Self & Society Volume 40 Number 4:
Readers may have noticed psychiatry being very much in the news recently due 
to the imminent publication by the American Psychiatric Association of the fifth edition of their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or DSM-5). There has of course been an ongoing ‘paradigm war’ for many years within the psy-field as to whether or not defining psychological distress in terms of discrete ‘mental illnesses’ is scientifically sound, clinically valuable or ultimately helpful to those who are suffering; and Humanistic Psychology has rightfully had a lot to say about these questions. However, the debate has become particularly polarised of late, with no lesser a figure than Dr Allen Frances, head of the task force which produced the previous DSM-4, launching a series of highly critical articles in the mainstream media, describing DSM-5 as a ‘a reckless hodgepodge of new diagnoses that will misidentify normals’ (sic), and pronouncing its publication ‘a sad moment for psychiatry and a risky one for patients’ (Frances, 2013a).
The British Psychological Society (BPS) has also entered the fray with a ground-breaking statement calling for ‘a paradigm shift away from an outdated disease model, towards one which gives much more weight to service user experience and psychosocial approaches’ (BPS, 2013). The Humanistic Division of the American Psychological Association has also published an open letter that is highly critical of DSM-5, and in alliance with some 30 other bodies (including the UKCP) is sponsoring a petition (at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/dsm5/) which states (amongst other things) that ‘clients and the general public are negatively affected by the continued and continuous medicalization of their natural and normal responses to their experiences; responses which undoubtedly have distressing consequences which demand helping responses, but which do not reflect illnesses so much as normal individual variation‘ (our emphasis). It’s good to see what is the largest humanistic organisation in the world speaking out strongly against the stigmatisation and pathologising of human experience.
Given the debate that has been raging, the first of our feature articles, by child and adolescent psychiatrist Sami Timimi, could hardly be more topical! The label ‘devastating critique’ may be something of an over-used cliché, but in this case it really is the appropriate term – Sami’s piece ‘No More Psychiatric Labels’ pulls no punches, and asserts that formal diagnostic systems are not only invalid and unhelpful, but also colonialist by nature. It really is a cracking read.
Continuing on the critical psychiatry theme, Jay Beichman’s article is a detailed seminar report reflecting on the contribution the late Thomas Szasz (1920–2012),author of the seminal 1961 book The Myth of Mental Illness (which Jay is going to Retro-review for us in a forthcoming issue of S&S). Jay’s piece reflects on the life and work of this great maverick and key figure of the original ‘anti-psychiatry’ movement. Just a year after his death, it may be that the time has finally come for the revolutionary approach to ‘the difficulties of living’ that Szasz fearlessly helped to spearhead.
Our final ‘paradigm’-related piece is a feature-length review of Ben Goldacre’s recent book Big Pharma, written by Tom Cotton. Tom is a psychotherapist and schizophrenia researcher, and he’s done a great job in placing Goldacre’s book into its wider context, as part of a crucial and ongoing debate about medication, money and the nature of psychological distress. This is a theme which we’ll be returning to in future issues, not least with an interview with author James Davies about his recently published key text, Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm than Good, recently serialised in The Times newspaper. Definitely a space to watch…
We’re also delighted to include in this issue Self and Society’s first two peer-reviewed papers in its 40 years history. It’s impossible to think about the nature of psychological distress without considering (at least to some extent) the processes of psychological healing, and we have a fascinating peer-reviewed article from Ernesto Spinelli on the role which belief, meaning and context play in triggering the Placebo Effect in psychotherapy. (To complement Ernesto’s piece we’ve also included in this issue a review by Jennifer Maidman of a little-known but crucial text, Understanding the Placebo Effect in Complementary Medicine, a book which includes a great deal of material relevant to humanistic practitioners). Our second peer-reviewed paper is an in-depth qualitative review of participation in the Independent Practitioners Network (IPN), written by Simon Campbell and Janet Grace. To our knowledge, this is the first-ever published research on the IPN since it was founded in 1995 – and it comes out at a highly opportune moment, when the British psy field is asking itself fundamental questions about different kinds of regulation, and what appropriate approaches to accountability in psy work might look like. We’d certainly like to include more peer-reviewed articles in S&S, so if you have a paper you think might be suitable, do please consider submitting it – to the usual address, [email protected]
Next up we have a piece by Jim Hansen from the USA which looks at the question, ‘What does it mean to know a client?’ Jim’s article considers the very nature and possibility of ‘knowing’ itself in both professional and personal contexts. A very thoughtful and reflective piece from Jim.
