Psychotherapy, political resistance and intimacy: Dilemmas, possibilities and limitations, Part I

Abstract

The following is the first part of a two‐part paper that discusses the challenges faced by psychotherapists working in Venezuela during years of political and social unrest as a way of examining psychotherapy's dilemmas when dealing with political issues. This first part will discuss limitations in the ability of traditional psychotherapeutic technical recommendations to address clinical material stemming from highly polarized political scenarios. Historical examples of how these limitations have led to abuse will be shown. The specific difficulties of traditional notions of neutrality will be questioned. I would like to thank Ian Parker for his suggestions for this paper.