The International Society of Critical Health Psychology (ISCHP) conference will be in Bratislava next week. In preparation, the organisation has published its book of abstracts. I’ve found it very useful searching for specific terms (like stigma, pain, and Foucault) to see what work is being presented. There are some really interesting ideas being talked about here, and some potentially useful connections with the people doing the work. The book of abstracts can be found here: … [Read more...] about What’s current in critical psychology?
Lessons learned from leaving physiotherapy
Three years ago I stepped away from my teaching job in the physiotherapy programme here at AUT University, in Auckland, New Zealand, to manage a team of psychology and psychotherapy lecturers and researchers. The secondment comes to an end in a few weeks time and it's given me an opportunity to reflect on what it's like working with people who think and work completely differently to physios. The first thing that struck me about my time with the 'psy' disciplines is how little time physios actually spend thinking about what they do. Personal therapy and supervision are absolutely intrinsic to the profession, and no-one here believes that you can be a mindful practitioner without also … [Read more...] about Lessons learned from leaving physiotherapy
Physiotherapy unlimited
In Nikolas Rose's superb analysis of the history of the 'psy' disciplines (psychology, psychotherapy and psychiatry), he identifies something about psychology that the 'phy' professions (physiotherapy, physical therapy) ought to look very closely at. Rose asks why it is that psychological thinking is all pervasive these days. Psychological ideas have slipped into everyday language and ways of thinking, everyday experiences of tension and sadness have been given psychological names and diagnostic criteria, and there are now whole bookshelves full of self-help guides to managing every aspect of your psychic life. Rose asks how this happened; 'Psychological expertise now holds out the … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy unlimited
Desperate, angry, confused? Sociology can help
For the last two years I've been the academic leader of a team of psychologists and psychotherapists. Part of my reason for taking the role was to move away from physiotherapy for a while, and one of the things I've learnt is how much of what the 'pay' disciplines do should be a standard part of the physiotherapy curriculum and scope of practice. How on earth physiotherapists managed to survive for 100 years without exploring transference and counter-transference is beyond me. But one of the things that characterises many of the psy approaches to health and wellbeing is that they will look to the psyche and the mind for the answers to people's despair, anger and confusion. Today I … [Read more...] about Desperate, angry, confused? Sociology can help
Physiotherapy’s biopsycho (but not so much) social approach to future healthcare
One of the interesting aspects of the recent physiotherapy discussions on social media about the benefits of the biopsychosocial model is the almost complete lack of the 'social'. Those who advocate for the model seem comfortable with the idea that physiotherapy might be ready to embrace its psychological dimensions - although, often, the 'psychological' is lazily referred to as a singular entity - but little is said about the social dimensions of physiotherapy. Perhaps physiotherapists are not aware of the full scale of the social dimensions of practice? Many practitioners, for instance, still ignore the fact that the social determinants of health (poverty, education level, access to … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy’s biopsycho (but not so much) social approach to future healthcare
Looking at physiotherapy through fresh eyes
A few months ago I moved to a new job. Having been part of the Physiotherapy Department at AUT for the last 15 years, I moved into a new school at the start of the year, and the new school put me in close proximity to psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors. My job has involved getting to know how they think and work, and trying to organise the day-to-day business of teaching and learning for these professionals who think very differently to the physiotherapists I have worked with for so long. Working with these people has given me new perspectives on ways people think about health care, students, patients, other professions, and the things that are customary and commonplace. … [Read more...] about Looking at physiotherapy through fresh eyes