This is an interview I was invited to do with Chuck LeBlanc in his podcast series 'Couch to Couch... more This is an interview I was invited to do with Chuck LeBlanc in his podcast series 'Couch to Couch: making therapy make sense.'
`I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the pr... more `I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the practical field as well as being a central text in academic settings.
`I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the pr... more `I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the practical field as well as being a central text in academic settings.
this is the paper I ended up writing for the Proceedings of the Afro-Asian Critical Psychology Co... more this is the paper I ended up writing for the Proceedings of the Afro-Asian Critical Psychology Conference, held on 4th – 6th May 2022. A discussion was held earlier in Academia on the actual talk and I thanks those who provided useful considerations to improve the paper
This thesis re-thinks the theory of systemic family therapy by investigating the role played by G... more This thesis re-thinks the theory of systemic family therapy by investigating the role played by Gregory Bateson's ideas and by reading his ideas alongside the writings of poststructuralist philosophers Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze. While Bateson's contribution to the early development of systemic family therapy is widely recognised, the subsequent emergence of narrative and social constructionist versions of systemic family therapy has been held to have superseded Bateson. In this thesis it is argued that when Bateson is read alongside the writings of Foucault and Deleuze, his contribution is reinvigorated. The concepts that emerge out of these encounters are used to articulate a new conceptualization for systemic family therapy. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part explores the historical development of systemic family therapy and defines the problem in terms of a double irony. The first irony relates to Bateson's frustration with prevalent theoretical models within the social sciences. This frustration was at the base of his investigations into cybernetics which, in turn, were central to the emergence of systemic family therapy. Bateson's theoretical work provided the clinic with a relational alternative to prevalent inrapsychic approaches. The second irony relates to a critical reflection on the contemporary configuration of theory in systemic family therapy with particular reference to Bateson's insights. This critical reflection constitutes a continuous reminder of the difficulties inherent in a rigorous engagement with the complexity of a relational approach to the clinic. The second part provides a positive alternative to the presenting problem by engaging in a constructive reading of the philosophical projects of Foucault and Deleuze. These projects are interrogated in their relationship to the work of Bateson. Out of these encounters, a number of central concepts of Bateson's work are reconsidered, including Bateson's insights into cybernetics and the sacred. The cybernetic notions of reflexive and immanent knowledge that is self-forming becomes the means by which to understand one's position as an observer and a participant in society. Bateson's late explorations of grace and the sacred are used to provide evaluative guidelines for an approach that engages fully with a philosophy of difference.
This is an interview I was invited to do with Chuck LeBlanc in his podcast series 'Couch to Couch... more This is an interview I was invited to do with Chuck LeBlanc in his podcast series 'Couch to Couch: making therapy make sense.'
`I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the pr... more `I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the practical field as well as being a central text in academic settings.
`I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the pr... more `I enjoyed this book, and think that it should find a grateful and attentive readership in the practical field as well as being a central text in academic settings.
this is the paper I ended up writing for the Proceedings of the Afro-Asian Critical Psychology Co... more this is the paper I ended up writing for the Proceedings of the Afro-Asian Critical Psychology Conference, held on 4th – 6th May 2022. A discussion was held earlier in Academia on the actual talk and I thanks those who provided useful considerations to improve the paper
This thesis re-thinks the theory of systemic family therapy by investigating the role played by G... more This thesis re-thinks the theory of systemic family therapy by investigating the role played by Gregory Bateson's ideas and by reading his ideas alongside the writings of poststructuralist philosophers Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze. While Bateson's contribution to the early development of systemic family therapy is widely recognised, the subsequent emergence of narrative and social constructionist versions of systemic family therapy has been held to have superseded Bateson. In this thesis it is argued that when Bateson is read alongside the writings of Foucault and Deleuze, his contribution is reinvigorated. The concepts that emerge out of these encounters are used to articulate a new conceptualization for systemic family therapy. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part explores the historical development of systemic family therapy and defines the problem in terms of a double irony. The first irony relates to Bateson's frustration with prevalent theoretical models within the social sciences. This frustration was at the base of his investigations into cybernetics which, in turn, were central to the emergence of systemic family therapy. Bateson's theoretical work provided the clinic with a relational alternative to prevalent inrapsychic approaches. The second irony relates to a critical reflection on the contemporary configuration of theory in systemic family therapy with particular reference to Bateson's insights. This critical reflection constitutes a continuous reminder of the difficulties inherent in a rigorous engagement with the complexity of a relational approach to the clinic. The second part provides a positive alternative to the presenting problem by engaging in a constructive reading of the philosophical projects of Foucault and Deleuze. These projects are interrogated in their relationship to the work of Bateson. Out of these encounters, a number of central concepts of Bateson's work are reconsidered, including Bateson's insights into cybernetics and the sacred. The cybernetic notions of reflexive and immanent knowledge that is self-forming becomes the means by which to understand one's position as an observer and a participant in society. Bateson's late explorations of grace and the sacred are used to provide evaluative guidelines for an approach that engages fully with a philosophy of difference.
