Psychotherapy and Politics International (E-Journal)
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Politics, Psychotherapy, and the 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act
Full text linkSchmid's (2012/2014) reflection on the relationship between psychotherapy and politics challenges psychotherapists to engage as political (human) beings, reconnecting divisions promoted by reductionist thinking. If the human being is a political being then psychotherapy is undeniably a political venture. As an Indigenous emerging therapist practising in Aotearoa New Zealand, I strongly resonate with Schmid's propositions. His movement towards social justice and emancipation call to me, mirroring the Indigenous voices which have influenced and informed my personal and professional development. In the spirit of a discussant paper, this article responds to Schmid's argument by exploring his ideas from an Indigenous, Māori perspective – at least an Indigenous position specific to me. The article challenges and redefines his analysis to reflect an Indigenous reality of practising psychotherapy in Aotearoa New Zealand
Collective trauma: the nightmare of history
Full text linkAlthough trauma is usually examined as an individual experience, it is a collective dynamic. Whole communities are traumatized and dynamics of trauma involve all of us and affect the course of history. An orientation to understanding trauma is needed that is at once personal, communal and political. This paper discusses why understanding the dynamics of trauma is essential for facilitators of conflict resolution in zones of conflict and for post‐war reconciliation and community building. It also considers that, in addition to international tribunals and truth commissions, there is a need for community forums throughout society to work with issues of accountability and collective trauma concerning past and current conflicts. Trauma is also relevant to such issues as understanding dynamics of revenge, the silence accompanying atrocity, and historical revisionism
Dealing with damage: the desire for psychic violence to soothe psychic pain
Full text linkDamage and destruction in people's lives can be dealt with either through recognizing and resolving psychic pain and loss or acting out destructive human relationships. This paper highlights the internal processes within a patient and a troubled society where psychic pain may not be recognized, experienced and worked through, so leading to the possibility that psychic violence may be used to soothe heartfelt emotional injuries. Psychic pain is often associated with emotional poverty and inadequacy. This paper describes the idea that pain is acted out through psychic violence and how the therapist has to face and contain many facets of this human frailty disguised as ‘sexed‐up’ violence. My observations of psychic violence in the everyday life of a society exposed to over 35 years of death and destruction are also described. Here, there is not the comfort of the consulting room to detoxify poisonous projections, which often present under the psychic guise of superiority and contempt. Intrapsychic formulations are outlined which underlie such violence and clinical interventions and suggestions to repair societal troubles are offered to help this disturbed state of mind move towards more whole‐object human relations