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/lp/american-psychological-association/a-grammar-of-power-in-psychotherapy-exploring-the-dynamics-of-gPIggz3b0b
- Publisher
- American Psychological Association
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2018 American Psychological Association
- Pages
- 157 –159
- DOI
- 10.1037/0000086-008
- Publisher site
- See Chapter on Publisher Site
Abstract
Underlying power structures may be viewed in terms of concepts such as the unthought known (Bollas, 1987) or unformulated experience (Stern, 2003). Through detours of general examples of power relations, and coming back to psychotherapy, the author articulates an underlying grammar for how aspects of relative societal privilege affect transference, countertransference, resistance, and choices of therapeutic focus and interpretation. The author suggests that any dyad may be successful, and any dyad may become a disaster, depending largely on therapists' abilities to be in touch with their own internalized privilege, subordination, and privilege melancholia. Even though this book mainly has addressed adult individual psychotherapy, some of its contents may be applicable to other doctor–patient relationships, as well as to children's therapy, group therapy, and couple therapy. The core message is that how societal power affects the normal, tilted, mutual but asymmetrical treatment relationship follows certain patterns and has an underlying grammar. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Published: May 28, 2018
Keywords: children's therapy; countertransference; couple therapy; doctor–patient relationships; dyad; group therapy; internalized privilege; privilege melancholia; psychotherapy; societal power; subordination; transference; unthought known