David Lewis - Existential Therapist

Jeffrey Schaler (introduced by Anthony Stadlen) conducts Inner Circle Seminar No. 131 on Sunday 12 October 2008, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM: “ADDICTION IS A CHOICE”.
Professor Jeffrey A. Schaler is the world’s leading disbeliever in ‘addiction’. He is an existential psychotherapist and full time professor in the Department of Justice, Law and Society at American University’s School of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. His book Addiction is a Choice (2000) argues:

1. No drug (including alcohol and tobacco) is ‘addictive’.
2. Drugs are not intrinsically safe or dangerous, good or bad.
3. Disease refers to cellular pathology, not behaviour.
4. ‘Loss of control’ is an unfalsifiable, hence unscientific, hypothesis.
5. ‘Addiction’ is ethical, not medical.
6. Focussing on the existential reasons for ‘addiction’ can help drug users address and resolve the problems in living they try to solve with drugs.

Whether you agree, disagree, or are undecided, you are welcome to discuss Professor Schaler’s argument and evidence with him in this important seminar. Venue: Herringham Hall, Regent’s College, Inner Circle, London NW1. Subscription: Students £88, others £110, by 12 April 2008. Apply to: Anthony Stadlen, stadlen@aol.com.

Forum with Professor Ernesto Spinelli: ‘PRACTISING EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY: THE RELATIONAL WORLD’ on Friday, 22nd February 2008 at 7:00pm. Venue: The October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1. (Nearest Tubes: Holborn, Russell Sq.). Entrance: £5.00 (SEA Members), £8.00 (Non-Members).
This Forum will provide the opportunity for participants to hear Professor Ernesto Spinelli introduce the key ideas and themes in his new book and then to present their comments and queries for discussion.
Professor Ernesto Spinelli, PhD is a Fellow of both the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) as well as a UKCP registered existential psychotherapist and APECS registered executive coach and coaching supervisor. In 1999, he was awarded a Personal Chair as Professor of Psychotherapy, Counselling and Counselling Psychology. His authorship of numerous specialist articles and several highly respected and widely-read books dealing with the theory and practise of existential psychotherapy has earned for Ernesto a BPS Counselling Psychology Division Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of the Profession as well as an international reputation as a leading figure in the advancement of contemporary existential psychotherapy, and coaching. As well as maintaining a private practice as a psychotherapist, executive coach and supervisor, Ernesto is Senior Fellow at the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling, Regent’s College, London and Director of ESA Associates. Ernesto was Chair of the SEA from 1994 to 1999.

David Lewis has accepted a part-time academic post as a Lecturer in Existential Psychotherapy in Lisbon, Portugal.
Dr. Edgar Correia of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Psicoterapia Existencial has appointed David Lewis as a Lecturer in Existential Psychotherapy on the Curso de Formação em Psicoterapia Existencial in Lisbon . This is a new training course, and the first ever cohort of students has just begun its studies. It is the first time that a training in existential psychotherapy has taken place in Portugal. David will travel to Lisbon on dedicated days to give his lectures, and his private practice and NHS work in London are unaffected.

Naomi and Anthony Stadlen conduct Inner Circle Seminar No. 125 on Sunday 16 March 2008, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM: “maurice merleau-ponty (1908-1961) - ‘The CHILD’S RELATIONS WITH OTHERS’ A CENTENARY EXPLORATION”.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty was born 100 years ago. Many existential pyschotherapists regard the notes of his Sorbonne course, ‘The Child’s Relations with Others’ (1951), as the authoritative phenomenological text on human development and ‘intersubjectivity’, although more than half a century has passed. In this seminar, we shall read it and discuss how well it reflects what parents report of how their babies relate to others. We anticipate that a number of mothers and babies will attend and contribute their views to the discussion. We hope you will, too. Venue: Room C, Regent’s College, Inner Circle, London NW1. Cost: Mothers-with-babies £5, Students £88, others £110, in advance; some bursaries. Apply to: Anthony Stadlen, stadlen@aol.com.

