Psychotherapy and Politics International (E-Journal)
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Editing The Politics of Psychotherapy
Get PDFThis introduction to a special feature on my edited book The Politics of Psychotherapy: New Perspectives (2006) places the book in the context of Western political and therapeutic culture since the 1960s, through the lens of my own political history over that period. It restates some of the key positions of the book, and argues – once again – that psychotherapy is inherently political; and also that therapeutic perspectives have a contribution to make to the new antiglobalization alliances
Constructing feminist counselling: ‘equality’ as a discursive resource in counsellors' talk
Get PDFFeminist counselling has an uneasy relationship with mainstream counselling approaches. Feminist counselling/therapy is diverse both in theory and in the practice of those who refer to themselves as feminist counsellors, which means that many counsellors outside the feminist tradition are unclear about what it entails. There are also tensions between the discourses of feminism and of therapy (Maracek and Kravetz, 1998). This makes for confusion in the wider counselling population about the nature and validity of feminist counselling. In this study I asked counsellors (not selected on the basis of feminist identification) about their understanding of feminist counselling. They attached four main meanings to feminist counselling: exclusivity, imposing a viewpoint, broader perspectives and a commitment to equality. In exploring the validity of feminist counselling the participants drew on competing meanings of equality, namely relational equality and external equality. This contrasts with much feminist counselling writing, which claims these as complementary
The Politics of Psychotherapy: A Gender Issue
Get PDFSexual politics is very important in psychotherapy, as elsewhere, and a gender issue which has not been remarked on very much in the literature is therapist narcissism. This seems to be much more prevalent in men, and the present paper gives a good deal of evidence for this, while not claiming that the fault is peculiar to men. The essence of such narcissism seems to be a ‘stepping outside the circle’ set up between therapist and client, in such a way that the therapist becomes a separate ego. Thus it is actually anti‐relationship, and therefore doubly interesting
Politics and the numinous: evolution, spiritual emergency, and the re‐emergence of transpersonal consciousness
Get PDFPhilosopher Herbert Marcuse observed in 1964 that modern people's materialistic and consumer‐based lifestyles have resulted in societies becoming more one dimensional, which has contributed to a growing attitude of ‘uncritical conformity’. Marcuse advocated that in order to transcend a one‐dimensional existence people will have to engage and actualize their human potential. The increasing environmental and ecological crisis that is confronting the world today identifies a pressing need for change and adaptation at all levels of society including governments, businesses, individual and collective consciousness. The transformation of a one‐dimensional consumer‐based society will require people and societies to engage different dimensions of conscious experience in order to bring about change. This article discusses how developments within human consciousness have evolved in conjunction with spiritual capacities and how collective ritual encounters with the numinous have contributed to developments in the human brain, mind and culture. I propose that the modern phenomenon of spiritual emergencies can be evaluated from an evolutionary perspective, which may be revealing transformational patterns within consciousness that go beyond a one‐dimensional materialistic existence. Spiritual emergency reinforces the need for spiritual awareness to challenge the one‐sided materialistic consciousness prevalent within modern consumer based societies. The process of psycho‐spiritual transformation could lead to a resacralized socio‐political vision and validation of a re‐emergent transpersonal consciousness
Climate on the couch: unconscious processes in relation to our environmental crisis
Get PDFThis revised lecture is an exploration of our psychological attitudes underlying climate change and ecological crisis. The central question is whether psychological insights can contribute to the collective change we need to make towards sustainable living. Part One explores two major myths that underpin Western culture: The Myth of the Fall and The Myth of Progress. Our readings of these stories keep us trapped in destructive ways of living. In particular, Western culture has developed a long‐held fear of wild nature, both inner and outer. Civilization is experienced as a defence against nature. This stands in contrast to an indigenous worldview, where humans respect the balance that needs to be kept between humans and the rest of nature. How do we find a way of working with nature in this modern age? Part Two explores our personal responses to, and fantasies about, sustainable living. Consumerism has become an opiate of the people, in order to subdue our wild internal nature. Such an addictive relationship blocks us from thinking, and prevents us from taking action. Recovery involves reinhabiting our bodies, developing what Naess describes as an ecological identity. Part Three explores how these issues might enter into our work as therapists and how we might respond
Spiritual emergency: transpersonal, personal, and political dimensions
Get PDFAccording to a transpersonal perspective a spiritual/transcendent reality exists beyond the ego, which includes experiences that transcend a person's temporal and spatial boundaries. From this ‘trans’ perspective human beings are viewed in a wider context of life. However, it is recognized that people can experience a transformational crisis through engaging in psycho‐spiritual development, otherwise termed ‘spiritual emergency’. Spiritual emergency can cause a de‐adaptation, affecting a person's ability to function in daily life, which could result in a person being misdiagnosed and treated for a mental health condition. The dichotomy of such experiences being indicative of either a spiritual problem or a mental health problem continues to be a contentious issue. However, from a transpersonal point of view spiritual emergency presents a person with opportunities to engage in a process of ‘self‐renewal’. This article discusses spiritual emergency as a numinous event, highlighting the need for more social‐political‐spiritual awareness of transformations in consciousness. An autobiographical account of a spiritual emergency is provided to illustrate a long‐term trajectory of a spiritual emergency, outlining four propositions for engaging conscious experience through and beyond a transformational crisis
