paolo brusa eu

There are some common corner-stones between the differences services I am offering my supervision activities. One of them is the concept, the methodology & the praxis of recovery.

The 2014 FEANTSA Eu conference in Bergamo saw an enthusiastic participation, with more than 450 experts gathering from all around Europe & South America. The plenary sessions & the 12 thematic workshops has been a precious experience of mutual learning & exchange.

FIADDA Piemonte is proud to support the Fondazione Molo initiative   Torino + accessible culture , to encourage a free & accessible culture for people with sensory disabilities , especially in theater & movie-cinema.

On friday 24 october 2014 I had the pleasure to contribute to the FEANTSA 2014 european conference by co-conducting with Jaana Watt the workshop “ Sustainable employability pathways for people experiencing homelessness: myth or reality? ”.  The workshop was coordinated by Liz Gosme from FEANTSA & chaired by Peter Bakos from Refomix Hu.

It is a great pleasure for me to share & promote this little, bright gem. " Das Heimlich - The Uncanny 2015 " is a 6 minutes short film on the theme of psychoanalysis . It is about psychoanalysis on its everlasting way of being out of the niche. Exploring the unknown. Out of usu al scheme.

Other impressive contributions are now available on the AoB page .  These essays, researches & speech are my contribution to circulate & improve the debate on what is considered innovation in social fields, on how to succeed in ending homelessness, on how to improve employability, on basic income.

Looking at the some hundreds reade rs of Multipolis sessions outputs , it seems they are of some interest. I am on the way for the workshop during the FEANTSA conference in Bergamo on Friday 24 November . On this path to Bergamo, I propose another witness of a workshop sess ion that took place during the last international meeting of project CATCH Creative Approach To Combating Homelessness (Eu project co-funded by DG Social Affair n. VS/2002/010/J37 0/26) .  

There is a great little story that I think it deserves to be told. It's a great little story of ordinary dignity & abominable shame that takes place in Turin, Piedmont. Here a group of parents got involved with a selves-direct activation to protect the rights of their children with sensor ial disabilities (deaf, hear-impaired & blind minors) . They had to learn, organize & advocate against the city-Government Hall, the Regional Board, or both.

There are people around us who are truly special. Since I read & heard Evelyn Glennie's thoughts on listening, deafness & hearing impairment, I knew she is such a person. Dame Evelyn Glennie is well known as the first full-time solo percussionist in the 20th century and perhaps even all of history. Her life is a story worth exploring, her words are extraordinary .

I am happy & proud to see some hundreds of readers show ing the ir interest for Multipolis outputs ; so I thought it is time to re-published some old sessions results , starting with one of the earlie r . The workshop took place in Vienna (AT) on 17th March 2006, during the international seminar The needs of homeless women , part of the project CATCH Creative Approach To Combating Homelessness (Eu project co-funded by DG Social Affair n. VS/2002/010/J37 0/26) . The workshop theme was Facing homeless women .

I found a couple of articles from Michele Lancione very impressive on the themes of homelessness ; I felt all should read, comments with feedback & debate, so I linked them directly from my AoB page . Both texts are in English. - How is homelessness? Objects, codes & poetry to re-imagine homelessness -  Entanglements of faith : discourses, practices of care & homeless people in an Italian city of Saints.

Two days of MultiPolis sessions will take place in Padova on friday 21 & 28 November within the programme of the project "La rete per la rete ( A network for netw orkers )". The project ha s been developed by the Association Noi sulla Strada (we on the street) : it aims to o ffer several events to deepen the phenomenon of social exclusion through mutual exchange, collaborative de bates & tr aining sessions open to citizens as well as professional .

During May and June 2014, I used Multipolis as the basis for developing & running an English laboratory for children attending their last year of the Fioccardo kindergarten.   The laboratory was addressed to 5 years-old children, including some with sensorial disabilities.  The Multipolis laboratory aimed to support the children in approaching to a basic English through a collective experience of fun & play-time.

Some Multipolis group-work & training sessions took place with the social workers during July 2014. It was organised & hosted by Cefap Training Centre in Codroipo (Udine) & funded by ESF Regional initiatives.   The group-work sessions have been structured focusing on the alternation of role-play, the vision of cartoons, extracts of tv-series/movie, & moments of discussions & collective debates, favouring a path of “self and mutual discovery & recovery”. 

Here it is the " Bibliography & web ". I have a huge personal & simbolic debt with the words that other individuals have found to pass their knowledge, to try to express something about their experiences. As others m i ght be interested in finding the ir precious knowledge, I include a bibliography to this paper. Where possible, in the bibliography a direct link is given from the titles to their downloadable version; no fees or registrations are required.

Here it is the chapter 25 " Conclusions & principles ". E ven if I did it using the history of physics as a metaphor, actually t here is no real need to prove with numbers & facts what reality is dramatically displaying in front of everyone since the time of our ancestors: the reciprocal connections between the essential quality of life of a person; the individual structure; the balance between body, soul, mind & inner world; the context & the physical place one lives in, the responsibility of the context on achieving general results.

