Group-Analytic Contexts, Issue 76, June 2017

48 Group-Analytic Society International - Contexts
violent, when people struggle to belong and yet have to experience,
again and again, that they are not fitting with whatever constructed
norm (I, as a Black German, am often denied to be German or I have
to prove it with my passport).
I believe, (a)symmetries and hierarchies between people
always play an important role in the context of relationships. Even
if...or precisely because power is never absent in life, I find it
important to keep the hierarchies between me and other people as flat
as possible, preferably disappearingly small. In this respect, I would,
for example, wish for a more sensitive and conscious use of the word
"patient". To speak of a “therapist” and a "patient" is the epitome of
power, asymmetry and hierarchy. Don’t you think? Certainly, there
may be people who suffer from diagnosable mental illnesses. (I
believe that, though I tend to be sceptical about such diagnoses.) But
even if this case, I ask myself why and for whom it is important to use
words such as "patient" and "therapist" to build up and preserve an
“up” and a “down”, a “leading” and a being “led”, a “knowing” and a
“not knowing” or “'knowing less”.
In this sense, one’s prevailing ideas of people is another
important point for power-critical group leaders, or let’s better call it
a power-critical togetherness. I assume that all human beings,
whatever their diagnosis, age, origin, worldview, have a certain
knowledge from experience, and as long as this knowledge does not
contain something inhuman, I am curious about it and see how, where,
and from whom I can learn something new. Learning is never a oneway
street for me. Basically, I less lead groups than I open spaces
where people can learn from and with each other. I believe such an
approach to building and "leading" groups helps to reduce
uncertainties, shame, guilt, and anxiety.
Speaking of something you write somewhere above:
“Without having a good idea of how to do it, I think therapists need to
reflect on their social position.” I agree. And the really good news is,
as an anti-discrimination trainer, I know how to do it, and would like
to accompany you and your colleagues to enter this unsafe and often
also shame-filled and terrifying territory. Not as “patients”, but as
people who are going on an exciting journey (to themselves). And I'm
glad about every single person that goes on this path. I believe that the
more people consciously and critically deal with social power
relations, the less painful and more liveable life on earth will be for all
people.
Thomas: Could you give an idea of how you work in your workshops?