelated. The riddle of Pushkin’s literary genius prompted us to probe further into the nature of literary creativity and freedom of speech.

Yulia Furlong | University of Western Australia | Medical School | Division of Psychiatry | Perth, Australia
Perth’s Children Hospital | Perth WA 6009 | Australia | Correspondence: Yulia.Furlong@health.wa.gov.au Correspondence address: Paediatric Consultation Liaison and Gender Diversity Service, Perth’s Children Hospital, Office 2E, Perth WA 6009, Australia
Michael Fitzgerald | Trinity College Dublin | Department of Psychiatry | Dublin | Ireland
Note: The author attests that there are no conflicts of interest, that the data reported here are not used in any other publications and there are no infringements on previous copyrights.