Using Althusser's notion of interpellation to study the politics of therapeutic practice

Abstract

Althusser's distinction between the Absolute, Other Subject and the ordinary human subject has been relatively ignored in the therapeutic literature. This is unfortunate because it offers an unusually clear conceptual tool for analysing the ideological participation – or rather, the participation in societal power dynamics – of therapeutic participants. I argue here that reconceptualizing Althusser's ideas, from a Marxist to a discourse‐oriented approach, facilitates an analysis of therapeutic activities as simultaneously micro‐psychological and macro‐political events. A textbook sample of a cognitive‐behaviour therapy session is used to illustrate some of the potentials of Althusser's insights for analysing the politics of therapeutic interaction.