The Political Psyche / Edition 1

by Andrew Samuels

Overview

What can depth psychology and politics offer each other?

In The Political Psyche Andrew Samuels shows how the inner journey of analysis and psychotherapy and the passionate political convictions of the outer world are linked. He brings an acute psychological perspective to bear on public themes such as the market economy, environmentalism, nationalism, and anti-Semitism. But, true to his aim of setting in motion a two-way process between depth psychology and politics, he also lays bare the hidden politics of the father, the male body, and of men's issues generally. A special feature of the book is an international survey into what analysts and psychotherapists do when their patients/clients bring overtly political material into the clinical setting. The results, including what the respondents reveal about their own political attitudes, destabilize any preconceived notions about the political sensitivity of analysis and psychotherapy.

This Classic Edition of the book includes a new introduction by Andrew Samuels.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138888470
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/21/2015
Series:	Routledge Mental Health Classic Editions
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	402
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Samuels is recognised internationally as a leading commentator from a psychotherapeutic perspective on political and social problems. His work on the father, sexuality, spirituality and ethics has also been widely appreciated. Over forty years, he has evolved a unique blend of post-Jungian, relational psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches to clinical work. A past chair of the UK Council for Psychotherapy, he was co-founder of Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility and also of the Alliance for Counselling and Psychotherapy. He is Professor of Analytical Psychology at Essex University and holds visiting chairs at New York, London, Roehampton and Macau universities. His books have been translated into 19 languages. For Routledge, he is the author of Jung and the Post-Jungians (1985), A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis (1986), The Plural Psyche (1989), The Political Psyche (1993), Relational Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis and Counselling (edited with Del Loewenthal, 2014), and Passions, Persons, Psychotherapy,Politics (2014).

www.andrewsamuels.com

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Classic Edition. Preface. Acknowledgements. Part I – The Political Psyche 1. The Mirror and the Hammer 2. Subjectivity and Political Discourse: The contribution of the clinic 3. Depth Psychology and Politics 4. The Lion and the Fox: Morality, Trickster and Political Transformation 5. Against Nature. Part II: The Political Person 6. Fathers 7. Political Readings of Paternal Imagery 8. Reflecting on Men 9. The Political Person Part III: The Political Therapist 10. Political Material in the Clinical Setting: Replies to an international survey 11. Object Relations, Group Process and Political Change 12. Jung, anti-Semitism and the Nazis 13. Nations, Leaders and a Psychology of Difference 14. Ending and Beginning. Notes. Bibliography. Name Index. Subject Index.

Editorial Reviews

‘Everyone involved in public policy should celebrate the publication of The Political Psyche.’ - The Guardian

‘A revolutionary book…challenging assumptions, uncovering the shameful and the hidden, introducing fresh new ideas and showing ordinary things from extraordinary angles…As topical today as it was twenty five years ago, shortly after the Gulf War.’ - Self & Society (Retro Review, 2014)

‘A first rate treatise on psychology and politics…a text well worth reading. Samuels’ brilliance as a theoretician, stylist and psychologist appears with great persuasiveness.’ - Political Psychology

From the Publisher