Papers by Heward Wilkinson
European Journal Of Psychotherapy & Counselling, Dec 1, 2006
I begin with an old analogy for psychotherapy, drawn not from science but from religion. It is fa... more I begin with an old analogy for psychotherapy, drawn not from science but from religion. It is familiar to Christians that the Church Visible, fortunately for the Church, does not coincide with the Church Invisible. The Church Invisible is catholic and indivisible, the single and united Body of ...
Self and society, Jun 1, 2000
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Mar 1, 2000
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOTHERAPHY, VOL. 55 NO. 1, 2000 WW/ Editorial; method in our madness... more INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOTHERAPHY, VOL. 55 NO. 1, 2000 WW/ Editorial; method in our madness, or madness in our method? The many faces of psychotherapy Heward Wilkinson Minster Centre/Scarborough Psychotherapy Training Institute Abstract The Editorial notes ...
Routledge eBooks, Mar 11, 2020
Journal of psychological therapies, Mar 23, 2020
Self and society, Sep 1, 2012
Speaking personally, and without polemical intent, my own intuition is that the arguments about S... more Speaking personally, and without polemical intent, my own intuition is that the arguments about State Regulation are largely a displacement of another issue, something of a red herring for us in the crisis of psychotherapy. The other issue, which is the true heart of the crisis, is the one I want to explore in this essay. This is the issue of the argument between a solely Economic framing of the rationale and paradigms for psychotherapy and counselling, and a wider Human framing of the rationale and paradigms. Those both for, and against, State Regulation, on different political analyses of means to ends, would commonly nevertheless agree and come together on this understanding of the field. I shall, in what follows, sometimes speak of psychotherapy and counselling, sometimes of psychotherapy, sometimes of therapy, sometimes of intervention, or therapeutic intervention, sometimes of 'our field', and so on, interchangeably; I shall try to use the terms idiomatically in the various contexts. As most people in our field know, Lord Richard Layard's 'happiness' initiative, 1 which led to the spearheading of IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), 2 caught on with the previous Government like a house on fire. As he himself indicates, this initiative goes back to Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and Utilitarianism. We can do Lord Layard the honour of recognising that, in making this connection, he is placing himself in the tradition of a radical dialogue and divergence which has dominated British intellectual and cultural life at least since the Romantic period (since roughly the adulthood of William Blake, 1757-1827, we might say, for convenience), and which is now at the heart of our troubles with psychotherapy
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Nov 1, 2002
In the context of the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP)'s strengthening of its plurali... more In the context of the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP)'s strengthening of its pluralistic vision through the accrediting of organisations to award the European Certi cate of Psychotherapy, and its democratic development of its constitutional structures the papers in this issue are an expression of this pluralistic system of values. Geoff Heath's new paper charts a journey for psychotherapy away from positive science models of reality, towards a model or vision of an irreducibly value-laden form of embodied and emotional being in the world. Paul Ziolo explores the part monastic history played in creating the culture we still are suffering from, of the emotional cauterisation and emasculation, in education, of children. John Nuttall's exploration is of how there is open to us the possibility of, in a very post-modern way, juxtaposing, and thus relativising, models of integration in psychotherapy, not only with each other, but with their analogues in the social world and the world of cultural artefact, such as in architectural design.The issue culminates in Dr Goldberg's emphasis upon the basis, in upbringing, of acquiring an ethical-emotional conscience, and the consequences of its lack in the Nazi functionaries, whose values, though not crudely insane or sadistic, were those of introjected obedience. The implication is that psychotherapy has to regain emotional values, such as those of friendship, which are wider than those derived from the Freudian superego, and its analogues, which are based primarily upon environmental introjection.