This paper is the result of our increasing interest in the experience of illness in families and ... more This paper is the result of our increasing interest in the experience of illness in families and the concomitant reflections on how best to therapeutically support these families through this process. This interest led us to reflect on the nuanced way in which language establishes a play with the experience of illness, a play that can amplify or reduce its effects. Such an interplay in turn led us to consider the valuable role that family therapists have in helping families and treating practitioners to create a safe space for conversation about illness. Further questions are also explored in relation to whether there is a role for family therapists in facilitating the interface between our clinical practice with clients and the wider treating medical community. And, if so, what shape would such an interface take? Considerations at this level would include the anticipation of psychological reactions to diagnosis of chronic and life threatening illnesses, in particular the importance of "normalisation" of the psychological reactions to such chronic and/or life threatening diagnoses; the complex dynamics emerging from the interface between the effects of illness in the subjectivity of the ill person and the grief experienced by the other family members, different family members' narratives of the illness, relevant community contexts and, lastly, ways to help the family members and/or the ill person to navigate the medical system including the use of second opinions, cyberspace…
This chapter offers a new historical and theoretical perspective on postmodernity and postmoderni... more This chapter offers a new historical and theoretical perspective on postmodernity and postmodernism which broads the frame of the debate. We give the name 'pomo2' to the more familiar version of postmodernism, inspired by Lyotard and others. In this received version, postmodernity begins in the second half of the 20 th century and is associated with the post-industrialization of the dominant western nations during the rise of the computer age. We give the name 'pomo1' to the postmodernism informed by 'process thinking' that arose around 1875 and reached a zenith between the two world wars. Pomo1 arose as the modern system of supposedly sovereign nation states entered into widespread collapse. Reframing the more familiar description of postmodernity as pomo2 by incorporating pomo1 into the picture makes better sense both of the philosophical bases of postmodernism and of the broader historical context, such as the collapse of the empires that had fed the illusion of national sovereignty undergirding a few centuries of Western global dominance. After outlining this new perspective we offer seven observations, each supported by a relevant pomo1 quotation, about how it might serve to reorient practice-relevant theory development in the world of postmodern therapy. Our reframing aims to reenergise the vital sense of purpose that once animated the pomo debate, but that has been degenerating under conditions in which the alleged linguistic relativism of postmodernists is being blamed for opening the floodgates to a crisis-ridden world of 'post-truth'.
This is the draft of a chapter Paul Stenner and myself wrote for the forthcoming Routledge Intern... more This is the draft of a chapter Paul Stenner and myself wrote for the forthcoming Routledge International Handbook of Postmodern Therapies to be out early in 2025
This chapter offers a new historical and theoretical perspective on postmodernity and postmodernism which broads the frame of the debate. We give the name 'pomo2' to the more familiar version of postmodernism, inspired by Lyotard and others. In this received version, postmodernity begins in the second half of the 20 th century and is associated with the post-industrialization of the dominant western nations during the rise of the computer age. We give the name 'pomo1' to the postmodernism informed by 'process thinking' that arose around 1875 and reached a zenith between the two world wars. Pomo1 arose as the modern system of supposedly sovereign nation states entered into widespread collapse. Reframing the more familiar description of postmodernity as pomo2 by incorporating pomo1 into the picture makes better sense both of the philosophical bases of postmodernism and of the broader historical context, such as the collapse of the empires that had fed the illusion of national sovereignty undergirding a few centuries of Western global dominance. After outlining this new perspective we offer seven observations, each supported by a relevant pomo1 quotation, about how it might serve to reorient practice-relevant theory development in the world of postmodern therapy. Our reframing aims to reenergise the vital sense of purpose that once animated the pomo debate, but that has been degenerating under conditions in which the alleged linguistic relativism of postmodernists is being blamed for opening the floodgates to a crisis-ridden world of 'post-truth'.
