The most personal is the most political.: Der Therapeut als Politiker – Eine Analyse, ein personzentriertes Plädoyer und eine Konfliktanzeige

Abstract

The most personal is the most political: The therapist as politician — an analysis, a person-centered plea and a notification of dispute. A reductionist understanding of politics, only focused on power issues and delegating political subjects to politicians, as often seen in psychotherapeutic contexts, does not take into account that therapeutic work itself is a political enterprise. Among the challenges of the PCA is the facilitation of self-empowerment and community building. Thus it follows that psychotherapy is political as it is the practical implication of the underlying image of the human being. To be a therapist means to be a politician. Consequently, it is an indispensable task for therapists to deal critically with the diverse orientations and the prevailing societal order — which necessarily leads to conflicts.