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In the epoch of rampant consumerism and the ascendancy of self-centred cultures, we would like to introduce the yearly Existential Academy conference “Friend or Foe: The Authentic Self and Social Responsibility.”
This conference arises as an imperative and crucial need for a dialogue on the complex interplay between the personal dimension and the evolving landscape of social and political engagement, set against the backdrop of heightened stakes in contemporary society. The conference will explore the challenges posed by a world dominated by a growing trend toward self-centred cultures and the tension it creates with an increase sense of social and political unease and will address the pressing issues at the intersection of personal development and social responsibility.
The conference will create a space for probing the intricacies of the human journey. Amidst the clamour for individualism and the relentless pursuit of personal gratification, the conference will seek to explore the delicate balance between nurturing one’s authentic self and embracing the call to social responsibility and to unravel the tensions arising from the pursuit of the authentic self while addressing the demands of a socially conscious world. It will specifically explore further explore the intricate dance between personal therapy which is by nature self-centered and aiming to empower the individual and the self with social and political engagement and pondering on the possibility of making choices to the benefit of the greater good.
As we negotiate this nuanced terrain, we navigate the dichotomies inherent in personal therapy. We reflect on the challenge of discovering one’s authentic self in a world gripped by escalating political and social stakes. In this exploration, we acknowledge the profound impact of individual empowerment, not merely as an isolated pursuit but potentially, as a force for positive change in the broader societal narrative.
The ethical terrain, complex and multifaceted, beckons our attention. Balancing the authenticity of self-expression with the ethical imperative of social responsibility becomes paramount. As Mental health professionals are we perceived by ourselves and by others as ethical guides, navigating individuals through the labyrinth of ethical considerations in a landscape where the personal and the collective intersect?
Diversity, a cornerstone of our exploration, underscores the significance of inclusivity and intersectionality. We recognize that personal therapy and social engagement are not monolithic experiences but weave through diverse perspectives, shaped by factors such as race, gender, and socio-economic backgrounds.
At the heart of our exploration lies the existential approach, a lens through which we examine the existential tensions, contradiction and paradoxes inherent in navigating personal growth and social responsibility in a world marked by consumerism and individualism. This approach offers profound insights into the human experience, enriching our understanding of the delicate balance between the authentic self and the collective including the profound insights provided by the existential approach, with passion and purpose.
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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE: Prof Emmy van Deurzen, PhD – BEING a Friend or a Foe
It is an important task in life to work out whether other people are friends or foes, and to act accordingly. This is as true in relation to nation states, as it is for our relationships to family, peers, neighbours and colleagues. It also applies to our relationships to other animals and indeed to the planet itself.
Considering the current state of the world it has become an essential problem to address. This presentation will consider carefully what friends and foes are and what role they play in our lives. Then it will focus on the experience of being a friend or a foe, in order to understand better how we might be able to come to a position of reconciliation and collaboration with others instead of condemning ourselves to a life of fear, avoidance or hostility.
Prof Emmy van Deurzen, PhD is an existential therapist, counselling psychologist, and philosopher, who lives in the UK and who has written numerous books on life issues. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages. She founded the Society for Existential Analysis and its journal in 1988, the Regent’s School of Psychotherapy in 1990, and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling in 1996. She continues to be a director of the latter and of the Existential Academy and Dilemma Consultancy, both of which she co-founded with Digby Tantam. She is a visiting professor with Middlesex University and President of the worldwide Existential Movement. Emmy is an international speaker who has given presentations and workshops on five continents.
Amongst her books are the bestseller Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice (Sage, 3d edition 2012), Psychotherapy and the Quest for Happiness (Sage, 2009), Everyday Mysteries (Routledge, 2nd ed, 2010), Paradox and Passion (Wiley, 2nd ed 2015) and Rising from Existential Crisis (PCCS books, 2021). Her book The Art of Freedom: Guide to a Wiser Life will be published by Penguin in 2024. She is also co-authoring a book for Routledge on Structural Existential Analysis, with Dr. Claire Arnold-Baker.
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KEYNOTE: Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D. – Should Life-Enhancing Anxiety be a Touchstone for Therapeutic and Social Transformation?
Counter to conventional wisdom, what many of us need now is not less anxiety but more, at least of a certain kind. I propose that the world has far too much destructive anxiety precisely because it too often refuses to face the deeper and more invigorating anxiety that could preempt or even prevent that destructive anxiety. I call this invigorating anxiety “life-enhancing anxiety.” Life-enhancing anxiety is that level of anxiety that enables us to live with and make the best of the depth and mystery of existence, and is key to improving our child-rearing practices, our creativity, our capacity for cross-cultural bridge building, and our spiritual connection to life. I call this spiritual connection “awe-based.” In this talk, which is reflective of my recent book Life-Enhancing Anxiety, I will touch on those latter applications of life-enhancing anxiety including and in the context of my own journey with the sensibility. In the end, I hope to convey how critical life-enhancing anxiety is to many of our individual and collective lives today, and how its depletion–as manifest in dispirited lives, violence, and political polarization —is killing us, both literally and figuratively.
Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D. is a leading spokesperson for existential-humanistic and existential-integrative psychology, an adjunct faculty member at Saybrook University and formerly Teachers College, Columbia University, and a cofounder and current president of the award-winning Existential-Humanistic Institute. He was also a 2022 candidate for president-elect of the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Schneider has authored/coauthored 15 books including The Polarized Mind, The Depolarizing of America, and his latest book: Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Key to a Sane World.
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KEYNOTE: Prof Mick Cooper – From Therapy to Social Justice
At this time of major social and environmental threats, what contribution can counselling and psychotherapy make to enhancing social responsibility and social justice?
In this presentation I will suggest that therapeutic theory and practice has the potential to make a major difference, through a variety of pathways. First, therapy can help us deepen our understanding of why social difficulties, such as authoritarianism, arise, and therefore how they can be tackled. Second, therapeutic practices, client-by-client, can contribute to more peaceful, mindful, and thriving citizens. Third, wider practices informed by therapeutic ideas, such as nonviolent communication and social and emotional learning, have the potential to enhance cooperative and empathic modes of relating; including in political systems, themselves. We can also use ideas and practices in counselling and psychotherapy to deepen an understanding of the system-wide principles and processes by which greater benefit can be attained.
Counsellors and psychotherapists should be confident that their ideas and practices have the potential to change the world—not in isolation, but in collaboration with those others also striving for greater social cooperation, peace, and justice.
Prof Mick Cooper is an internationally recognised author, trainer, and consultant in the field of humanistic, existential, and pluralistic therapies. He is a Chartered Psychologist, and Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Roehampton.
Mick has facilitated workshops and lectures around the world, including New Zealand, Lithuania, and Florida.
Mick’s books include Existential Therapies (Sage, 2017), Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Sage, 2018), and The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling (Palgrave, 2013).
His latest work is Integrating Counselling and Psychotherapy: Directionality, Synergy, and Social Change (Sage, 2019).
Mick’s principal areas of research have been in shared decision-making/personalising therapy, and counselling for young people in schools.
In 2014, Mick received the Carmi Harari Mid-Career Award from Division 32 of the American Psychological Association. He is a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Academy of Social Sciences.
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KEYNOTE: Andrew Samuels – Age is Just a Number: The Delusion of Maturity and the Fiction of Individuation
A talk on age and aging that does not focus on physical infirmities and dying. Nor on how life experience transforms into wisdom. Instead, you will get a 75 year old naughty-boy questioning of ideas such as maturity and individuation. Even the idea of psychological development itself will be challenged. How ‘authentic’ are these values?
Includes a reaction to generational ways of thinking (baby boomers, millennials etc.). Instead, I look at what the idea of eternal youth has to offer us. On this journey will look at King David’s love life, and at Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray. The portrait aged but the man remained the same.
The phrase ‘age is just a number’ is often used to defend relationships where there is a large age gap. Such relationships often need defending because there is prejudice against them including from therapists (for example, that they are patriarchal or incestuous). But I go further and offer ‘age is just a number’ as a reality defying approach to life. It is also a matter of social responsibility and of massive political value. We may want to discuss this in light of the British General Election.
Andrew Samuels is a Jungian psychoanalyst in practice in London, a professor, author and political activist. His work on the value of therapy thinking to politics is widely appreciated. He has worked as a political consultant to leaders, parties and radical groupings in several counties. He also works for the National Health Service on questions of leadership. Former Chair of UK Council for Psychotherapy. Co-founder of Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility. His many books are in up to 21 languages and include The Plural Psyche, The Political Psyche, and A New Therapy for Politics? A selection of videos is on www.andrewsamuels.com
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KEYNOTE: Kalanit Ben-Ari, Ph.D. – The Enemies and Friends Within: From the Personal, to the Couple, to Social Justice
The “Friend or Foe” dynamic manifests both within the therapist and the client individually, as well as in the relationship between them, creating layers of complexity in their encounters. Here, we explore how the interplay between the authentic self and the roles we assume can shape personal, relational, and social narratives. By examining the nuances of these relationships, we aim to understand how our clients’ (and our own) inner conflicts and alliances not only influence their interactions with themselves and their loved ones, but also reflect and contribute to societal matters. This session will address how individuals can be their own worst enemies and how these internal conflicts can extend into relationships and broader societal interactions. Specifically, the discussion will challenge how, in the pursuit of social justice, we sometimes inadvertently foster a culture of dehumanization. We simplify and polarize complex issues or adopt harmful behaviours—dynamics that manifest not only in social movements but also within the intimate conflicts of couples and the internal struggles of individuals.
