Psychotherapy and Politics International (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
654 research outputs found
Sort by
Don’t worry, be happy: Erasing racism, sexism, and poverty in positive psychology
Get PDFPositive psychology, referred to by some as a “fifth force” in psychology, has claimed that its offerings can contribute to the building of a “good life” and a “moral society.” Its methods in achieving this goal appear to include not only active denial of systemic and institutionalized forms of oppression or rationalizing oppression as a positive force, but also judgment of feelings, experiences, and actions that are central to addressing prejudice and social violence. Suffering is presented as a failure of self-control. Moreover, positive psychology, like other dominant forms of Western psychology throughout its history, legitimize themselves through scientism, which embraces supposedly “value-neutral” empiricism including exclusively natural science/quantitative designs, evolutionary psychology, a biological focus, and experimentation on animals. Special attention is given to how positive psychology is communicated to the public through popular publications, and how a mono-emotional approach to human experience is produced by and supports monocultural social structures
Australian asylum discourses permeating therapeutic work with asylum seekers: A thematic analysis of specialist practitioners’ experiences
Get PDFThe current research analyses interviews that were conducted with nine specialist practitioners who worked with asylum seekers in Australia. It investigates the aspects in which the Australian asylum legislative framework impacts on therapeutic work with asylum seekers. Epistemologically, the research is grounded in a social constructionist theoretical foundation that is interested in unravelling how discourses and language construct psychological reality. The interviews were analysed by following thematic analysis. The findings of the study reveal that participants recognise that the political discourses on asylum are forcefully dominant and rigid and generate detrimental effects on asylum seekers’ mental health. Likewise, they demonstrate that political discourses inform the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and client in a negative fashion and often produce an experience of professional impotence for practitioners who work with this population
Israel/Palestine: Roadblocks to negotiation
Get PDFThe article outlines aspects of psychoanalytic and group analytic thinking about conflict between large groups in relation to the tragic and violent Israel/Palestine impasse and to large-group dynamics involving Western onlookers, including the writer. As a Western observer, I declare my bias by describing the origin of my interest in the situation in Israel. Aspects of Palestinian and Israeli political culture that block the path to peace are discussed
MAY — “The Strangest Disease”: May ’68 and its consequences
Get PDFThis paper discusses the nature and aftermath of the May 1968 uprising in France, treating it as symbolically representative of the whole radical movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It explores how that movement and its failure to achieve its goals have affected the psychological atmosphere in which we conduct therapy, and also how some of the ideas which were developed might influence our practice. The author uses his own experience and feelings as part of this exploration
Feminism, Islam, and Psychoanalysis—A psychoanalytic case study
Get PDFThe ambiguity of the terms feminism and Islam does not allow for a fixed standpoint. The most emancipatory forms of feminism might be incompatible with Islam, whilst other forms of feminism such as the liberal reformist position can be combined with it. This article relates empirical material to the broader debate of the Muslim-feminist movement that might act as a nodal point for future challenges and developments as it questions widespread interpretations of the Qur'ān. The material gained via psychoanalytic interview was subjected to an analysis, situating the text within the tradition of Freudian psychoanalytic theory as well as within the tradition of the grand dame of German psychoanalytic feminism, Margarete Mitscherlich. The analysis of a case study of a queer person, furthermore, traces the way in which women make sense of Islamic tradition back to the time in which the Orient was open to same-sex practices. In this way the case study will enhance our understanding of how the three concepts, feminism, psychoanalysis, and Islamic tradition intersect with one another and how each of the traditions can learn from the others. Since there is an enormous gap in research concerning this intersection, this text aims to open up a space where a queer reading of psychoanalysis, a queer reading of the Qur'ān, and a psychoanalytic reading of Islamic tradition become possible
“How would you answer if a client asked if you’d been raped?”: Towards a political critique of psychotherapy placements
Get PDFThis paper takes an intrusive, unacceptable clinical placement interview question as a starting point for a political critique of psychotherapy placements
NOVEMBER — “Remember, remember the fifth of November” – A time now to be forgot? The psychology and politics of remembering and forgetting, celebrating and commemorating
Get PDFThe lighting of fires and fireworks on 5th November is a tradition that has continued to varying degrees within Great Britain and the former British Colonies since the Observation of the 5th November Act 1605 became law, only months after the plot to kill James I was foiled on the evening of 5th November 1605. Since then, like many traditions, the original reasons and methods for remembering and celebrating have been deliberately usurped for differing religious and political intent, as well as having become diluted simply through the passage of time and location. More recently, some places still celebrating Bonfire Night have tried to ban fireworks, and/or change the celebration to fit other cultural events. This article explores the reason for the original Act, and the way in which this intent has been usurped to serve different ends; it also considers the more general implications of maintaining such traditions within a multicultural society, as they can influence the reality and development of shared or separatist multicultural identities. The parallel between maintaining traditions to reinforce collective identities is considered, as well as the role and risks of integrating multicultural traditions to develop a stable personal identity within psychotherapy. It then concludes with the assertion that continuing to celebrate the 5th November has a role to play in maintaining a shared identity, irrespective of what is actually being remembered
OCTOBER Sexual Revolutions: Otto Gross, Psychoanalysis and Culture
Get PDFThis article is a report of the 10th International Otto Gross Congress, Moscow, October 2017, consisting of an introductory summary by Gottfried Heuer, listing the speakers and the subjects they presented, followed by the text of his opening address, outlining Gross's links with Russian philosophy. This is followed by Birgit Heuer's opening address, introducing her concept of sanatology and how this relates to Gross's work. The article finishes with Gottfried Heuer's concluding remarks and a poem he wrote for the occasion
Towards a bicultural psychotherapy: Decolonising psychotherapy in hospice care
Get PDFDiscrepancies between hospice service usage and cancer rates in Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, raise several questions. There have been numerous studies into these discrepancies highlighting issues regarding the appropriateness of care in hospice services in Aotearoa for Māori. This paper explores these issues, accentuating some gaps in the literature—such as intergenerational trauma—as well as ways that Pākehā psychotherapists (New Zealander psychotherapists of European descent) can biculturally engage with Māori. The author encourages psychotherapists to become allies by embracing a Māori-centred approach to psychotherapy that brings both groups together as partners, while working through numerous post-colonial issues