This is a draft of paper John Morss and myself wrote for consideration to a forthcoming special i... more This is a draft of paper John Morss and myself wrote for consideration to a forthcoming special issue on the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy on Climate Change.
The opening words of its abstract state:
This well-known quotation from Kurt Vonnegut perhaps helps us to explore the sombre aspects that climate change poses to humanity, and its urgent challenges for systemic thinking. We are critical of orthodox familial approaches to systemic thinking. Instead, we wish to be alert to the complexities we have to face, complexities that are larger than the clinic. These complexities force us-as clinicians-to recognise and take responsibility for the fact that the clinic is not a neutral or ironic position from which to explore possibilities but is itself affected and threatened by an environment that is larger than its scope. Part of the challenge we have ahead is to accept that the picture is not a pleasant one and that it is simply too late to believe in an innocence and in a path to 'recovery' if only we all 'hug trees.'
We would appreciate any comments Thanks Maria (& John)
This is a seminar presented to systemic therapists interested in Deleuzian (and Guattarian) ideas... more This is a seminar presented to systemic therapists interested in Deleuzian (and Guattarian) ideas explaining the concept of becoming in A Thousand Plateaus
This is the draft of the introductory paper I wrote as a guest editor for the Australian and New ... more This is the draft of the introductory paper I wrote as a guest editor for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy on the work in Latin American countries. This special edition is expected to be publish in March 2023
This is the draft of the paper I ended writing for the Proceedings of the Afro-Asian Critical Psy... more This is the draft of the paper I ended writing for the Proceedings of the Afro-Asian Critical Psychology Conference, held on 4th – 6th May 2022. A discussion was held earlier in Academia on the actual talk and I thanks those who provided useful considerations to improve the paper
this is a response I felt the need to write to address Oakley's responses to a special edition of... more this is a response I felt the need to write to address Oakley's responses to a special edition of the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling on Deleuze. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642537.2021.1961839
This is a draft of the keynote presentation I did for the Special Interest Group on Critical and ... more This is a draft of the keynote presentation I did for the Special Interest Group on Critical and Poststructural Psychology at theFifteenth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, May 15-18, 2019 in Urbana, Illinois Comments are very welcomed!
Giles Deleuze has been acclaimed by some as the philosopher who best articulated the sentiments o... more Giles Deleuze has been acclaimed by some as the philosopher who best articulated the sentiments of May '68 and the proposal that such an event brought forth. He did so both in his individual writings and through his collaboration with Felix Guattari, a well-known radical activist and anti-psychiatrist. This paper aims to provide a brief introduction to Deleuze's ideas as they shaped around the events of May '68, in particular in relation to a social and ever-changing conception of subjectivity.
An increasing number of scholars, students and practitioners of psychology are becoming intrigued... more An increasing number of scholars, students and practitioners of psychology are becoming intrigued by the ideas of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. This book is a critical introduction to these ideas, which have so much to offer psychology in terms of new directions as well as critique. Deleuze was one of the most prominent philosophers of the twentieth century and a figure whose ideas are increasingly influential throughout the humanities and social sciences. His work, particularly his collaborations with psychoanalyst Guattari, focused on the articulation of a philosophy of difference. Rejecting mainstream continental philosophy just as much as the orthodox analytical metaphysics of the English-speaking world, Deleuze proposed a positive and passionate alternative, bursting at the seams with new concepts and new transformations. This book overviews the philosophical contribution of Deleuze, including the project he developed with Guattari. It goes on to explore the application of these ideas in three major dimensions of psychology: its unit of analysis, its method and its clinical applications. Deleuze and Psychology will be of interest to students and scholars of psychology and those interested in continental philosophy, as well as psychological practitioners and therapists.
This is a draft of the seminar I provided to a group of systemic therapists in the UK.
