We can gather together to undo the cultural-level depression without enabling its political energy to be discharged as outrage.
In his poem “The Second Coming,” W. B. Yeats writes, “The best lack all convictions, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Yeats’ statement is prescient as we struggle between a cultural-level depression and too-frequent bursts of violent outrage.
In the face of the cold wars between nations, the civil wars within nations, and the culture wars in every community, we become inured. Alternatively, we can gather together to undo the cultural-level depression without enabling its political energy to be discharged as outrage.
Traditional psychotherapeutic theory and practice can be the foundation of such work. But we are also required to extend our understanding of depression beyond the personal to account for its cultural and political origins.
In this workshop, we will present a theoretical model of depression not as personal, but rather as cultural and political. Participants will be invited to imagine what depresses their own political energy and what fantasies they have about its possible use.
We imagine this integration of theory and practice as one way of gathering together to cultivate the psychological consciousness needed by every citizen, organization, and community. We envision a new type of psychological practitioner as a community leader who helps psychotherapists, clients, and other community leaders to reestablish the type of community-mindedness necessary to undo depression, resist outrage, and solve each community’s problems.
Cold wars, civil wars, and culture wars are not the answer. Join us in beginning to reimagine the roles we can play as new types of community practitioners and as citizens.
WORKSHOP HELD IN COLLABORATION WITH onlineevents.co.uk, The Voice of the Practitioner, an online platform offering CPD to counselors and psychotherapists from the comfort of home.
Peter T. Dunlap, PhD, is a clinical and political psychologist focused on helping psychologically minded citizens to identify and explore their unique leadership capacities and to develop the public emotional intelligence called for by our time. His group trainings support participants to cultivate this self-awareness and to learn how to foster the fellowship needed for group and community development. Peter is the author of Awakening Our Faith in the Future: The Advent of Psychological Liberalism (Routledge, 2008) as well as many other journal articles, book chapters, blog posts, and an occasional rant on one list server or another.
How can I attend?
To reserve a place in the workshop, please register through Eventbrite using this link.
How can I get a recording?
This 2-hour workshop will be recorded, and you can use the ticket function to pre-purchase the recording before the event. This will be useful for colleagues who are not able to attend the event live and also for those who attend the event live and want to watch again.
Who is this workshop for? Psychotherapists, community leaders and activists, mediators, educators, organizational development consultants, coaches and other psychologically minded citizens interested in forming work groups that focus simultaneously on personal, group, and community development.
Zoom details This workshop will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform, where we will use our cameras and microphones to interact with each other as a group.
What does the workshop involve? This brief workshop will begin with a presentation followed by Q&A. Small group breakouts may be used (for the sake of discussion), as well as large group conversation.
Fee To support practitioners in this time of extraordinary circumstances we are offering access to this group for a self-select fee. The self-select fee is a radical inclusion policy to open learning for all colleagues. The guide price for this event is £20.00 (~$28 USD), however, we appreciate that income varies greatly in different locations and circumstances. Please contribute what you can to help us maintain inclusive professional training.