Social Therapeutics

20 Sep

Posted at 18:26h in Activity Theory, Creativity, Culture, DSM-5, Human Development, Language, Philosophy, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy, Vygotsky

September 20, 2013 Although Vygotsky’s ideas are applied to dozens of disciplines/practices, psychotherapy is not among them. With few exceptions, contemporary Vygotskians have stayed clear of the sub- ject; and most psychotherapy researchers and clinical practitioners have little familiarity with Vygotsky—despite Vygotsky’s challenge to psychology’s isolation of the intellectual from the...

25 Jul

Posted at 00:15h in Activity Theory, Culture, Education, Human Development, Language, Philosophy, Play, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Social Therapeutics, Vygotsky

  July 24 2013 Fred Newman's and my 1993 book, Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist, is now a classic! It's been published by Psychology Press, and my copy arrived today in the mail. It felt good in my hands, and not just because it's a better size and paper quality than the original....

23 Apr

Posted at 17:30h in Community Organizing, Culture, Human Development, Philosophy, Politics, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy

April 23, 2013 A few years ago while doing some teaching in Brazil, I was interviewed (in English) for Internet radio on where social therapeutics comes from and where it’s going. The interview was rich and far-reaching, as I recall—radical therapy,  social constructionism, politics, philosophy, culture, community...

29 Jan

Posted at 17:56h in Activity Theory, Creativity, Education, Health Care, Human Development, Learning Environments, Outside of School, Play, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy, Vygotsky, Wittgenstein, Youth Development

January 29, 2013 A few days ago I wrote about the long lag time for reviews of academic books. Here’s an example very close to home. During my Internet searches this weekend I came across a new review of my book, Vygotsky at Work and Play. (You can click on it...

11 Sep

Posted at 00:13h in Activity Theory, Culture, Education, Human Development, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Vygotsky, Youth Development

[caption id="attachment_1329" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Poster of the Japanese Society of Developmental Psychology Workshop in Tokyo[/caption] September 10, 2012 “You said performance is an untapped human resource, but Japanese people are reclusive…how can we work with that?” Can we redesign public schools to be ZPDs?” “If little children aren’t aware they’re performing and adults are,...

06 Sep

Posted at 02:10h in Politics, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy

September 5, 2012 Ian Parker, a critical psychologist and practicing psychoanalyst, is professor of psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK. He’s also a long-time friend and colleague of mine and the East Side Institute. Ian and I have participated in many conferences and events together, along with the late...

01 Aug

Posted at 02:26h in Human Development, Politics, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy

July 31, 2012 I didn’t mean to take more than a month off from writing my blog! I’ve been working on several projects—preparing presentations, writing two book proposals, reading applications to the Institute’s 2012-2013 International Class, working on the many aspects of the upcoming Performing the World 2012 conference, teaching an online...

31 May

Posted at 15:11h in Community Organizing, Human Development, Learning Environments, Philosophy, Politics, Popular Posts, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy, Theatre, Youth Development

May 31,2012 For the past three Tuesday evenings, I’ve been leading “Making a Conceptual Revolution: The Practical-Critical Philosophy of Fred Newman”—an offering in the Institute’s Revolutionary Conversations series. It’s been delightful spending time with 30+ people from varied walks of life and varied levels of familiarity with Newman and his work...

29 May

Posted at 17:48h in Critical psychiatry, DSM-5, Human Development, Philosophy, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy

May 29, 2012 For much of this year, I’ve been writing about the need for more inclusive and public dialogue not only on the DSM-5 but the broader issue of the diagnostic way of life and alternatives to it. On Friday, June 8, I’ll be part of such a dialogue, as the...

10 May

Posted at 00:45h in Activity Theory, Community Organizing, Creativity, Culture, Education, Human Development, Learning Environments, Philosophy, Play, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Social Therapy

May 9, 2012 The Institute jumped into the free webinar field at the beginning of this year. It's much simpler than I would have thought! We give people access to an audio or video. After listening/viewing, they can join an hour-long live chat, email questions and comments, or do nothing. I’ve led the...