The New Politics of Experience and the Bitter Herbs

A lot of what is done in the name of psychotherapy and psychology is driven by motives which are base, shallow and commercial. Theorising of the human condition too often follows the ideological fashions of the day, which can be described as biological/corporate fundamentalism. This toxic mixture not only mystifies the general public but also makes epistemological slaves of professional psychologists. As neo-liberal capitalism continues its forward march, this book considers its influence on the divide between academic psychology and the psychotherapeutic art of healing. This has made the relationship between the practical and academic sides of psychology deeply problematic as well as dishonest. Theodor Itten and Ron Roberts explore these issues from their respective positions on each side of the psychotherapy, academic psychology divide. Calling for a return to a new, authentic and vibrant Politics of Experience, their examination, elaborating the interplay of practice and theory with everyday experience, is both personal and critical and provides an unusual insider perspective on what it means to practice in the present day.