Born in ’47

A personal journey through the changing zeitgeist of psychotherapy in Aotearoa

Abstract

Just like a personal ego, the zeitgeist of a practice such as psychotherapy is constantly changing, influenced by both internal and external events. As with the personal ego, not only is it changing but it is also resisting change, leading to a state of imbalance and potential conflict. A psychotherapeutic relationship can help an individual re-establish balance in the changing world and live more fully in the present, but the relationship with an organisation or group can be more challenging. Just as we can identify with our ego, so can we identify with a group: does the onus fall more on the individual or the group to adapt, both to change and to the resistance to change? What can help in this process of adaptation? With the Freudian concept of the erotic bonds of love and hate in the background, I will call on my personal story as a psychotherapist born in the year the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists (NZAP) was founded, with the aim of exploring these questions with a focus on the changing zeitgeist of NZAP.