Anthony Stadlen conducts Inner Circle Seminar No. 124 on Sunday 10 February 2008, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM: “FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN BUBER AND ROGERS”.
Last year we marked the 50th anniversary of the public dialogue on 18 April 1957 between the existential thinker Martin Buber and the pyschotherapist Carl Rogers. By public demand, this seminar offers another rare opportunity to listen to the tape recording of the whole dialogue. We also use the corrected transcript and commentary by Anderson and Cissna. The questions discussed by Buber and Rogers, on the nature of a psychotherapeutic relationship, are still central for psychotherapists today. But we shall also ask other questions that seem not to have occured to them. Your contribution to resuming the dialogue between Buber and Rogers will be welcome. Venue: Room C, Acland Building, Regent’s College, Inner Circle, London NW1. Cost: Students £88, others £110, in advance; some bursaries. Apply to: Anthony Stadlen, stadlen@aol.com.

Anthony Stadlen conducts Inner Circle Seminar No. 120 on Sunday 28 October 2007, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM: “Jan Patočka (1907-1977) - CARING FOR THE SOUL”.
The Czech philosopher Jan Patočka was born on 1 June 1907. He died on 13 March 1977 after intensive interrogation by the StB (secret police). With the playright (later, President) Václav Havel, he was spokesman for Charta 77, arguing that the Czechoslovak government was abusing human rights. Patočka was one of the greatest twentieth century phenomenologists, in the tradition of Husserl and Heidegger, but also of Plato and Socrates. Central to his thinking were the notions of ‘living in truth’ and ‘caring for the soul’. Psychotherapy means, etymologically, ‘attending on the soul’. Today, in Patočka’s centenary year, thirty years after his death, we explore whether his ethical thinking on ‘caring for the soul’ and ‘living in truth’ provides an historical and philosophical grounding for the practice and theory of psychotherapy. Venue: Regent’s College, Inner Circle, London NW1. Cost: Students £88, others £110. Apply to: Anthony Stadlen, stadlen@aol.com.

Forum with Dr. Noreen O’Connor: ‘AN INTRODUCTION TO LEVINAS’ NOTION OF SELF-IDENTITY AND ITS RELEVANCE TO PSYCHOTHERAPY’ on Friday 26th October 2007 at 7:00pm. Venue: Tavistock Institute, 120 Belsize Lane, London NW3. (Nearest Tubes: Swiss Cottage, Finchley Rd). Entrance: £5.00 (SEA Members), £8.00 (Non-Members).
Dr O’Connor reflects on the originality of Levinas’ theorising on the relationship of self and other and its relevance to us as practising psychotherapists. In focusing on two common presenting ’symptoms’, namely anxiety and depression, she elucidates Levinas’ notions of insomnia and fatigue. Dr O’Connor raises questions about how such analyses of experiential states affect the way in which we conceptualise our sense of ’self’ and its ‘identity’.
Dr Noreen O’Connor B.A. M.A. PhD (Contemporary French Philosophy), Dip. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, has been a practising psychotherapist for over twenty years. She works with individuals and couples and has, for many years, been a trainer in different psychotherapy organisations. Her philosophical background is intrinsic to her perspective on psychotherapeutic practices.

Thomas Szasz (introduced by Anthony Stadlen) conducts Inner Circle Seminar No. 117 on Sunday 16 September 2007, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM: “ADDRESSING YOUR QUESTIONS”.
Many people admire Thomas Szasz’s passionate devotion to personal freedom and responsibility, and his indignation at coercion masquerading as compassion. But they are troubled by uncertainty as to what he has in mind to replace the present arrangements, however imperfect these may be. Too often there is not time in a public debate for people to put these questions and for Professor Szasz to give a measured and considered answer. Today’s seminar is deliberately designed to be a true seminar, not a virtuoso performance which leaves people puzzled. The focus today is on your questions, and the seminar has no other purpose than for Professor Szasz to strive with all his powers to give you satisfactory answers. Venue: Herringham Hall, Regent’s College, Inner Circle, London NW1. Cost: Students £88, others £110. Apply to: Anthony Stadlen, stadlen@aol.com.

The Hungarian Society for Existential Analysis (Magyar Daseinanalitikai Egyesület) is hosting an International Conference in Budapest on 21-22 September 2007: “WAS IST ZWISCHEN DEN KULTUREN? PSYCHOTHERAPIE AUS INTERKULTURELLER PERSPEKTIVE” (‘Between Cultures. The intercultural view of psychotherapy’).
Venue: The Festetics Palace, Pollack Mihály tér 3, H-1088 Budapest, Hungary (Nearest Tubes: Astoria and Kálvin tér). Conference fee: Students €5, others €30. It is unclear at this stage whether simultaneous translation is to be provided into English. For further information please telephone Miss Lubinszki on +36 20 9678 668 or download the conference Programme here.