Radical Relational Psychiatry: Toward a Democracy of Mind and People – Karen Minikin

ABSTRACT

The radical psychiatry movement of the 1960s and 1970s chal- lenged the medical model of psychotherapy, positioning alien- ation as the root cause of all mental and social distress. Both cause and solution were seen as residing in social relationships. Currently, we are seeing a rise in political tyranny in many quar- ters of the globe. This has inspired political engagement because of polarizing positions. In society this encourages passion for val- ues as well as hatred and intolerance of otherness. The author proposes that intolerance feeds regressive defenses such as pro- jective mechanisms and splitting, and she explores these in rela- tion to alienation. In the search for a contemporary perspective, she offers the pursuit of social, political, and psychological plural- ism within a radical relational psychiatry.

Reference: Karen Minikin (2018): Radical Relational Psychiatry: Toward a Democracy of Mind and People, Transactional Analysis Journal, DOI: 10.1080/03621537.2018.1429287

Link to article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03621537.2018.1429287