We also have a fascinating article by Colin Feltham entitled ‘Four psychologies’. As always, Colin is looking ahead into new territory, and here he takes a slightly sideways look at Humanistic Psychology by comparing and contrasting it with three other approaches – one of which, ‘Zapffean’, may well be new to some of us.
Eco-therapy is a good example of an ‘alternative paradigm healing practice’ and Annie Spencer’s article explores how this relatively new approach can be understood in terms of the ancient and deep-rooted healing practices of other indigenous cultures. Eco-therapy certainly offers an antidote to the dehumanising excesses of the medico-psychiatric approach, and is beginning to attract a great deal of interest. This article also serves as a prelude to our next special issue, due out in the autumn, which Annie will guest-edit.
Jane Barclay brings us an insightful piece about setting up as a workshop facilitator, and as always, Jane writes with great honesty and self-awareness about how her own thoughts and feelings evolved as the process unfolded.
Our ongoing ‘Future of Humanistic Psychology’ series continues with a piece by an outstanding British pioneer of the approach. Jill Hall’s characteristically inspiring article calls on the humanistic community to ‘keep the faith’ and hold fast to its founding principles in these challenging times. And on the theme of ‘founding principles’, we continue our ‘Roots of Humanistic Psychology’ series with a fascinating interview with an old friend of Self & Society, Tom Feldberg, which focuses on the history of Quaesitor, the very first growth centre in Europe.
We’re also particularly delighted to bring you the some wonderful poetry written by our Honorary Editor,Brian Thorne. Readers will no doubt be familiar with Brian’s many celebrated writings on therapy and spirituality, but his poetry has not been published before, so this is something of a first for the journal. We hope you enjoy it as much as we have, and heartfelt thanks go to Brian for choosing Self & Society to host his ‘poetry world premiere’!
AHP co-chairs Alexandra Chalfont and John Rowan have written their regular column; Alexandra has something to say about recent developments on the registration and regulation front, and she also writes about the upcoming AHP conference this September, celebrating 50 years of Humanistic Psychology (act now to get your ‘early bird’ discount’!). John, meanwhile, is looking forward to a trip to the United States to meet someone whose work he has admired for many years, the hugely influential figure Ken Wilber.
We’ve held Andy Rogers’ Ethical Dilemmas section over this time, partly through a shortage of space, but also we would very much like to see some more responses from you, the readers! Please do consider getting involved and submitting something; a response to Andy, a letter or an article. We do very much want to hear from you – this is, after all, your journal! In this issue, we are also introducing a new regular feature, viz. a news page, ‘The Humanistic News Interchange’, which will be compiled by Sissy Lykou of the PCSR (Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility – http://pcsr-uk.ning.com/) – being an open invitation for S&S readers to send Sissy any e-mails, news and/or petitions you receive in your inbox, snail mail, or find on the internet that either show what’s going on in the humanistic world, or which might interest friends and colleagues. Finally, and far from least, as always we have some excellent and thought-provoking book reviews compiled (and partly penned) by our inimitable book reviews editor, Manu Bazzano.
So, all in all, we believe there’s plenty of nourishment in this issue for the head and the heart, for body and soul. We hope you enjoy it. Till the autumn, the editorial collective wishes you all a healthy, happy and humanistic summer!
Richard House, David Kalisch and Jennifer Maidman
If you are already a subscriber, welcome to this new edition. If not, Subscribe now!
Comments are closed