Episode 6 - So what?

from Deconstructing Davanloo Hosted by Deborah Pollack and Maury Joseph

In this episode Deb and Maury wrap up their foray into how Davanloo engages with Freud in Unlocking the Unconscious (1990). Deb joins their session from the Evolution of Psychotherapy conference in Los Angeles where she makes some comments about parellel themes between ISTDP and some of the other psychotherapy presentations. The two attempt to answer the question, "So what?" together. Why does the way that Davanloo textually interact with Freud matter to the everyday ISTDP practitioner? They summarize their earlier discussions by suggesting that Davanloo took on a dominant tone when relating to Freud as a "straw man" for his argument about the superiority of the techniques of ISTDP to free association. They wonder how the themes of triumph, power, and domination might trickle down into how Davanloo relates to his patients and students, and how students might in turn relate to their patients. They conclude that power differentials are inevitable and necessary in psychotherapy, but the lack of reflexiveness about how power is being wielded could be problematic. In the next episode, the two will start looking at the Case of the German architect in the first chapter of Unlocking the Unconscious. References: Barthes, R. (1977). The death of the author. In S. Heath (Trans.), Image-music-text (pp. 142–148). Hill and Wang. Davanloo, H. (1990). Unlocking the Unconscious. Wiley.