Psychotherapy and Politics International (E-Journal)
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Understanding the impacts of racial microaggressions on British Asians
Full text linkUsing a phenomenological approach this research explored racial microaggression experiences of British Asians. Eight participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. By employing the interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA), three superordinate themes were identified. This article focuses on the superordinate theme of ‘impact of racial microaggressions’ which encompasses four subthemes. Racial microaggressions were found to impact participants emotionally, personally, professionally, and socially
The importance of methodology and method, sense and sensibility: A critical review of and response to ‘Psychotherapy in the UK: Multicultural, Eurocentric, and Americentric influences on a complex field in a troubled time’ by Colin Feltham
Full text linkThis article is a critical review of and response to Colin Feltham’s article, ‘Psychotherapy in the UK: Multicultural, Eurocentric, and Americentric influences on a complex field in a troubled time’, also published in this issue. The article critiques the lack of method and/or underlying methodology in Feltham’s article, and, by contrast, offers a methodological basis for this critique of his article, which frames this response in terms of Feltham’s rhetoric (language), his references to tradition and to authority, and his lack of objectivity. In doing so, this article addresses and challenges Feltham’s use of unfounded generalisations and familiar tropes about multiculturalism, Anglo- and Americo-centrism, political correctness, wokeness, and all the other ills he attributes to ‘dominant leftist-progressive view[s]’ of psychotherapy and counselling in the United Kingdom—and, by implication, elsewhere. It also challenges what appears to be a certain obsession on Feltham’s part both with various forms and categories of Leftists, as well as with an idealised white indigenous Britishness
On and off stage: Dramatised interventions in community therapy
No full textBeginning with research, and followed by carefully constructed and recorded interviews, headphone verbatim is a form of real life storytelling designed to have a powerful impact on both audience and participants. A small group of actors sit on a stripped back stage wearing headphones which stream the words of the original interviewees. Using only their gaze and meticulous reproduction of the verbal emotions and intonations they can hear, no judgement is made, as they transmit the stories in real time. Representing minority communities, this form of theatre can reveal great insight for both interviewees and extended community. Kristine Landon-Smith, of mixed Australian Indian heritage, has spent her long working life bringing her director’s skills to lift what otherwise would be social journalism to a level of shared storytelling and fresh conversations, so that it can help in a world of division and confusion
Palestine as a moral compass for the critique and transformation of society and psychology
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The promise of therapy: Soothing personal suffering whilst keeping the world as it is?
No full textContemporarily, therapy can be a place to seek self-understanding and to learn to cope with difficulties better to live a happier, more satisfactory life. In Western and Westernised societies, it is increasingly common to see therapy as promising to be the main solution to psychic suffering. This article asks: can therapy live up to that promise? Are the social roots of suffering eclipsed when therapy is placed as the main solution? Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s work on happiness and Lauren Berlant’s concept of cruel optimism, we analyse how therapy tends to direct efforts towards what is socially sanctioned as a ‘good’ and ‘happy’ life; that is, towards ways of living that are entangled with neoliberal and neocolonial orders. We explore how therapy can help us to feel better whilst leaving intact, or further reproducing, the social roots of collective suffering. We suggest that therapy can work as a cruel optimistic attachment, thus making us feel better whilst preventing us from engaging with the practices that might actually make a difference in our lives, personally and collectively. We exemplify this dynamic with the increasing demand on therapy, especially among young people, of offering diagnostic validation. We conclude by considering what humbler promises therapy could make
Social justice informed psychotherapy and people living with HIV
Full text linkThis article examines the intersectional inequalities experienced by people living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) (PLWH) and explores how social justice principles can be integrated into psychotherapy to address these challenges. Drawing on the concept of epistemic justice, the article emphasises the importance of recognising the individuality of each PLWH, acknowledging their unique experiences shaped by factors such as race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. The article advocates for the use of intersectionality as a tool for conceptualising clients’ experiences, critically reflecting and mitigating the relational dynamics. In addition, this article recommends the use of a pluralistic approach when working with HIV-positive clients, encouraging pluralism and diversity in the therapeutic process towards changes. This article introduces a social justice framework tailored to psychotherapy with HIV-positive clients, calling for a broader reconsideration of the implicit biases present within the discipline. It aims to inspire greater effort in navigating the tension between therapists’ self-interest and accommodating clients’ needs
Competing ideologies in and about psychotherapy: An exchange of views
Full text linkFollowing Colin Feltham’s article in this issue (Feltham, 2025), and Keith Tudor’s response (Tudor, 2025b), also published in this issue, the article comprises a series of exchanges between the two authors. It encompasses some discussion—or statements—about beliefs and values; differences of ideology; the use of language; equality and equity; and the nature of psychotherapy. The impetus for the exchange was based on the hope of some rapprochement between the two authors’ views but, in this sense, the project failed. The necessary unfolding of divergent views does not reach any positive conclusions but, at least, airs significant sticking points held by practitioners in the field, about both the content and process of differences, positions, and argument. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding their profound and unresolved differences, both authors hope that, together with the two preceding articles, the whole exchange will stand as a case study regarding conflict about culture and identity in the profession and serve to stimulate further questions
Healing the psychic wounds of oppression from the Bosnian War
No full textIn 1992, Bosnia became a place of inter-ethnic and intra-psychic conflict. Bosnians survived many forms of oppression including bombing and burning of their homes, killing family members and friends, military invasion of their villages, and forced emigration. Psychopolitical healing is defined as the ability of the oppressed to hold the tension of opposites, where the opposites are images of ethnic groups in conflict. Can this concept of healing be applied to the survivors of the Bosnian war (1992–1995)? Eight interviews with Bosnian war survivors conducted by Demaris Wehr (2020) contain statements that are content analysed in order to find answers. Two conditions for healing, ego strength and religiosity, are found to be present in six of the cases. Unsuccessful healing took the form of fanaticism and submissiveness