What is Normal?: Psychotherapists Explore the Question

With an extraordinary diversity of perspectives, the authors use biographical accounts, political analyses and clinical vignettes to challenge the concept of normality. Through these stories and discussions, it emerges that our very uniqueness, oddness and differences as individuals are what make us fully human. "This compilation of insightful, thoughtful, and highly original explorations gently subverts the concepts of normal as conventional and of what we often call 'disease' as abnormal. Written with sensitivity and compassion, it is a challenging and much needed contribution to the psychotherapeutic literature." - Gabor Maté, M.D., author of When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress Many people strive to be normal, and deviation from accepted norms can feel like failure. But why do we want to be normal? And what does that mean? Ordinary? Sane? Similar? When probed, the notion of normality starts to look fragile. It is not clear who decides what being normal means or who is entitled to say. Nonetheless, concerns about conforming and being accepted are deeply pervasive. With an extraordinary diversity of perspectives, the authors featured in this collection – all psychotherapists – use biographical accounts, political analyses and clinical vignettes to challenge the concept of normality. Through these stories and discussions, it emerges that our very uniqueness, oddness and differences as individuals are what make us fully human. At a time of rapid social change, the freedom to be oneself – whatever form that takes – is at the core of contemporary debate, and this volume makes a vital contribution to that project. AUTHOR: Jane Ryan trained as a psychotherapist at the Centre for Attachment-based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (CAPP) in the 1990s. Having worked in private practice for 8 years she set up Confer in order to bridge the theoretical gaps between schools of thought and professional communities in the field, and to provide a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue. She is the editor of How Does Psychotherapy Work? (Karnac, 2006) and Tales of Psychotherapy (Karnac, 2007). Roz Carroll is a relational body psychotherapist and supervisor. She teaches on the MA in Integrative Psychotherapy at The Minster Centre and has been a regular speaker for Confer for twenty years. She is committed to interdisciplinary dialogue. She is the author of numerous articles and chapters on subjects from working with the body in psychotherapy, to intersubjectivity, collective trauma, culture, and the mediating value of creative process.

Table of Contents:
About the Authors Introduction Acknowledgements 1. The new normal Tania Glyde 2. Therapy and hope: are they really normal? Andrew Samuels 3. No escape from ‘normal’ Doris Brothers 4. The normal couple therapist Jane Haberlin 5. Your normal, my normal. Disruptions, accommodations and respect between therapist and patient Susie Orbach 6. Black paranormal: a playlist Foluke Taylor 7. Normal sex Meg-John Barker 8. Minding the gap: a couple psychotherapist’s perspective Christopher Clulow 9. Born to love, driven to destroy Felicity de Zulueta 10. The myth of normality Chris Oakley 11. The shifting landscape of sexual normality Dany Nobus 12. Norms and normality: a socio-psychoanalytic approach Stephen Seligman 13. Why would I want to be normal? Lennox K. Thomas 14. The problem of words. It’s why we are all mad! Phil Mollon 15. Negotiating the normal Ann Shearer 16. Flourishing: the ‘normal’ therapist versus the ‘healthy’ therapist Brett Kahr 17. Cultural schizophrenia and internalised racism are not normal Isha Mckenzie-Mavinga 18. In the therapy room: are all patients normal? Valerie Sinason 19. When simply being human is abnormal Stephen Setterberg 20. Future flat-packed or future fluid? Why normal is the problem Roz Carroll References Index

About the Author :
Roz Carroll is a relational body psychotherapist and supervisor. She teaches on the MA in Integrative Psychotherapy at The Minster Centre and has been a regular speaker for Confer for twenty years. She is committed to interdisciplinary dialogue. She is the author of numerous articles and chapters on subjects from working with the body in psychotherapy, to intersubjectivity, collective trauma, culture, and the mediating value of creative process. Jane Ryan trained as a psychotherapist at the Centre for Attachment-based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (CAPP). After 8 years in private practice she founded Confer as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue and to bridge the gap between schools of thought and professional communities in the field of psychotherapy.

Review :
'This book is for therapists and those interested in working with the mind and social and cultural aspects of society. [...] The book developed into an anthology of twenty chapters, all of which are written by different psychotherapists and all exploring a different concept in a contemporary setting. They cover a wide range of subjects including sexuality, lying and betrayal, technology, disability, racism, trauma, language, and culture. [...] The aim of the book is to increase awareness of, and sensitivity and empathy towards, the individual in today’s contemporary society.' 'Solid and scholarly … with its life-affirming personal testimonies it could also help equip us with what Gramsci called ‘optimism of will’.' 'This compilation of insightful, thoughtful, and highly original explorations gently subverts the concepts of normal as conventional and of what we often call ‘disease’ as abnormal. Written with sensitivity and compassion, it is a challenging and much needed contribution to the psychotherapeutic literature.' 'What is Normal? is a really brilliant resource for therapists – or anyone – who has serious doubts about the set of ideas and ideals that passes itself off as ‘normality’. This book manages to be simultaneously comforting and challenging, presenting a stunning array of provocations to anyone who thinks there’s anything normal about normality.' 'A rich and at times moving compilation… forces the reader to reflect on some of the unconscious beliefs and attitudes they may hold about what it really means to be normal.' 'Roz Carroll and Jane Ryan have done an absolutely excellent job at bringing together some of the world’s most creative and intelligent psychotherapists to teach us about the complex concept of ‘normality’. This should be core reading for anyone interested in the idea that all people are unique individuals who cannot be categorised by conventions.'