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Mar 1, 2002
Taken together the papers in this issue offer various slants upon what amounts to a pluralistic r... more Taken together the papers in this issue offer various slants upon what amounts to a pluralistic radicalism. This is directly expressed in the papers of Heath, which addresses the implication of philosophical examination of psychotherapy assumptions, and Wilkinson, who explores Nietszsche's purported posthumous writing, My Sister and I in this light. It is expressed more by implication in those of Toronto, a courageous paper about using touch in psychoanalysis, and Guilfoyle, a Foucauldian paper examining psychotherapists' power assumptions about their entitlement to interpret resistance, and the context of that. There is also the fascinating address by the EAP President Cornelia Krause-Girth upon the balance of power and aptitude between men and women in Psychotherapy. The rest of the Editorial explores the potentially radical political, social, and cultural implications of psychotherapeutically informed pluralism, if it were developed over a long period of time. The papers Taken together, the papers in this issue have radical implications. Heath In this highly readable paper drawn from his teaching work, Geoff Heath offers us a wide survey, and radical scrutiny, of our assumptions as psychotherapists, from the point of view of a philosophical stance which is broadly Kantian in its position of cautious enquiry. The fundamental tendency of this line of reasoning is not to rubbish psychotherapy but to disturb the complacency of an unexamined psychotherapy, of psychotherapy positions which hold they can just be taught as certain, as established, and that critique can come later, when one has 'mastered the art'. A model of psychotherapy as enquiry, or of psychotherapy as practical philosophy, if suf ciently seriously envisaged, would accordingly be immune to this critique; but it would have to be enquiry which also enquired into itself. Heath makes a fundamental case for philosophy's being placed at the centre of psychotherapy training. In respect of his own core position he offers a possible view of psychotherapy as offering creative and useful narrative myths, not 'truths', quoting Nietzsche's famous 'post-modern' comment: Facts are precisely what there is not, only interpretations. Wilkinson My own paper tackles once more the question of the authenticity of Nietzsche's My sister and I, in order to reclaim, as a debt to the dead, the last writings of the grandfather of
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Mar 1, 2003
The Editorial reflects the new developments in the Journal, which will have a more varied and mul... more The Editorial reflects the new developments in the Journal, which will have a more varied and multi-length mix of contents, with a larger clinical component, whilst retaining its character. Developments in the International Journal of Psychotherapy The papers in this issue, the new design, and the developments in the aims and scope of the Journal and requirements for contributors, all aim to achieve both continuity and change. We wish simultaneously to develop the role of the Journal as the organ of the European Association for Psychotherapy, making it more accessible to Continental European readers, and to develop the characteristics which are making it truly an international Journal, having a steadily growing readership in all parts of the globe, with a strong American presence. The mix of papers will be more varied therefore both in length and content. Whilst we are not moving to be come a 'standard' clinical journal, and clinical contributions need to have something which gives them affinity with the aims and scope of the Journal , there will be a stronger clinical component, and papers are welcome of different types, some of them shorter, as per the notes for contributors. There will still, however, be a major component of fundamental evaluative thinking about the nature and basis of the Psychotherapies which has given the Journal much of its character hitherto! We have a new Book Reviews Editor, Pamela Atkinson, whose contribution will make itself felt in the next issue, and are hoping to have additional members of the book review team in both Continental Europe and in the USA in due course. Welcome Pamela! The Editorial Board is developing in a new direction, and is at present in a state of transition. We shall be communicating with members old and new shortly. These Editorials have many times themselves raised fundamental issues in the field, being a frequently downloaded type of item as reflected in the data on net downloads of contributions to the Journal, and they will often continue to do so, but on this occasion these themes are addressed in my own medium length paper. The new character, I think, is reflected in the current group of papers. Wilkinson My own paper is designed as a marker to re-emphasise the character of the field of Psychotherapy as understood by the European Association of Psychotherapy, both with respect to the autonomy of the field of Psychotherapy, especially in its non-subordinate
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Nov 1, 2001
This issue focuses on the themes of certainty and doubt, fragility and tenacious identity, in the... more This issue focuses on the themes of certainty and doubt, fragility and tenacious identity, in the psychotherapeutic process. Newman's paper explores some central tensions in the relation between consciousness and unconsciousness. Rowan offers a masterly account of what he plausibly claims are established salient features of the psychotherapeutic process, in terms of the analogy of alchemy. Balick's account of the 7 th UKCP Professional Conference evokes the tensions activated by the interface between neuro-science and psychotherapy. And Tan and Zhong face us with the challenge of a communally and certainty based method, in relation to some antisocial sexual patterns, which appears to be more effective than more cautious established 'Western' approaches. The three main papers in this issue [alas, at this end of year point, page budget considerations have led to the deferral to next issue of a fourth, a major paper on the relations between psychotherapy and philosophy], though in very different ways, all face us with the questions of the foundations of our work, in respect of the relations between what is conscious (or what is part of consciousness), and both what is non-conscious, and what is transformational. They seize upon important themes with a puzzlingly tenacious persistence which has become the more important as, in the light of the attacks on America, and the war mounted in response to them, the divisions in our world, and the emerging (not always an unmixed blessing) unity of our world, enter more deeply into our re ections. We are faced, in these papers, with