Reflecting Critically on the Political Psyche

With passion and originality, within this new book, Samuels presents powerful material on culture and politics (including a critical take on political violence) and a compassionate account of the role of an individual when it comes to progressive politics. Initial chapters include his commentary on Edward Albee's shocking play The Goat and a provocative and critical view on liberal idealisation of 'the Other'. Then, there is more of Samuels' celebrated work bringing therapy thinking to bear on politics, and as far as the practice and organisation of therapy is concerned, readers will find new work on how to organise a good training (you must use pluralism) and a robust account of what a critical psychotherapy might look like. A section on Jungian matters includes Samuels' work on Jung and 'Africans', whose importance has long been recognised, and a scintillating 'balance sheet' for Jungian analysis, setting its strengths and weaknesses alongside each other. In a clinical section, Samuels shows us what he means by the dynamic idea of the 'activist client'. With each chapter being preceded by a special 'retrospective introduction', as well as including experiential exercises to ground the ideas, this unique collection of papers will be of interest to psychotherapists, Jungian analysts, psychoanalysts, and counsellors, as well as academics working in those fields.

Andrew Samuels has made notable contributions to psychotherapy, Jungian analysis and studies, and psychoanalysis for over 50 years. He has had the honour of receiving two Festschrifts at the ages of 60 and 70. He is a relational Jungian psychoanalyst, professor, activist, and political consultant (including to Britain's National Health Service). He founded or co-founded many organisations within the 'psy' field, including Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility (PCSR), Psychotherapy and Counselling Union, Analysis and Activism, International Association for Jungian Studies, and the Confederation for Analytical Psychology. He was the elected chair of the UK Council for Psychotherapy from 2009 to 2012 and has worked as the consultant for Routledge's Jung List since 1984. His many books have been translated into up to 21 languages. These include Jung and the Post-Jungians (1985), The Father (1985), A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis (1986), The Plural Psyche (1989), Psychopathology (1989) The Political Psyche (1993), Politics on the Couch (2001), Persons, Passions, Psychotherapy, Politics (2015), A New Therapy for Politics (2018). A selection of video lectures and 'rants' is available on www.andrewsamuels.com

Introduction Part 1: Culture 1. Oh No! Not Another Chapter on 'the Other' 2. Global Politics, American Hegemony and Vulnerability: Why There Are No Winners in the Battle Between Trickster Pedro Urdemales and the Gringos 3. Age is Just a Number: the Delusion of Maturity and the Fiction of Individuation 4. Politically Engaged Art as Inspiration in Clinic and in Culture - Plus a Reflection on the Dangers of Such a Thing Part 2: Politics 5. The Rationality of Political Violence 6. The Role of the Individual in Progressive Politics - Possibilities and Impossibilities of 'making a Difference' 7. Taking the Green Agenda Out of the Margins - Psychological Strategies Part 3: Therapy 8. Pluralism and Psychotherapy - What is a Good Training? 9. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Therapy (but Were Afraid to Ask: Social, Political , Economic and Clinical Fragments of a Critical Psychotherapy) Part 4: Jungian 10. Political and Clinical Developments in Analytical Psychology Since 1972: Subjectivity, Equality and Diversity - Inside and Outside the Consulting Room 11. The Future of Jungian Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats ('swot') 12. Jung and 'africans': a Critical and Contemporary Review of Some of the Issues 13. Sinking Like a Stone: Activism, Analysis and the Role of the Academy Part 5: Clinic 14. From Sexual Misconduct to Social Justice 15. The 'activist Client': Social Responsibility, the Political Self, and Clinical Practice in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis 16. The Transcendent Function and Politics: No!