Psychotherapy and Politics International (E-Journal)
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S.T.O.P state regulation of counselling and psychotherapy
Get PDFAn account of the aims and genesis of Psychoanalysis, Class and Politics: Encounters in the Clinical Setting (Layton et al., 2006). The editors of the collection aim to convey a sense of what social and political concerns have shaped them as editors and why they were moved to produce the book. They each offer a personal piece that highlights particular themes in the book and in their lives as psychoanalyst-activists
Politicizing the person‐centred approach: an agenda for social change. Edited by Gillian Proctor, Mick Cooper, Pete Sanders and Beryl Malcolm. Ross‐on‐Wye, Herefordshire: PCCS Books, 2006. 329 pp.
Get PDFPoliticizing the person‐centred approach: an agenda for social change
Re-visiting Freud, Jewishness and the other
Get PDFThis paper is written in response to the book Hate and the Jewish Science by Stephen Frosh (2005). The central questions being explored are ‘is psychoanalysis a Jewish science and what are the implications of the authors findings?’ The response is written very much using the contextual material of Frosh's book and makes reference to many of the general themes outlined, such as the Jew as other, the Jewish relationship to Yahweh and the contrasting relationship with God in Christianity. The subject of Jungian psychology is also explored in terms of a religious dimension that is omitted in Freud's works. There is also some discussion about generalisation as an inevitable problematic when discussing race and culture. Matte Blanco's concepts of symmetrical and asymmetrical modes of being are summarised to help offer a formulaic view on the processes of using logic to make generalisations through relative simplification. Finally, there is an exploration of variable dynamic relationships to an internal other that illustrates the potential conflict through a sense of superiority between other‐centricity and egocentricity
An attempt to create an ethic of transfer after conflict resolution in fractured communities: a modified formal grounded theory shaped by meta-ethnography
Get PDFA modified formal grounded theory on the ethic of transfer after conflict resolution has been established. There are two parts to this account. First a phenomenologically driven set of basic assumptions is deployed to shape the praxis. Then a meta‐ethnographic synthesis is used to combine different approaches to conflict resolution in order to create another discrete interventional practice in ways that make us uneasy about each of the prior practices. The result is an interventional approach that allows practitioners of conflict resolution in fractured communities to begin their interventions with an understanding of the cultural habitus in the first instance, followed up with processes of transformation through psychopolitical dialogues and ending with grassroots projects that return the conflict‐resolution project into the hands of the stakeholders whose cultural habitus was determined at the onset. Finally, psychopolitical dialogue with the select group of stakeholders ends with the choice of a number of grassroots projects that in turn generalize the results from small groups into the larger population. Such an ethic of transfer then starts with gatekeepers to sanction the psychopolitical dialogues and returns to the same gatekeepers who guide the selection of grassroots projects. The result is a recursive loop that treats the ethic of transfer of a conflict resolution project as part of an organic whole rather than an addendum
Psychoanalysis and war’: a summary
Get PDFThis paper develops a contrast between Buddhist and psychoanalytic perspectives on war. I discuss dissociative mechanisms that allow people, soldiers and civilians, to avoid coming to terms emotionally with the horror of war
Thinking critically in the midst of the maelstrom: can psychoanalysis help us stay sane in an insane world?
Get PDFThis special section of Psychotherapy and Politics International contains an online discussion from October 2006 titled ‘Thinking critically in the midst of the maelstrom: can psychoanalysis help us stay sane in an insane world?’ This discussion, which took place on PsyBC (http://www.psybc.com/) revolved around two target articles by Neil Altman and Nancy Hollander on psychoanalytic understandings of the contemporary crisis in the US. This introduction discusses a few of the issues that emerged during the wide-ranging discussions. Among these issues are: whether war is inevitable; the interaction of psychodynamics and social processes in maintaining the dominant ideology and social structures; the psychodynamics of bystanders in maintaining social problems; and the complicity of many, even most, citizens in the advanced countries in various ongoing forms of oppression. A theme running through the discussion concerns the role of the citizen in a democracy and the need to increase the individual and social ability to remain aware of unpleasant social realities
Rank and health: a conceptual discussion of subjective health and psychological perceptions of social status
Get PDFThe social dimensions of health and illness have been studied extensively from a materialistic angle. The nonmaterial or subjective factors of social experience affecting health have only recently received some attention. This paper introduces a new multidimensional concept of rank, which includes social dimensions as well as nonmaterially based elements of emotional, psychological, and spiritual strength. It proposes that rank is an important addition to the current literature of socioeconomic inequality and health and examines its relevance for the discussion of how social status inequalities affect people's global health. It suggests that rank as a signifier of power contributes to feelings of powerlessness and leads to worsened health outcomes. This paper suggests that perceived rank may play a role in the socioeconomic status (SES) effect on self‐reported health. It presents a new conceptual and therapeutic model to address issues of rank‐based discrimination in health care
Choices amp; expectations: How to Choose a Psychotherapist. By Neville Symington. London: Karnac, 2003; 62pp. Therapy Beyond Modernity. By Richard House, London: Karnac, 2003; 330pp.
No full textChoices amp; expectations: How to Choose a Psychotherapist
Wanting to be heard
Get PDFAn extended critical review of three varied books: two on Jungian psychotherapy and culture and one on genetics in psychiatry and psychology. The discussion explores what psychotherapy has to offer towards increasing the understanding of culture, society and politics, and also how far it has to go in communicating its insights and findings
Psychotherapy and postmodernism: agency, authenticity and alienation in contemporary therapeutic discourse
Get PDFSince the advent of postmodernism, terms like agency, authenticity and alienation have fallen into disuse in psychotherapeutic discourse. The causes and consequences of this profound semantic shift are examined. While postmodernism has contributed considerably to our understanding of the impact of language and of power relations on society, it has little or nothing to say on the subject of human needs, which provided the original impetus for ‘critical theory’, historically, and is still vital to fostering our patients' welfare