Art, Psychotherapy, Collusion and liberation?

[celine]

Hello all,

I am wondering if anyone could give me your thoughts and responses to a dilemma I have at the moment. I am an artist and I also work in the community with various doing art projects, making films and so on. I have found that in making art work and film so often people who have been marginalised by society are able to find a voice, expresses their issues, become more aware and even challenge or cast out internalised oppression emerging stronger as individuals and groups.

I am keen to continue this work and I have been given the chance to do a post graduate degree in Art Psychotherapy as a two years masters course at University. While I am excited about the course, what I could learn, the research I could do and so on I also have concerns.

I class myself as a marxist and I worry that psychotherapy could potentially be collusive with a capitalist system i.e. it provides just enough support to "repair" the damaged individual so that he or she can go on being exploited rather than creating an enviroment where true liberation is achieved.

I would be interested in anyones feedback on this question, your thoughs, links to any papers or suggestions of books and so on.

Many thanks in advance.

Celine

[Yazman]

I don't think it's really our job as revolutionary leftists to provide a route for the recovery of the mentally ill. We should, of course, do our best to advocate for them where possible and where appropriate, especially since they are a marginalised and oppressed group. The way they are treated is fucked up, especially when you consider those mentally ill people who are institutionalised, in many cases they are treated worse than prisoners (and have less rights!).

However, I don't think it's our job to attempt to heal their illness. I don't fully understand your dilemma but I do understand your apprehensiveness in regards to your fears of your work helping capitalism - my perspective is this. As an artist your role is very important, very important, in fighting capitalism, however in regards to the psychotherapy I really think it's a non-issue since I don't think therapeutic practice is really a concern for us. I think you can safely do your masters course and not worry.

[Astarte]

Hello all,

I am wondering if anyone could give me your thoughts and responses to a dilemma I have at the moment. I am an artist and I also work in the community with various doing art projects, making films and so on. I have found that in making art work and film so often people who have been marginalised by society are able to find a voice, expresses their issues, become more aware and even challenge or cast out internalised oppression emerging stronger as individuals and groups.

I am keen to continue this work and I have been given the chance to do a post graduate degree in Art Psychotherapy as a two years masters course at University. While I am excited about the course, what I could learn, the research I could do and so on I also have concerns.

I class myself as a marxist and I worry that psychotherapy could potentially be collusive with a capitalist system i.e. it provides just enough support to "repair" the damaged individual so that he or she can go on being exploited rather than creating an enviroment where true liberation is achieved.

I would be interested in anyones feedback on this question, your thoughs, links to any papers or suggestions of books and so on.

Many thanks in advance.

Celine

With the people you work with, maybe try to cultivate an identification of their self not with some aspect of capitalist society - especially if they are marginalized and alienated from society already they will find more personal gratitude on focusing on what they do best. You need to teach them that its not all about accumulation of wealth and material self-aggrandizement ... A book I would recommend is "The One Dimensional Man" by Marcuse, I feel it pertains very much to how the system expects marginalization and alienation to be dealt with - exactly by the desiring of false material and intellectual needs rather than ones which would lead to the creation of "wholeness" in the self.