Plenary 1

Friday, May 15th 2019

Jacob Pronk Hall

09:15 – 09:45

Technologies of the self: the proliferation of psychiatric diagnoses, psychologisation, and individualistic cultures.

Sami Timimi

GBR

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

What sort of ‘thing’ is mental health/ill-health? This keynote will examine the implications of how we construct models of self and mental functioning. Individualistic Western psychology/psychiatry models have led to a view of humans as primarily vulnerable leading to a focus on context depleted brain/mind and a fear of emotions. Professionals working with the distressed should be aware of how their constructs affect their perspective and therefore the frameworks they use in interventions. I will argue that constructs such as people’s responses to psychological challenge are ordinary and/or understandable, that we should not expect to solve problems on our own, and that we are all naturally resilient is more likely to empower clients; whereas diagnostic and the idea of specific therapy for specific disorders are more likely to invite clients to become disempowered ‘patients’.

1.      Develop greater awareness of the socially constructed nature of all the models used in therapy/treatment.

2.      Develop greater awareness of the implications of the models used.

3.      Examine the frameworks and language used in your own practice and the degree to which this has the potential to empower your clients.

Sami Timimi is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist who lives in Lincoln in the UK. He is also an author who writes from a critical psychiatry perspective on topics relating to mental health and childhood and has published over a hundred and thirty articles and tens of chapters on many subjects including childhood, psychotherapy, behavioural disorders and cross-cultural psychiatry. He has authored 4 books including ‘Naughty Boys: Anti-Social Behaviour, ADHD and the Role of Culture’, co-edited 4 books including, with Carl Cohen, ‘Libratory Psychiatry: Philosophy, Politics and Mental Health’, and co-authored 2 others including, with Neil Gardiner and Brian McCabe, ‘The Myth of Autism: Medicalising Men’s and Boys’ Social and Emotional Competence’.

X Presentation program with projection (PowerPoint, Prezi)

X Research

X Psychiatry