Ralph D. Stacey

"To be sure, criticism of self consciousness, the demand for a revision of the basic form of perceiving oneself and others prevalent in our own society, will meet understandable resistance. The basic structure of the idea we have of ourselves and other people is a fundamental precondition of our ability to deal successfully with other people and, at least within the confines of our own society, to communicate with them. If it is called into question, our own security is threatened. What was certain becomes uncertain…. But without throwing oneself for a time into the sea of uncertainty one cannot escape the contradictions and inadequacies of deceptive certainty". (Elias, 1991, pp92-93)

"The central concern of this book is that of making sense, in general, of the phenomenon of human relating. It is an exploration of different ways of thinking about how individual and collective identities come about, how they are interrelated and how they change. The key questions are: Who am I and how have I come to be who I am? Who are we and how have we come to be who we are? How are we all changing, evolving, or to put it another way, learning? These are fundamental questions in any field of study to do with human action and interaction and they always raise issues to do with individuals and groups and the relationships between them. These questions also raise issues to do with what constitutes healthy and productive relating, as well as what constitutes failures of relating, what blocks change and what keeps us stuck in unproductive relationships. The arguments developed in this book are, therefore, relevant to those concerned with managing, leading and belonging to organizations, as well as those involved in education, training and development. However, I will be focusing my attention on thinking about therapeutic groups, leaving the reader to make translations to other areas of interest".… (altro)