Psychotherapy and Politics International (E-Journal)
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The Nature of Burn‐Out and the Burn‐Out of Nature: The Sloth and the Chickadee. Socio‐Psychological, Ecological, Sacral‐Political and Ethical Implications. Jungian and Alchemical Perspectives
Get PDFBeginning with the analytic field, this paper introduces the problem of burn‐out as one of self‐neglect that can be understood as ultimately suicidal. There follows a brief outline of the aetiology of the pathology, before indicating the direction in which healing may lie. The origins of a holistic worldview are being traced that allow us to see the unity in the complexities of the different facets: the ancient teachings of the Chinese alchemists that later were reflected in the unus mundus concept of, first Egyptian and Arabic, then European alchemical traditions. These ideas are linked with recent and current ecological concerns by drawing parallels between one of the most important European alchemist‐healers of the past – Paracelsus – and, moving to recent modern times, Wilhelm Reich. Here, the focus is on the later period of Reich’s work. With his holistic perspective, Reich cannot only be seen as continuing the alchemist traditions, but should also be respected as the first eco‐psychologist. The paper leads to the spiritual implications of these ideas, towards a re‐sacralization of analysis and radical (eco‐)politics, and ends with suggestions towards possible solutions of the present dilemma of individual, collective and global burn‐out in presenting the concept of ‘radical hope’
On the Tyranny of Professional Labelling
Get PDFThe psychodiagnostic labels that mental health professionals apply to their clients can have significant, negative impacts. Clients can suffer serious harm not just through internalization of the construct but through social reaction to the label. The specific construct of psychopathy is used to demonstrate some of the unpleasant albeit unintended effects of professional labelling. A few recommendations to avoid damaging diagnostic labels are provided
Envy: Everyday and Everywhere
Get PDFIn psychoanalysis the concept of envy describes a specific defence within an object relational structure that denies the subjectivity, need and entitlement of the other and is the antithesis of gratitude and satisfaction. Yet how far is envy both a representation of a psychological structure which is pathological and a culturally generated phenomenon? Should we not take into account the forces that amplify envy when considering the pathology of our ‘envious’ clients? With reference to social and political dynamics and a clinical vignette, this paper will consider whether envy can be as much a social disease as a psychopathology that requires psychotherapeutic treatment. It will look at three main areas. What are the conditions in our society that increase envious reactions? What are the economic and social consequences of envy, both negative and positive, and what of our own envy in relation to our colleagues and clients
The Colour of Rainbows: The Advent of Post‐Postmodernity and the Notion of Forgiveness
Get PDFThis paper enquires into the notion of forgiveness from multiple perspectives. To begin with, it is set in a historical political context, leading to the idea of forgiveness as a bridge between the personal and the political. In addition, my theme is explored through empirical research in the social sciences. This is followed by approaching forgiveness through a spiritual dimension as opposed to a religious or moral one. From this emerges the central idea of this paper: a reading of forgiveness as something that is closely linked to ordinary daily experience and much more prevalent than widely assumed, rather than an act of supreme religious or moral effort. Thus forgiveness is present, whenever the talion law is suspended and a different way is found. A post‐postmodern approach is needed here for this conceptually enables positivity without being naïve or regressive. To bring out a further facet of my theme, it is then set in a clinical context, where forgiveness is seen as an imaginal creative act that unfolds over time. The paper ends with addressing restorative justice, a contemporary instance of the notion of forgiveness as a bridge between the personal and the political
The Trafficking in Women: An Individual Fate or Social Responsibility?
Get PDFThe text is based on research work (Zentner K. Mensch im Dunkel. Qualitative Fallstudie zu osteuropäischen Opfer von Frauenhandel. Ein Beitrag zur Psychotraumatologie [Person in the Dark: Qualitative Case Study on East European Victims of the Trafficking in Women. Contribution on Psycho‐Traumatology]. Peter Lang Verlag: Frankfurt am Main, 2009). The individual research study was not publicly funded and was carried out exclusively on the initiative of the author on the subject of the extreme traumatisation of victims of trafficking in women and deals with how in‐depth understanding of a case can be reached by relating the depth‐hermeneutic method of scenic understanding (Lorenzer A. Tiefenhermeneutische Kulturanalyse [Depth‐hermeneutic cultural analysis]. In Kultur‐Analysen, Lorenzer A (ed.). Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag: Frankfurt am Main, 2000b; 11–98), even if the people being interviewed are severely inarticulate. First the scientific and methodological way of questioning in this study is discussed, as well as the background to trafficking in women. Two examples of interviews illustrate the method and its results. Finally the sociological and clinical perspectives are summarised
Spiritual Narratives on Equality
Get PDFPersonal therapy has not made the world a more equal place as many of us hoped it would in the 20th century. I argue here that we also need a spiritual narrative. Equality in many forms has been central to the aims of most radical progressive social movements. The intention is often also to be non‐hierarchical in their organization, thinking and lifestyles. However, few have succeeded for long. Many psychotherapists such as Wilhelm Reich have studied this problem and suggested solutions such as dismantling psychological defences and living from the core of ourselves. But people often mistook the idea of ‘core’ as merely acting from our impulses, leading, for example, to the shadow sides of ‘60s ‘freedoms’. Perhaps the deepest core is actually where we attune to what Engels called the spirit in nature. Today the spiritual dimension is returning into the world of psychotherapy and politics from the surprising source of postmodernism. But exactly what kind of spirituality might be emerging to co‐create with the new equality politics in shaping the 21st century? In this article inspired by the ideas of postmodernists such as Julia Kristeva and mystics such as Lao Tzu, I outline some ideas that may be important. One of these is the concept of ‘jouissance’, which is an embodied ecstatic joy. Fluidity, flow, rhythm, dance, nomadic wandering, alternation and eternal return may also be features of the new spirituality