The presentation aims to provide a deeper understanding of these dynamics, offering insights into navigating and processing them in therapeutic practice. By examining the interplay of internal and interpersonal conflicts and their reflection in societal issues, we seek to equip therapists with the tools to promote healthier interactions across all levels of human connection.
Kalanit Ben-Ari, Ph.D. is a senior psychologist, psychotherapist, and author with over 20 years of experience working with couples, individuals, and parents. With a private clinic in Hampstead, London, she is an international speaker, trainer, and supervisor of therapists. Kalanit is a member of the Faculty at the Imago International Training Institute and served as the Chair of Imago UK from 2013 to 2023. Dr. Ben-Ari’s expertise is well-recognised; she has trained thousands of therapists worldwide and is frequently featured in professional journals and the media.
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KEYNOTE: Myira Khan – Honouring our need for working within diverse anti-oppressive spaces and relationships.
This keynote will explore our sense of self and identity and our relationship between our internal sense of self and external spaces and people. We will explore the themes of belonging and our experiences in spaces, which may feel safe or unsafe and inclusive or exclusive, and our relational experiences with others in these spaces. We will explore our need for not just inclusive spaces but working within diverse anti-oppressive spaces and relationships and how we experience spaces and relationships, when we are engaging in and holding responsibility for creating spaces for us to feel safe in and belong in.
Myira Khan is a multi-award-winning Accredited Counsellor, Supervisor, Coach and Counselling Tutor, and the Founder of the Muslim Counsellor and Psychotherapist Network (MCAPN), and author of Working Within Diversity – A Reflective Guide to Anti-Oppressive Practice in Counselling and Therapy (published July 2023).
Myira has over 14 years of clinical experience, alongside delivering workshops, trainings and events internationally on Working Within Diversity and anti-oppressive practice and is a regular keynote speaker and presenter at conferences and events.
Working Within Diversity, both the book and the accompanying workshop and training series, is a culmination of her counselling and supervision experience alongside her extensive teaching and training experience delivering workshops on identity, culture and diversity, to create a robust foundation and framework for anti-oppressive practice in therapy, supervision, coaching and all practitioner-led practices and professions, across all modalities.
As the Founder of the Muslim Counsellor and Psychotherapist Network (MCAPN), established over 10 years ago, Myira runs the network for Muslim counsellors, therapists and psychologists, offering support, CPD opportunities and raising the visibility of Muslim practitioners. A visibly Muslim, ethnically-minoritized, neurodivergent/ADHD practitioner, Myira represents a diversity and intersectional identity within the therapeutic and coaching professions, supporting the establishment of diversity, anti-oppressive practice and culturally-attuned practice within the profession, alongside promoting counselling and coaching to ethnically-minoritized, Muslim, neurodivergent and under-represented, marginalised and intersectional communities and clients.
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ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
Dr Claire Arnold Baker
Dr Claire Arnold-Baker is the principal and the academic director at NSPC also Course Leader for the DCPsych Programme. She is a lecturer and clinical supervisor on the doctoral programmes and provides research supervision to both doctoral and masters students.
Dr Nancy Hakim Dowek
Dr Nancy is the course leader at NSPC for the DProf Programme. She is a lecturer and the doctoral programmes and provides clinical research supervision to both doctoral and masters students. She completed her doctoral degree in Existential Psychotherapy on ‘The lived experience of the bi-rooted migrant’.
Nancy’s research interests include: Identity, Migration, Belonging, Roots, uprooting, Bi-Rooted, Cosmopolitanism, Dualism in Self and Identity, Life Crisis and Life Transitions, Existential and Human Issues and Limited Situations.
Dr Neil Gibson
Dr Neil Gibson is a psychotherapist, lecturer, and supervisor. He has worked in the psychotherapy field for 25 years and is currently the course lead for the Existential Psychotherapy Training (EPT) at the Existential Academy, in London. Neil is also the incumbent Chair of UKCP’s University Training College where is actively involved in the regulation and governance of the psychotherapy profession in the UK.
Danny van Deurzen Smith
Danny is an existential coach and course leader for the MA in Existential Coaching at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling where they are also Deputy Principal. Danny co-facilitates a monthly support group for LGBTQ+ autistic adults, and runs NHS training on the topics of neurodiversity and queer identities. In their coaching practice, they work predominantly with autistic and LGBTQ+ clients.