Here it is the chapter 24 " Net positions ". Focusing on the net results involves the consideration of the way to reach them. A general misconception identifies the result with the sole goals, tending to reach them by any means necessary. In care-work, means are part of the goal themselves, just as we are part of the context.

Here is the chapter 23 " The socks philosophy ". During my work with both individuals & groups, I try my best to always follow the suggestions I learnt from my Latin professor : each single word has its own peculiar mean & translation. My challenge is to transfer & adapt the grammar of care-work to different contexts in order to foster new horizons, new points of view, to originate new projects & open new roads.

Here is the chapter 22 " Charming interpretations from the land of poets ". Terms like de-institutionalisation, right-based approach, ethics, rights-first & direct participation, leads to a simple, straight, big issue: the degree of reciprocity in handling responsibility between individuals-in-need, institutions, and third sector. 

Here is the chapter 21 " Innovative back in the 90s " When the fostered “bright-new” looks amazingly retro, one might search for real innovation at a deeper level. In the inner world. New reflections might sound useful. If not innovative in some degrees. To find something innovative, sometimes it is worth looking backward in history.

As promised, a new page with new materials is now available on the blog. T here is always an “AoB” as the last point in every serious agenda. It contains those topics that were not included in the previous items, which are highlighted , inspired & generated in the course of work. There are many things that attract me for their beauty: between others, the fruit in a basket, the spice markets, the sweets hidden in the darkness of a shop, the shells on a beach, a field of flowers, & many more... The AoB page is intended to offer evidence to various materials which I find impressive, & which I consider worth sharing with a wider audience. The AoB page offers: thesis, essays, reports which I received &/or find on my way pictures & comments on group-work sessions collateral projects photo-galleries & videos

Here it is the chapter 20 " The other in me drinks thee, or the grammar of desire ". In every profession of care, t he offer is to handle the way the inner law of the individual works. While the symptoms speak on behalf of their aesthetical representation, so to speak.   It is fundamental to dis-learn the over-structured cultural categories, labels, prejudices.

Here it is the chapter 19 " Crisis, whatever it means ". It happens to hear that we are passing a time of economical crisis, which causes social emergency. These assertions are not completely true, to be very generous. It is amazing what one can find when exploring the official data from the "counter-part", the economical institutions.

Here it is the chapter 18 " The later, the louder ".   In this brief ride across the history of physics, some useful elements for the debate around the care-giving approaches already came through : w hat our ancestors knew on circularity ; the principle of ine rtia & the cause-effect ratio from Spinoza enlightening the concpet of chronicity; Newton theories about the interrelation between bodie s.

Here it is the chapter 17 " May your chains sit lightly upon you ". The various declinations of the de-institutionalisation principles, (concept of flexicurity; right based approach...) gain open new perspectives by fixing the prerequisites for a cultural change to start from within the inner world. In his book "I fought the law", Dan Kieran wrote that «… the whole point of rights is that they are ours to begin with…»

Here it is the chapter 16 " Avoiding the trap: when more is not necessarily the better ". The evolution of physics kept on with quantum & particle theories, which gifted us with other vivid examples. One of those regards the concept of energy. When energy is applied to the electrons, they speed up.

Here it is the chapter 15 " What one can really say about reality ". According to Einstein's theory of relativity, simultaneity is not an absolute property between events : what is simultaneous in one frame of reference will not necessarily be simultaneous in another.   The terms in which we figure it out, makes reality real.

Here it is the chapter 14 " A cultural position ". Without a cultural assumption concerning the process of awareness & the effort toward an inner consciousness, all words risk to sound quite empty.  The E=mc2 approach suggests that the context & the person are closely related. Their way is reciprocal, & their mutual influence is exponential. The context is everywhere. The world is not only an hoister, it is also a never ending setting...

Here it is the chapter 13 " E=mc2 ". Einstein's formula is quite known: E = m c 2 . In the formula, 'E' is the energy, 'm' is the mass, & 'c' is the speed of light. It is dimensionally consistent, & does not depend on any specific system of measurement.   In physics, the formula is known as the concept of mass/energy . As this formula applies to the universe, it might as well be applied to care work.

Here it is chapter 12 " Nothing is absolute, but certain ".   In 1905 Einstein redefined the concept of contemporaneity of events on the base of what is really measurable, & n othing wa s absolute anymore.   What it is interesting in the theory of general relativity is that once a rule is given, it has to be valid no matter the system one lives in.

Here is the chapter 11 " On reciprocity ". The reciprocity is one of those magical terms which are self-meaning, but also which are mostly misconceived.   As I am interested to explore the magic of the relational dynamics, any magical word is surely welcomed. 

H ere is the chapter 10 " Illusion of neutrality ". When two persons follow a common relation of care, such as one asking for help & the other is supposed with some supplying, the relation will have a common ground but it is due to have different interpretations. These interpretations are true for themselves, but not necessary for them both. They might be parallel, not correlated. Each observant has different perceptions regarding the same relation, while the form of the perceptions remains inside of a changing-while-mutually-common-agreed linguistic codes. To make a “neutral” relation, their perceptions should become explicit simultaneously . This doesn't imply what each will do out of it, in anyway. And it is fairly impossible to happen. The illusion of neutrality. So naif...

