What Therapy for Politics? What Politics for Therapy?
Andrew Samuels and Nick Totton in dialogue
Session Outline
Like every other human activity, psychotherapy and counselling exist within
a political context – a context of struggle and negotiation over power and
resources. They also, perhaps, have unique contributions to make to that context.
Andrew and Nick will be undertaking a wide ranging conversation over the whole
terrain of therapy and politics, exploring both agreements and disagreements
in dialogue. Among the areas discussed will be:
The application of psychological concepts to political situations
Should therapists campaign for political goals, and if so,
what goals?
The politics of psychotherapy organisations
Therapy and the state
Power in the therapeutic relationship
Are we talking about releasing imagination and soul into
the political arena, or about our understanding of the dynamics of conflict?
Or both?
An informal presentation on political energy and ways in which it can manifest
in therapy sessions.
Supervision of relevant case material brought (with clients' consent) by workshop
members, in which the focus of either the client or the therapist or both was
on a political, social or cultural theme (for example, racism, economic inequality,
ecocatastrophe, violence and war); or perhaps also material less obviously
of a political nature, but where the therapist has an intuition that this context
might be illuminating. The facilitators will suggest ways to engage with this
kind of theme, and deepen the discussion by inviting group members to respond
from their own experience.
This will widen out into an exploration of political energy in our lives and
in our work.
In our theories and clinical practice we understand aggression and conflict
as being part of the whole, but collectively we are caught in a psychology
of demonising conflict. I am not for one minute losing touch with the awful
consequences of conflict in war, but violence, psychic and physical, often
occurs because of a fear of aggression, a state of terror in which one is gripped
by, 'Either he/she/they exist, or I do'. The 'war against terror' is an obvious
current case example of fighting badly, ineffectively; the language and dynamics
of 'terrorism' pivot on this panic.
For this paper, 'love' is the capacity to notice, to take in, and reflect,
in dynamic opposition to contempt, in which things are kept out and unnoticed.
Our clinical practice is one of unsentimental love. The shadow of our profession
is in our politics, in the contempt that exists between different groupings.
The violence of this contempt annihilates relationality and psyche and expresses
an undeveloped, uneducated aspect of our individual and collective selves,
a nightmare of colonialism and racism come home. Our strivings against conflict
are debilitated without the recognition of our own participation. We fail to
distinguish between fighting badly in which aggression is a blind terror and
fighting well, dependent on relationality. We can fear the intimacy of fighting
as well as that of love.
We will look at questions about the connection between the 'personal' and 'political'.
How does our personal and spiritual development and awareness shape our relationships
in organisations, community and society? How do collective tides influence
our most personal awareness? And what is 'inner' and 'outer'?
What does all this have to do with our everyday work and life? Does our little
bit make a difference? As a psychotherapist, is your awareness of social and
political issues relevant? If a social activist at heart, what's your personal
and spiritual development and awareness got to do with it? What does all this
have to do with creativity? And how does our dreaming lead us into the world?
In this masterclass we will touch on:
how our professional practice is personal, political and spiritual
the soup: how to recognize we're 'in the soup', yet still facilitate
deep democracy: a look at this concept for inner, relationship and community
work, from Process oriented psychology, Arnold Mindell
wheels of history: how psychological dynamics of individuals and groups
are used as fuel in cycles of violent conflict
the good news: awareness makes a difference
a short cartoon exercise
Biographies
Andrew Samuels
Andrew Samuels is acknowledged as one of the leading commentators on politics
from a psychotherapeutic perspective, and works internationally as a political
consultant. For the past 30 years he has been developing a unique blend of
Jungian, relational psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches to clinical work.
He was the co-founder of Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility
and is Consultant Editor of Psychotherapy and Politics International (of
which Nick Totton is Editor).
He is Professor of Analytical Psychology at the University of Essex, a Training Analyst of the Society of Analytical Psychology,
Board Member of the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis,
and on the Editorial Board of Self and Society.
Nick Totton
Nick Totton came to working as a therapist through a long trek which started
in political activism and passed through communal living, psychomystical exploration,
and various other attempts to understand our potential for, and difficulty
in, creating positive human lifestyles. He trained as a Reichian body psychotherapist,
and subsequently did an MA in psychoanalytic studies, as well as a number of
seminars in process work. He has written and edited several books, mainly on
psychotherapy and politics, body psychotherapy, and the paranormal in therapy;
and is editor of the journal Psychotherapy and Politics International.
Nick lives in Calderdale, and works with individuals and groups. He is a member
of Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility, and in a member
group of the Independent Practitioners Network.
James Barrett
James Barrett is a Jungian psychotherapist in private practice in Leamington
Spa. He is a member of the West Midlands Institute of Psychotherapy, Psychotherapists
and Counsellors for Social Responsibility, and The College of Psychoanalysis.
He is currently chair of the Confederation for Analytical Psychology and a
delegate at UKCP. He is researching relationships between the work of Carl
Jung and the poet Ted Hughes.
Arlene Audergon
Arlene Audergon PhD is a psychotherapist and conflict resolution facilitator.
She teaches process oriented psychology in the UK and internationally. Arlene is co-founder
of CFOR, supporting community building, multicultural awareness and conflict
resolution in zones and neighbourhoods in conflict. In addition to several
articles, Arlene is author of The war hotel: psychological dynamics in violent
conflict, and co-author with Arye of Transforming conflict into community:
post-war reconciliation in Croatia in The Politics of Psychotherapy:
New Perspectives. Arlene has a private practice in London, consults in organisations, and also works in theatre. (www.processwork-audergon.com)
