The Chandlery
50 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7QY
UK
'Pluralogue' CPD Evening for 'Therapy Rooms UK'
It appears the field has entered a new phase, where interdisciplinary, cross-modality and broad-spectrum integrative communities of practitioners are beginning to work together, taking a step beyond the growing mutual respect and understanding which has developed between the different therapeutic approaches since the 1980s.
This gives us opportunities for a new ‘pluralogue’ (Doron Levene’s term), and for a practice-based exploration of some of therapy’s dilemmas. Michael has been researching the paradoxes of our discipline for many years, trying to get to the bottom of why ours is an ‘impossible profession’.
Once therapists have trained and qualified and are beginning to practice, they discover that frequently the job does feel impossible. Most of our inherited knowledge and received wisdom, however, tells us that good therapy outcomes can be achieved through a thorough, competent, well-intentioned ‘linear’ application of our diverse theories and techniques.
Therefore, if therapy does not appear to work with some of our clients, it is very common that practitioners blame themselves, imagining the cause to be their individual fault or shortcoming. However, Michael has been proposing that an inherent impossibility is indeed essential and fundamental to our work.
He is proposing to dedicate this evening to an exploration of that impossibility, and claims that when we grasp the nettle which is the impossibility at the heart of our profession, the depth, breadth and effectiveness of our therapy increases dramatically.
You can find some initial thoughts on the topic here: The Impossible Profession – An ongoing blog on the inherent dilemmas and paradoxes of therapy
To make the format of the evening more experienced-near, Michael will invite a participant to role-play a significant moment with the client, allowing the group to represent different approaches and modalities in response to the inherent dilemma.