Athens Zoom: What Do We Man By ‘Relational’?

Modern psychotherapy is about 125 years old - during that time it has grown and expanded from its origins in the late 19th century into the rich and diverse field of the psychological therapies that we have today, a fifth of the way into the first century of the new millennium.
Beyond the traditional three great branches - psychoanalysis, behaviourism and the humanistic movement - we now have a dizzying and confusing multitude of approaches. Trying to transcend the limitations of the traditions, we now have many new hybrid approaches that combine bits and pieces from the whole history, often unknowingly reinventing the wheel. The fragmented field is hard to comprehend for us as practitioners, it's impossible to meaningfully navigate for a layperson.

This isn’t a good state of affairs for the general public, nor for us as a profession. The feedback to us as a profession from the general public is equally confusing: some people say that therapy is the best thing ever, that it profoundly improves lives and everybody should have it; others say that therapy is damaging and dangerous and exploits human suffering with very little benefit to the client; many are indifferent and overwhelmed and put off by the confusion.

On balance, the whole field of the psychological therapies these days is probably more or less as effective, dangerous or useless as it has been throughout the last 125 years. This is partly because some inherent limitations have dominated the field since its inception, and continue to do so.

As a therapist, with sincere and good intentions - to alleviate unnecessary suffering and to support self-actualisation and fulfilment - how do you position yourself in the field and deliver therapy's true potential, or at least do justice to your claims?
As a member of the general public, how do you orient yourself in this bazaar of promises and find the kind of human support that will deeply facilitate your life process?

Having made psychotherapy his vocation in his early 20s, Michael has been engaged in the field for 40 years, as a client, therapist, supervisor, teacher and consultant. In this free talk, he will share his experience, and some of the conclusions he has come to: what are the important key principles that will enhance the learning, practising and teaching of therapy?
He will spend about 40 minutes talking, followed by a question and answer session.