Hi All, The trauma trend is just the tip of the iceberg. I currently have a 20-year-old client who has become enamoured of receiving an Autism Spectrum diagnosis. As most of you are probably aware, there is a very active autism community with the laudable goal of reducing the stigma of that diagnosis. The unfortunate correlate is that many people--again like the trauma situation--seek the diagnosis both as a justification for why their life has gone poorly as well as an opportunity to join a vibrant, affirming community. Interestingly, one of the big hashtags is "when your therapist tells you you're not autistic" and variations on that theme. When my client had a session with another doctor, who told her she was not autistic, she posted her poor opinion of that doctor on the autism forum and received 1300 supportive responses. Another significant fact about this young woman is that she had the histrionic ability to manifest symptoms. After reading that some autistic people have trouble communicating/become mute, she had one episode where she was paralyzed for 6 hours unable to move her body. Her mother took her to the ER where movement gradually returned. A few days later, she was unable to use language for about 4 hours. In both of these incidents, the girl was undisturbed by her paralysis and later cited them as "proof" she had autism. There is a close connection to the groups--again mostly female--of high school and college age people who are embracing nonbinary and its variations. In these groups, having dysregulated affect is the price of admission. Another client of mine, a nineteen-year-old girl who is now nonbinary enroute to transexual, literally made up family trauma to be accepted by the group. I also see her parents in family therapy and they had access to their daughter's iphone and read all about the (made up) physical and sexual trauma that they had visited upon their daughter. I think that many thoughtful therapists are aware of the intersection between truma, nonbinary, autism diagnoses, and affective dysregulation. Of course, we are also aware of the price of exploring these connections: cancellation. At the moment, it is extremely difficult to work with these very active and destructive themes that are tearing up youth culture. Many of our colleges have taken the politically correct route of stating that gender is a matter of inner feelings and that our job is to create a safe space to explore those feelings and then affirm them. This sounds good until we notice that these clients of ours are not just exploring these feelings in therapy; the feelings are also being influenced by a remarkably strong set of cultural forces. Safe therapeutic exploration sounds good in theory; in practice, it requires us to ignore the profound influences of a certain aspect of "woke" culture. This creates a dilemma for those of us whose practice includes a significant number of these young people. I'm interested in hearing how these factors are affecting other's practices. Thanks, Stephen Bacon, Ph.D. 351 S. Hitchcock Way #B110 Santa Barbara, CA 93105 website: drstephenbacon.com (805) 563-2820 On Fri, Aug 6, 2021 at 7:47 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Deep thanks for this note, Zak. > > > > I am going to send it to my three kids (22, 20, 17) and ask once again > that they be reflective about their social media usage. > > > > Best, > G > > > > *From:* tree of knowledge system discussion < > [log in to unmask]> *On Behalf Of *Zachary Stein > *Sent:* Friday, August 6, 2021 9:40 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: Trauma or postmodernism gone mad > > > > *CAUTION: *This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links > or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is > safe. > ------------------------------ > > Hi Lene, > > > > This is only one of many disturbing trends on TikTok (which is > ultimately owned, operated and disseminated by the CCP). The platform > itself works as a content delivery system that algorithmically sequences > videos of a minute or less, making it arguably the most well designed > addictive/attention capture/brainwashing app available. Usage statistics > among adolescents are disturbingly high, especially when a 3 hour session > consists of something like 180 distinct videos. Attention fragmentation and > related susceptibility for suggestion are off the charts. The data analytic > back end is shady enough that the US military banned it from all phones of > service members. TikTok is maybe the simplest case of a social media > technology that should simply be shut down. > > > > zak > > > > On Fri, Aug 6, 2021 at 12:27 AM Lene Rachel Andersen - Nordic Bildung < > [log in to unmask]> wrote: > > *CAUTION: *This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links > or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is > safe. > ------------------------------ > > Hello TOK'ers, > > I just ran into this article about trauma being the new trend on TikTok: > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__unherd.com_thepost_tiktoks-2Dlatest-2Dfad-2Dconfessions-2Dof-2Dtrauma_&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=A_FPvJDsSGMtJkV5g-lCEeI-fSEFgSGQNKgn4cdc0oM&s=Fpx3dQG3SKlINAArZhd9r-83UcPI7UbenFUwO2aOQEQ&e= > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__unherd.com_thepost_tiktoks-2Dlatest-2Dfad-2Dconfessions-2Dof-2Dtrauma_&d=DwMCaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=gLyftn51bGPAXlHX382hnbnwLUkpqRQRK3BYAF_t1Ck&s=F13aRJ7M9doapmbddOdXWgsj4b9Cl_kXVgmMl6QS2Wc&e=> > > Is this well known? > > / Lene > > -- > > *Lene Rachel Andersen* > Futurist, economist, author & keynote speaker > President of Nordic Bildung and co-founder of the European Bildung Network > Full member of the Club of Rome > *Nordic Bildung* > Vermlandsgade 51, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark > www.nordicbildung.org > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nordicbildung.org&d=DwMCaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=gLyftn51bGPAXlHX382hnbnwLUkpqRQRK3BYAF_t1Ck&s=CPp9MuwleohI1aoUcAU-lxJYkANsCpwIsgNnQuTSdrM&e=> > +45 28 96 42 40 > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > > > > > -- > > Zachary Stein, Ed.D. > > www.zakstein.org > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.zakstein.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=BrxUJMFF-1PhzkOdR_fUZTH1M4R7a2dt_YDy3PXvO5w&s=jfY9SSP97U7eiYSGMpR_zzDtdGpW5YooGgrq5bmcd4U&e=> > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1