Pierre Delion on Psychopolitics

The first English translation of Pierre Delion’s work presents two of his most compelling essays which raise questions about the broader political connections between clinical institutions and society as a whole.

A must-read for those with an interest in psychotherapy, psychiatric institutions, or the interplay of psychiat

Pierre Delion is Professor Emeritus in the faculty of medicine at Lille, a child psychiatrist, and a psychoanalyst. His work is as straightforward as it is affecting but is little read in the English-speaking world due to a lack of translation into English. Matthew Bowker, in his excellent translation, rectifies this unfortunate deficit to introduce English-language readers to the affecting and wide-ranging work of Pierre Delion through two of his best-known essays. What is Institutional Psychotherapy? examines the psychiatric establishment and institution, arguing that for institutional psychotherapy to be effective, we must “care for the institution” just as we must attend to the “transferential constellation” of the patient, the latter of which emerges only when the institution respects all the voices (including the patient’s) involved in the patient’s care. And, as Delion duly notes: “What holds for person-to-person psychiatry also holds true for democracy.” The Republic of False Selves maintains that our social bonds have been damaged or destroyed to the extent that the practice and meaning of democracy itself are now in question. Democracy, for Delion, “refers not only to forms of government, but also to a society based on freedom and equality, or more generally still, to a set of values: political, social, or cultural ideals and principles.” The democratic project, then, is threatened by contemporary political events, media images, neoliberal and techno-bureaucratic interventions, and even or especially the treatment of the mentally ill. The combination of these two works into a single text invites readers to consider the broader political connections between the clinical institution and society as a whole. Delion’s careful thoughtfulness paired with his vast experience and understanding opens up new avenues of discovery to the reader.

Translator's introduction by Matthew H. Bowker About the author About the translator What is Institutional Psychotherapy?: A Conversation with Yasuo Miwaki Note on the Present Work 1. Establishments and Institutions 2. Active Therapy 2.1. Insanity and Social Alienation 2.2. Multi-referential Transference and Dissociated Transference 2.3. What is a Transferential Constellation? 2.4. Transferential Constellations and Organizational Difficulties 2.5. Projective Identification and Adhesive Identification 3. Institutional Psychotherapy and Antipsychiatry 4. Transversality and Institutional Analysis 5. Home Function 6. Continuity of Care 7. The Flesh, the Thing 8. Deinstitutionalize? 9. Sector Psychiatry 10. Work and Adaptation The Republic of False Selves Preface 1. Politics 2. Media, Opinions, Images 3. But What is a False Self? 4. Societal Changes in Relation to the Inflation of the Image 5. Discomfort in the Helping Relationship 6. Is There Still a Subject in Man? 7. The Psychiatric Revolution 8. Sector Psychiatry and Institutional Psychotherapy 9. Medicine with a Human Face 10. Human Psychiatry 11. By Way of Conclusion,

Translator’s introduction by Matthew H. Bowker
About the author
About the translator

What is Institutional Psychotherapy?: A Conversation with Yasuo Miwaki
Note on the Present Work

1. Establishments and Institutions
2. Active Therapy

2.1. Insanity and Social Alienation
2.2. Multi-referential Transference and Dissociated Transference
2.3. What is a Transferential Constellation?
2.4. Transferential Constellations and Organizational Difficulties
2.5. Projective Identification and Adhesive Identification

3. Institutional Psychotherapy and Antipsychiatry
4. Transversality and Institutional Analysis
5. Home Function
6. Continuity of Care
7. The Flesh, the Thing
8. Deinstitutionalize?
9. Sector Psychiatry
10. Work and Adaptation

The Republic of False Selves
Preface

1. Politics
2. Media, Opinions, Images
3. But What is a False Self?
4. Societal Changes in Relation to the Inflation of the Image
5. Discomfort in the Helping Relationship
6. Is There Still a Subject in Man?
7. The Psychiatric Revolution
8. Sector Psychiatry and Institutional Psychotherapy
9. Medicine with a Human Face
10. Human Psychiatry
11. By Way of Conclusion

• By (author) Pierre Delion
• Translated by Matthew H. Bowker