Contemporary Perspectives on Psychotherapy: Social Constructionism and Reflective Practice

Social Constructionist ideas have informed new perspectives on subjectivity

and psychopathology, requiring us to ask far-reaching questions about how

we think about, diagnose, and treat psychological problems. Psychology

often needs to engage with fundamental questions about subjectivity and

power in order to be meaningful and useful as a science. This course will

examine texts which explore modern ideas about the nature of subjectivity

and the implications for how we think about individual psychopathology,

also making some links to contemporary psychotherapeutic practice.

Students will be encouraged and supported to examine the values and

discourses informing their own perspectives.

This course will introduce students to a number of influential theoretical

frameworks which have prompted a re-evaluation of how we think about

psychopathology, including social constructionist ideas and Systemic

approaches to psychotherapy. Each seminar topic will include papers that

will enable students to make links between theory and practice. How we

conceive of the nature of the subject will be seen to have direct relevance

to how we think about psychopathology and how we approach

psychological problems that are faced by individuals and groups. Each

week students will be required to familiarize themselves with at least one

of the chosen texts , and contribute to a discussion of the ideas explored in

each seminar topic.

Topics covered will include ideas about the nature of the psychological

subject, power and difference, race and identity, gender and attachment,

and social disadvantage. We will discuss texts that critically examine the

epistemologies behind aspects of psychology, psychopathology, mental

health and psychotherapy. We will consider the implications of

postmodernist thought for the field of psychopathology, including

theoretical tenets of Deconstruction and Feminism, and the work of

thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu,

amongst others. Students will be able to explore particular topics in more

depth through their presentation and essay, and the reflective log will offer

a context in which students can reflect on the personal impact of texts

which have been chosen to question assumptions and deconstruct how we

think about individual psychology and mental health.

This course aims to increase our awareness around the topics covered

through open-minded study and lively discussion. We will aim to cultivate a

climate of respectful listening and curiosity, sensitive challenge, and

personal reflection. Students should be willing to critically reflect on the

values and discourses informing their own perspectives and respect those

of others. In the Seminars and assessed work, students will be invited to

demonstrate a capacity to reflect on the these values and discourses, in

accordance with the topics and materials studied. We will aim to be

particularly attentive to matters of equality, diversity, privilege and

difference and participants will be encouraged to reflect on how they

themselves contribute to the group learning experience.

2 (total 60hrs)

- Class Attendance: 15hrs

- 10min Presentation: 5hrs

- Reading 20hrs

- Essay 20hrs

(The Reflective Learning Log has no hours allocation as it is to be

completed as part of the process of reflection alongside the other elements

of the course, e.g. whilst reading and in response to the seminar sessions).

1. Introduction to the course: The Social Graces; Bourdieu’s concepts of

habitus and different forms of capital; background to systemic theory

and social constructionism.

- Bourdieu, P. (1993), Editor’s Introduction, pp.1-9 in The Field of

Cultural Production, Cambridge: Polity Press.

- Burnham, J. (2012), Developments in Social

GRRRAAACCEEESSS: visible-invisible and voiced-unvoiced, pp.

139-160 in Culture and Reflexivity in Systemic Psychotherapy:

Mutual Perspectives (ed. Inga-Britt Krause), London: Karnac.

- Flaskas, C. (2002), Social Constructionist ideas and the

narrative metaphor, pp. 31-50 in Family Therapy Beyond

Postmodernism: Practice Challenges Theory, East Sussex:

Brunner-Routledge.

2. Social Constructionism and the Psychological Subject

- Bourdieu, P. (1998). Appendix: The Family Spirit, pp.64-74 in

Practical Reason, Cambridge: Polity Press.

- Pile, S. & Thrift, N. (1995). Mapping the Subject, pp.13-51 in

Mapping the Subject: Geographies of Cultural Transformation

(Eds. Pile, S. & Thrift, N.), London: Routledge.

- Sampson, E. E. (1989), The Deconstruction of the Self, pp. 1-19

in Texts of Identity (eds J. Shotter and K. Gergen), London:

Sage.

3. Power and Subjectification

- Rose, N. (1989). Individualizing Psychology, pp. 119-132 in

Texts of Identity (Eds. Shotter, J & Gergen, K.), London: Sage.

- Wilkinson, S. & Kitzinger, C. (1996). Theorizing Representing

the Other pp. 1-32 in Representing the Other: A Feminism and

Psychology Reader, London: Sage.

- White, M. (1988). The Externalizing of the Problem and the ReAuthoring

of Lives and Relationships – The Dulwich Newsletter

4. Culture and Context

- Bateson, G. (1972). The Cybernetics of “Self”: A Theory of

Alcoholism, pp. 309-337 in Steps to an Ecology of Mind,

London: University of Chicago Press.

- Krause, I. (2014). The Complexity of Cultural Competence,

pp.109-126 in Thinking Space: Promoting Thinking about Race,

Culture, and Diversity in Psychotherapy and Beyond (Ed. Lowe,

F.), London: Karnac.

- Owusu-Bempah, K. (2002). Culture, self, and cross-ethnic

therapy, pp. 19-33 in Exploring the Unsaid: Creativity, Risks and

Dilemmas in working Cross-Culturally (Ed. Mason, B. & Sawyer,

S.), London: Karnac.