Here is the chapter 9 " The impact of silent rank onto people positions ". The impact of the silent & unconscious rank is evident when two persons settle two distinct positions (one asking for help & care, while the other is supposed having help-care to offer) concerning the same object (a request of care), which is supposed to have its own entity.

Here is the chapter 8 " Ideas without substance ". It is very different to know something as an act of knowledge, or as a result of direct experience. For this reason, I use to tell to my trainees that mostly they do not have any direct idea of what it means what they are talking about.

here is the chapter 7 " invariable absolutes: ether, economy, efficiency ". Newton defined the correlation between corps under a rigorous causal & deterministic point of view. The invariable absolute was the ether, something intangible but able to define all the relationships. If we substitute the word “ether” with “economy”, we can probably have a complete sentence as well.

Here is chapter 5 " Re-visions ". The subject is one, & by working on it, any individual can develop general movements which apply to all other situations. Centuries af ter Coep ernicus & Tolomeus , Wittgenstein wrote these exact words which I of te n quote : « …again & again the individual case turns out to be unimportant, but the possibility of each individual case discloses something about the essence of the world… » . From one to one.

Here is chapter 6 " Individuality, identity, innovation, chronicity. A short story ". The individuality as a dimension of physical time were not present in Galileo: it was introduced by Newton. To focus on it, & on the dimension of identity & innovation, toward a definition of chronicity, we will use the story that one of my tutors told me during my apprenticeship .

here it is the chapter 4: Nothing is just a case : from Plato to Aristotle, from Master Oogway to Jedi knight. For Plato, the ge neral order of things & cycles didn't come out of case. “Nothing is just a case ” is also the kind of sentence that Master Oogway used to teach to Shifu & Po during the "kung-fu pand a" training sessions .

Here is chapter 3 " our ancestors, or the circularity of communication ". Our ancestors knew the big Nature, & they confront it on the base of time to explain the whole complexity of things. It was a circle of signification where the end was likely bound to a new beginning, where the end was as well a finality of the beginning.

Here is chapter 2: introducing the position of the experienced beginne r Working with individuals and groups always involves , requires and implies the awareness on the chosen position within the relation of care itself. During my activities of training and supervisions, I often introduce the position of the experienced beginner. It is a peculiar position where the qualities of being a beginner merge with those of being experienced.

Here is chapter 1: principles . Principles are principles, they should be at the basis of every speech, of every methodology, of every praxis. Some of the notions my teachers taught me during their classes arose from a foggy dew. It happened just as it was supposed to. Quite some years after their class finished, I discovered the lessons which I learnt:

Here is the intro & the index . As I wrote in the previous post presenting the abstract, w hen I started to write, I thought about a short article. But it gr ew through n ew ideas and suggestions arising from my work and from my personal life. As presented in the abstrac t, I am interested in investigating the relation of care without any scientific purpose. I am a psychologist, not a scientist, nor a physician. I only used physics as a metaphor. For a complete and more detailed view on the history of physics, I suggest to refer to real physicians.

I wrote "E=mc2 a metaphorical journey through the evolution of physics to deepen the relation of ca re" during the last months. Like in front of a basket of cherries , I enjoyed the challenge of focusing on what happens within the relation of care , exploring the meaning of positions, ranks, desires, emotions , prejudices , contexts , as well as the obsession for the control and the illusion of safety .

More documentations are now available in the section " publications " on this blog . Almost all the more recent pubblications have been uploaded & are now on free download to favour the dissemination and the free exchange of experiences under the Creative Commons (by nc nd) license (Attribution Non-commercial No-derivs) .

Confronting homelessness in the EU: Seeking out the next generation of best practices is the title of the FEANTSA European conference that will be held in Bergamo (IT) on 24 & 25 October 2014. I have been honoured to contribute by conducting a workshop focusing on " The pros and cons of job creation through social cooperatives ".

My participation to the FEANTSA Employment working group dated back from 2006. Since then, a patient research & analysis on issues as exclusion, inclusion, poverty, homelessness, employment & policies of insertion into work have been done. Each of the 8 group members congregate twice a year to confront, share & analyse the national update, data & the evolution in the overall Eu scenario. This time the 2 days meeting was in London, hosted by Crisis Uk, a national charity for single homeless people, offering year-round education, employment, housing & well-being services. It is worth having some time for a visit and a contact, as Crisis is a charity doing amazingly good. To have more info, visit their website here: www.crisis.org.uk

the 3 workgroup sessions addressed to professionals operating in the field of mental health are over. More details of the 3 sessions are available in Italian at Consolida website, together with the complete training agenda: taking in charge and the insertion into the service : Wednesday 29th January building the relation of care with the person with psychiatric needs and themanagement of eventual crisis : Wednesday 26th February the closing the programmes and the delicacy of the dismissal from theservice : Wednesday 16th April I want to thank all participants for their contributions, attention, disposability in sharing, & last but not least, for their constance. I would also to thank for their evaluation of the training