recognitions of the fragility of both our conscious existence and our work, and its extraordinary tenacity, grounded in vast realities which are largely beyond our ken. These, however,-but only if we maintain a right balance between consciousness, and that which is not conscious, but yet which intelligently sustains our searchings and our purposes,-may be wellsprings of strength and resource. Kenneth Newman: Is there consciousness outside the Ego? Kenneth Newman's fascinating exploration, of what he considers in effect the overvaluation, and the imputed over-endowment, in the depth psychologies, of 'the unconscious', leads eventually on into a searching discussion of how this overvaluation, in both Freudian and Jungian contexts, leads to a depletion of the sense of responsibility and of the signi cance of social action in social context. Newman argues that we mistakenly attribute qualities of consciousness to unconsciousness. In effect, he argues that, in virtue of the (instinctive) compensatory intelligence shown by non-conscious processes in all manner of ways, explored by depth psychology, not to
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Jul 1, 2000
This review article looks at Nick Totton's book The Water in the Glass as an exceptionally clear ... more This review article looks at Nick Totton's book The Water in the Glass as an exceptionally clear and important expression of a Reichian view of Freud and his legacy, which lays serious claim to offer a view of`bodymind' that overcomes Cartesian dualism. It also validates as psychoanalytic work with the body and touch, which was embargoed in orthodox psychoanalysis after Reich' s expulsion. Totton draws out Reich's linkage to the hidden (unpublished until 1950) visionary Freud of the`Project for a scienti® c psychology' of 1895 (Freud, 1950), and offers a renewal of the vision of the`Project', but one in which neurological forms of self-representation are replaced by embodied-physiological forms. These, however, serve in the same way as symbolic media for representations of the self in awareness. The review article argues that, despite the breakthrough quality of this, it yet misses another pathway from Freud's`Project' , that of meaning instead of energy, represented by Derrida. This polarisation between energy and meaning is only resolved when the dimension of support (or relation, e.g. attachment theory) and social identi® cation is acknowledged as the vehicle of meaning. This is Freud's thirdÐ not fully explicitÐ phase, where the vision becomes simultaneously incurably social and yet shot through with all-pervasive and self-transforming meaning at every level. This is not incompatible with Totton' s body-based vision, but transcends its sole limits. Yet Totton's is a magni® cently clear Freudian statement that forces us all to clarify our own positions. Introductory This review paper explores some of the issues raised by Nick Totton' s very important recent book on Freud and the body (The Water in the Glass: body and mind in psychoanalysis, 1998), which challenges psychoanalytic dogmas, from a Reichian perspective, about the use of touch in particular, and about the de® nition of the boundaries of the psychoanalytic in general, but whose implication is much wider than just those. Here I can only touch on one or two key points of this very rich bookÐ a ® ne and very clear, truly Freudian, book, which invites and challenges dialogue, and likewise forces one to clarify one' s own perspectives on Freud, if one is to dialogue with it. It is, sadly, not likely to be widely read in psychoanalytic circles. It is, in passing, my aim in this article to touch on why this is so. It is not just because of the silencing of the Reichian
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Nov 1, 2003
This paper surveys the implications of Daniel Stern's new book on 'The Present Moment', in conjun... more This paper surveys the implications of Daniel Stern's new book on 'The Present Moment', in conjunction with a parallel collection of Gestalt Therapy papers on creativity. I consider how Stern both demarcates himself from, and places himself in a subtle relationship with, classical psychoanalysis, whilst at the same time mapping a model of implicit intersubjective knowledge of 'the present moment', in psychotherapy, which gives him strong affinities with approaches in the humanistic-existential tradition-affinities he courageously owns in this book. I further suggest, drawing from both literature and the work of Julian Jaynes, that some of the oppositions he invokes in this book are, as such, still within the classical psychoanalytic tradition and way of thinking, that he simply has inverted them, and that, on a wider, societal and historical view of human reality, it is possible to achieve a comprehensive concept of 'being-in-the-world' (Heidegger), for which the psychoanalysis/existential approach antithesis collapses, and which, nevertheless is still psychodynamic in the fundamental sense. Stern's work is a major pioneering work in its own right.
International Journal of Psychotherapy, Jul 1, 2003
This paper explores the implications of James Grotstein's important book, which revisits the ques... more This paper explores the implications of James Grotstein's important book, which revisits the question of the foundations of psychoanalysis in the light of its relation to 'infinity'. The review article argues that there are at least three infinities in psychoanalysis which complement one another, and which vindicate Grotstein's stance. These are the Kantian infinite, the metaphor of an infinity behind any and all experience, an infinity of the unknowable; the Hegelian infinite, the metaphor of a mirror infinity of mutually reflecting, or mutually alienating (but still, in that sense, negatively mutually mirrored), centres of subjectivity, implicit in experience; and the Freudian infinite, an infinite of cross-referencing, and mirroring, reduplication in a textual sense, transcending the immediacy of experience, a textual sliding away from any possible metaphor, model, or located centre of subjectivity, with various degrees of mutual supression, censorship, and forced disguise, or partial revelation, which form its substance-a textual model of what is meant by 'repression'.
This review article argues that Darlene Ehrenberg’s psychoanalytic concept of process interaction... more This review article argues that Darlene Ehrenberg’s psychoanalytic concept of process interaction is the most developed and radical psychoanalytic form of this concept, and is also a bridge to models of integration. Its relation to the concept of ‘implicit knowledge’ is explored. The Intimate Edge: Extending the Reach of Psychoanalytic Interaction, Darlene Bregman Ehrenberg, New York and London: Norton, 1992, 210 pp, ISBN 0-393-70140-9
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Papers by Heward Wilkinson