5. Race and Identity

- Fanon, F. (1952), The Negro and Psychopathology, pp.109-162

in Black Skin, White Masks (1986), London: Pluto Press.

- Hall, S. (1996), Introduction: Who needs identity?, pp.1-17 in

Questions of Cultural Identity (eds. S. Hall and P. du Gay),

London: Sage.

- Thomas, L. (2002), Ethnic sameness and difference in family

and systemic therapy, pp. 49-68 in Exploring the Unsaid:

Creativity, Risks and Dilemmas in working Cross-Culturally (Ed.

Mason, B. & Sawyer, S.), London: Karnac.

6. Gender & Attachment

- Benjamin, J. (1988). The Oedipal Riddle, 133-81 in The Bonds of

Love, London: Virago.

- Butler, J. (1993). Critically Queer, pp.224-242 in Bodies That

Matter, London: Routledge.

- Dallos, R. & Vetere, A. (2012). Systems Theory, Family

Attachments and Processes of Triangulation: Does the Concept

of Triangulation Offer a Useful Bridge?, in Journal of Family

Therapy, Volume 34, Issue 2, May 2012, Pages 117–137.

7. Social Disadvantage and Intersectionality

- Aggett, P. et al (2011). ‘Seeking Permission’: An interviewing

stance for finding connection with hard to reach families, in

Journal of Family Therapy, Volume 37, Issue 2, April 2015 pp.

190–209.

- Frazier, K. E. (2012). Reclaiming the Person: Intersectionality

and Dynamic Social Categories Through a Psychological Lens, in

Integrative Psychological and Behavioural Science, Vol. 46,

pp.380-386.

- Roberts, D. (2014). Complicating the triangle of race, class and

state: the insights of black feminists, in Journal of Ethnic and

Racial Studies, 2014 Vol.37, No.10, London: Routledge,

pp.1776–1782.

- Wacquant, L. (2008). Ghettos and Anti-Ghettos: An Anatomy of

the New Urban Poverty, in Thesis Eleven, Number 94, pp.113-

118, available from

http://loicwacquant.net/assets/Papers/GHETTOSANTIGHETTO

S.pdf

8. Self-reflexivity and Dialogical approaches.

- Bertrando, P. (2007). Dialogues and Systems, pp. 143-174 in

The Dialogical Therapist, London: Karnac.

- Thomas, L. (2005). Intercultural: Where the systemic meets the

psychoanalytic in the therapeutic relationship, pp. 79-93 in The

Space Between: Experience, Context and Process in the

Therapeutic Relationship (eds. Carmel Flaskas, Barry Mason &

Amaryll Perlesz), London: Karnac.

- Burnham, J. (2002). Relational Reflexivity: a tool for socially

constructing therapeutic relationships, pp. 1-17 in The Space

Between: Experience, Context and Process in the Therapeutic

Relationship (eds. Carmel Flaskas, Barry Mason & Amaryll

Perlesz), London: Karnac.

Critical thinking; a grasp of Social Constructionist perspectives and their

relevance to different ideas about psychopathology and how we think

about mental health; an introduction to some key texts on Race, Gender,

Power, Culture and Identity; situating psychology within a wider

intellectual landscape of the social sciences; self-reflexivity, i.e. a

developing awareness of how factors such as culture, race, gender and our

own specific contexts may affect how we think, perceive, and are perceived

by those around us.

Absence maximum: 2 sessions, at least 1 of which must be supported by

medical/documentary evidence. Presentation compulsory

Assessment methods

and criteria

Written Essay, 3,000 words - 50%

Choice of 1 of 2-3 questions inviting exploration of one of the

topics covered and the implications for psychology,

psychopathology, mental health, and psychotherapy. The essay will

require students to explore a given topic in more depth and situate

the ideas in the wider landscape of psychology and

psychopathology. Students will be invited to demonstrate a

reflective capacity regarding how their own personal context may

influence their perspective.

Classroom Presentation - 20%

Maximum 10 minute presentation in pairs exploring the issues

covered in one of the papers from the weekly topics, and offering

up some points or questions for class discussion. Students will be

asked to provide fellow class members with a summary sheet to

accompany their presentation, including questions for discussion.

Students will be assessed for critical evaluation of the material,

their consideration of potential implications for how we think

about psychopathology, and how thoughtfully they frame the

points for discussion.

Classroom Participation – 10%

Classroom participation will be assessed for level of engagement

with the material and for showing sensitivity regarding power and

difference. This means developing an awareness of how one’s own

contributions to the seminar influence the overall learning

experience. Students should be mindful of voice entitlement and

aim to foster equality of voice in the seminars so that there is an

opportunity for everyone’s perspective to be heard, as well as

expressing their own. Discussion questions and group exercises will

promote this.

Reflective Learning Log – 20%

The reflective learning log is an informal collection of personal

reflections on the material covered and the experience of

participating in the seminar course. It is not assessed according to

length or formal presentation, but should be maintained

throughout the duration of the course and demonstrate a level of

personal engagement with the majority of the topics covered, as

well as some reflections on students’ personal responses to them.

Guideline length – 1 side of printed notes for each topic/seminar.