Psychotherapy and Political Activism: Examining The Israeli–palestinian Case

Avissar, Nissim

doi:10.1057/pcs.2007.42

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The critical political spirit that Imut had provided with a public mental health voice was reawakened a decade later, in 2005, with the emergence of a new activist association of Israeli mental health practitioners that encompassed a few hundred members, called Psychoactive: Mental Health Professionals for Human Rights (Avissar, 2007(Avissar, , 2008Brunner, 2014: 231;Hadar, 2013: 188-94;Kotliar, 2016). Note the significant difference in the title of the organisation, which refers to human rights rather than to peace.…”

Section: Imut and The First Intifadamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 In exploring and comparing texts that have not yet been subjected to detailed analysis, we seek to make an empirical contribution to the study of the emotionalisation of political discourse. Earlier studies have examined the civil society engagement of Israeli mental health professionals as a 'politicization of psychology' (Avissar, 2008;Hadar, 2013: 171-94). These explorations focus on critical, activist organisations, of which Imut is the pioneer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotionalising the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: on the civil society engagements of Israeli mental health professionals in response to the Palestinian uprisings

Brunner

Amrami

2021

Emotions and Society

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This article explores how Israeli mental health practitioners emotionalised the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by intervening in the public sphere. Based on a close reading of texts produced by two Israeli civil society associations of psy-professionals – Imut and Natal – we analyse and compare two languages of emotion that they developed in response to two Palestinian uprisings, the First Intifada of 1987–93 and the Al Aqsa Intifada of 2000–05. This allows us to point to differences and similarities in the ways these two associations articulated, conceptualised and represented emotions that they attributed to the Israeli-Jewish collective. Imut voiced a critical and openly political response to the outbreak of the First Intifada, while Natal adopted an ostensibly apolitical position that affirmed mainstream Israeli politics in response to the Al Aqsa Intifada. Though they differed in their politics, both Imut and Natal emotionalised the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in a dual fashion. They depicted emotions as forces (a) whose dynamics have to be understood in order to grapple with the conflict, and (b) whose detrimental effects have to be controlled through proper management. Thus, both associations portrayed emotions as an instrument for understanding the political situation and as a powerful tool to achieve social and political aims. Though both Imut and Natal emotionalised the conflict in their civil society interventions, neither of them depoliticised it. Rather, they transposed the psychological from the individual to the social level, thus embedding it in a dialectic in which the politicisation of the psychological leads to a non-reductionist emotionalisation of the political.

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Section: Imut and The First Intifadamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotionalising the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: on the civil society engagements of Israeli mental health professionals in response to the Palestinian uprisings

Brunner

Amrami

2021

Emotions and Society

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Clinical psychologists do politics: Attitudes and reactions of Israeli psychologists toward the political

Avissar

2009

Psychother. Politics Int.

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This article presents an analysis of a survey among Israeli clinical psychologists, examining their attitudes towards diverse political issues. The survey involved the distribution of 600 questionnaires, 115 of which were returned. Within this framework, psychologists were asked to relate to questions regarding political issues in psychotherapy and the ways of dealing with them, socio‐political issues in psychology studies and training processes, socio‐political involvement of psychologists as citizens or as professionals, and more. This inquiry enabled the current state of affairs to be portrayed with regard to common professional‐political conceptions and stances toward political aspects of psychotherapeutic work. The survey's findings point to a divide within the Israeli psychologist community, as expressed by divergent and contradictory opinions that arise in response to a sizable portion of the issues examined. It is quite possible that this rift marks a process of change and indicates the decline of the conservative psychodynamic conceptual system. This theoretical perspective had, up until recently, a hegemonic position within the Israeli psychotherapeutic milieu. In most cases this standpoint was applied in a dogmatic manner, justifying a passive social‐political stance in the name of anonymity and neutrality. It appears that still, today, this epistemic position is predominant within the Israeli psychotherapeutic culture. However, nowadays, a large minority of Israeli clinical psychologists seems to be sensitive to different political aspects of psychotherapy and favourable toward working in a politically informed and socially responsible manner. As political issues are almost entirely absent from psychology academic programs and clinical training processes, there is much confusion and helplessness as to how such issues and phenomena should be treated in therapy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Israeli Psychotherapy, Politics and Activism: Is There a Way Out of the Trap?

Avissar

2016

J Contemp Psychother

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Psychotherapy and Political Activism: Examining The Israeli–palestinian Case

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Emotionalising the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: on the civil society engagements of Israeli mental health professionals in response to the Palestinian uprisings

Emotionalising the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: on the civil society engagements of Israeli mental health professionals in response to the Palestinian uprisings

Clinical psychologists do politics: Attitudes and reactions of Israeli psychologists toward the political

Israeli Psychotherapy, Politics and Activism: Is There a Way Out of the Trap?

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