It is part... more This is a draft of the seminar I provided to a group of systemic therapists in the UK. It is part of a series I have organized in order to expand the presence of Deleuze's (and Guattari's) ideas in the field. I acknowledge the discussions held with Rogelio Arguello in the preparation of this series.
This presentation was part of a simposium exploring Deleuze's project in its encounter with psych... more This presentation was part of a simposium exploring Deleuze's project in its encounter with psychology. It was the first of four presentations in the simposium and it served as an general introduction to an audience of theoretically interested psychologists. Themes explored include: difficulties in reading Deleuze, la Betise and other Deleuzian critiques to mainstream psychology and some constructive clues in the search for a genuine engagement with the 'deep adventure of empiricism'
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Videos by Maria Nichterlein
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FFb71I3F2FjoLpS6Y5lz8?si=gtJcf39dRvmMPIY-E7JQBg
Papers by Maria Nichterlein
A discussion was held earlier in Academia on the actual talk and I thanks those who provided useful considerations to improve the paper
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FFb71I3F2FjoLpS6Y5lz8?si=gtJcf39dRvmMPIY-E7JQBg
A discussion was held earlier in Academia on the actual talk and I thanks those who provided useful considerations to improve the paper
This chapter offers a new historical and theoretical perspective on postmodernity and postmodernism which broads the frame of the debate. We give the name 'pomo2' to the more familiar version of postmodernism, inspired by Lyotard and others. In this received version, postmodernity begins in the second half of the 20 th century and is associated with the post-industrialization of the dominant western nations during the rise of the computer age. We give the name 'pomo1' to the postmodernism informed by 'process thinking' that arose around 1875 and reached a zenith between the two world wars. Pomo1 arose as the modern system of supposedly sovereign nation states entered into widespread collapse. Reframing the more familiar description of postmodernity as pomo2 by incorporating pomo1 into the picture makes better sense both of the philosophical bases of postmodernism and of the broader historical context, such as the collapse of the empires that had fed the illusion of national sovereignty undergirding a few centuries of Western global dominance. After outlining this new perspective we offer seven observations, each supported by a relevant pomo1 quotation, about how it might serve to reorient practice-relevant theory development in the world of postmodern therapy. Our reframing aims to reenergise the vital sense of purpose that once animated the pomo debate, but that has been degenerating under conditions in which the alleged linguistic relativism of postmodernists is being blamed for opening the floodgates to a crisis-ridden world of 'post-truth'.
The opening words of its abstract state:
This well-known quotation from Kurt Vonnegut perhaps helps us to explore the sombre aspects that climate change poses to humanity, and its urgent challenges for systemic thinking. We are critical of orthodox familial approaches to systemic thinking. Instead, we wish to be alert to the complexities we have to face, complexities that are larger than the clinic. These complexities force us-as clinicians-to recognise and take responsibility for the fact that the clinic is not a neutral or ironic position from which to explore possibilities but is itself affected and threatened by an environment that is larger than its scope. Part of the challenge we have ahead is to accept that the picture is not a pleasant one and that it is simply too late to believe in an innocence and in a path to 'recovery' if only we all 'hug trees.'
We would appreciate any comments
Thanks
Maria (& John)
A discussion was held earlier in Academia on the actual talk and I thanks those who provided useful considerations to improve the paper
Comments are very welcomed!
Deleuze was one of the most prominent philosophers of the twentieth century and a figure whose ideas are increasingly influential throughout the humanities and social sciences. His work, particularly his collaborations with psychoanalyst Guattari, focused on the articulation of a philosophy of difference. Rejecting mainstream continental philosophy just as much as the orthodox analytical metaphysics of the English-speaking world, Deleuze proposed a positive and passionate alternative, bursting at the seams with new concepts and new transformations.
This book overviews the philosophical contribution of Deleuze, including the project he developed with Guattari. It goes on to explore the application of these ideas in three major dimensions of psychology: its unit of analysis, its method and its clinical applications.
Deleuze and Psychology will be of interest to students and scholars of psychology and those interested in continental philosophy, as well as psychological practitioners and therapists.
It is part of a series I have organized in order to expand the presence of Deleuze's (and Guattari's) ideas in the field.
I acknowledge the discussions held with Rogelio Arguello in the preparation of this series.