My scientific journey has been not very common but there are some very clear reasons why it happened.
- When I started 1979, the University, I surprisingly, did find suddenly a platform within biopsychosocial-cultural medicine as well as philosophical real world related science and its clinical application within systems integrating medical/psychological health fields (too high demand?). But, it was on a bus between Uppsala and Enköping (Sweden) autumn 1979 ( I read .. see “2”, which is really “Why I did ..”) , as I have just started my studies at Uppsala University, still very much suffering from very hard PTSD** since yearly first year in my life. Trying to start a career as pianist, but extremely hard stress (at worsted bodily completely immobilized for a few hard days), enabling to perform at (approximately) 30-40% in concerts, realizing 1968 that it is not possible for to continue either to perform (for my) acceptable standard or stand living with such hard biopsychosocial stress – with a wonderful family in progress. That was before 1979, when I started at the University “by accident”, if not if was there then ..) and then, I had already moved to more and more into pedagogical work, which I did very excellent (independent assessed and also by myself). Now my wife is after 80 the excellent pianist in our family – not me!)
- Now to my “thanks for George A Kelly”: Suddenly, while reading (at the bus), I visualized as well as silent verbalize for myself how a lot of pieces I have collected during the years (no academic) reading emerged into a functional puzzle, at that time not well directly expressed but more of Limbic/Spatial understanding (see …) “What´s up”. The importance for me was that it did have a deep meaning about how individuals themselves could find gradually (!) solutions how to improve my/their strivings in life … with more or less clear goals – perhaps not even dare to try to formulate goals – only try to survive.
How come? The main “thinking” was that his “man as a scientist”-approach, which then never left my thinking/reasoning/living/.. that is now -> as a person/scientist/clinicians gradually moving forward I worked and did my dissertation, l clinical work (become partly www.pbm.se) and professor = where all my work rested (!) on the metaphor reformulated into e.g. the manual COOL- chief of one own´s life (my doctoral dissertation manual (1986) translate into English – not really expressing the Swedish meaning) – gradually refined into the manual “patient as a reasonable ..” see HELLA, not just to be considered in Medicine? | Cultural Medicine .
As I understand Kelly, he (himself!) really wanted his Personal Construct Theory to be further developed and this encouraged me to directly move on with “my” systems integrated psychophysiological journey (emerging in my mind during 1970-ties) while working with table tennis (reading about Stellan Bengtsson during playing with extremely high heart rate while standing still concentrated – idrottfysiologi rapport nr 12 bordtennis Förlagsverksamhet trygg hansa
The influence from George Kelly´s work, not only “man as a scientist” but his complete integrating (also e.g. in abstruction* terms) context
Also personally, I was influenced (not surprising while Personal Construct Theory concerns individual, issues at clinical and scientific levels) and this enabled me to find constructive ways also personally. A consequence was to view my own problems/disorders – quite hard biopsychosocial PTSD problems**) at (a) scientific, (b) clinical and (c) personal levels – at all three levels in parallel. May seems complex, but not for me while it really “relieved myself” while getting perspectives, a kind of metathinking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition) , which also was an important subject in the beginning where fruitful guidance from Meichenbaum (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J008v03n01_03?journalCode=wzss20) and others, where easy to find and use.
Lack of basic trust developed in me which made me early to not take many things for granted or believe what people around me told me. But I do have trust in an uncle who function as a model providing a “safe platform” also in my mind. Later on, I did have very much use of such attitude when I began to study at the University (38 years old leaving the music trace – at last). I did what I deed to do, to past all examines but parallel work with what I wanted, which during first month following the approach of George Kelly (see above)!
The above constellation – integrating personal-clinical-scientific reasoning /elaboration – was also very fruitful for my clinical work, and so it is also today! Perhaps a prerequisite for this is that used paradigm have equal focus as “man as a scientist”-approach or my further developed “patient as a reasonably competent educated (!) resource and coworker in own rehab”
More is to come …
* I was very imporessed of the Kellian pieces in the puzzles as e.g. Abduction
Fig. A1. The relation between abduction, deduction and induction. Several alternative terms encountered in literature are given. Each has its own weakness (see text) (from Kleinhans et al., 2010). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/48326326_HESS_Opinions_On_the_use_of_laboratory_experimentation_Hydrologists_bring_out_shovels_and_garden_hoses_and_hit_the_dirt/figures?lo=1
See also https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/deduction-vs-induction-vs-abduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nn3XMoPC7s
** Brief about my PTSD; Behavioral observation clearly indicate Maternal Deprivation (can not blame my mother but her hard grown up conditions as my fathers also). When protecting me from damage myself early in life first year, I was bound with bedspread. Laying not able to move quite much, I move my legs frequent instead – probably “rock me into calmness”. This rocking behavior stayed and happens still during sleep. Probably the biological evolution provide us (not just me) with reciprocal ways to clam us when hard biopsychosocial stress emerge – with knowledge since 1970-ties what I called in my dissertation “Beta-Endorphin-exercise” (see about associated Nobel prize (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1977/press-release/ & https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6325839/). Early hard stress in a, not yet well-developed brain, is expected to be mostly Locus Coeruleus related (as well as largely the complete Reticular Activation System). Such an interpretation matched my pronounced effect of jogging (started when the Beta-Endorphin system was discovered and I learned about it Auguste 1975. Since then, I manage to increase my mental-emotional life-quality step by step. So – summarizing, my hard first year provided me also with an effective way to deal with biopsychosocial stress when I realize its usefulness. About my mother (and father( very severe childhood both do their very best – so my start in life was associated with a not quite well social heritage
Links about Kelly
About (my understanding/version/experiences of) George Kelly | Biopsychosocial Medicine
Som of my own work
HELLA, not just to be considered in Medicine? | Cultural Medicine
More will come ..