Diversity, Intersectionality & Psychotherapy
We live in a challenging age. With the death of George Floyd, the subsequent marches across the world against racism, the struggles of the #Metoo movement, campaigns for equal rights for the LGBTQ community, and the rise of Disability theorists. Yet, all these efforts towards equality in the face of varying types of oppression speak loudly of the voices of the others and their need to be heard and acknowledged. Within psychotherapy and psychology though, difference and diversity trainings have been slow in turning their considerable talents towards exploring or understanding the experiences of the other, often doing no more than to mirror the wider societal oppressions we all witness daily.
This morning session is designed to give facilitators, supervisors, lecturers, and markers an insight into the latest thinking around privilege and otherness within the profession. Drawing upon the idea of intersectionality, this taster presents a more nuanced, psychotherapeutic understanding of difference and diversity.
Reading Recommendations:
Books and Articles:
- Aboud, F. E. (1988). Children and Prejudice. Basil Blackwell Limited. Aboud, F. E. (1993). The developmental psychology of racial prejudice. Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, 30, 229–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/136346159303000303 Brewster, F. (2020).
- The Racial Complex: A Jungian perspective on culture and race. Routledge. Buber, M. (2010). I and Thou. Martino Publishing Limited. Diangelo, R. (2011).
- White fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3), 54–70. file:///C:/Users/CSWAC/Documents/CSWAC/Research articles/White fragility.pdf (her book White Fragility is also excellent)
- Freud, S. (1930). Civilisation and its discontents. Penguin Limited.
- Frosh, S. (2002). The Other. American Imago, 59(4), 389–407. https://doi.org/10.1353/aim.2002.0025
- Frosh, S., & Baraitser, L. (2003). Thinking, recognition, and otherness. Psychoanalytic Review, 90(6), 771–789. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15150846
- Spivak, G. (1993). Echo. New Literary History, 24(1), 17–43.
Podcasts:
- Kicking the Kyriarchy (intersectional feminists talking about difference):
- https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/kicking-the-kyriarchy/id1108149497
- Being LGBTQ: https://www.beinglgbtq.com/
- The Partially Examined Life (existentialism and philosophy – this episode has the brilliant Judith Butler who is very well versed in psychodynamic theory): https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/?s=judith+butler
- New Books in Psychoanalysis (this edition has the brilliant psychodynamic psychotherapist and feminist Carol Gilligan):
- https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/carol-gilligan-naomi-snider-whydoes-patriarchy-persist/id423338807?i=1000465134385
About the Speaker:

Dr Dwight Turner, PhD
Dr Dwight Turner is a psychotherapist, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the School of Applied Social Science at Brighton University. Dr Turner casts an intersectional lens on privilege, supremacy, otherness and social justice. He was invited to deliver the keynote presentation at the BACP’s ‘Working with Diversity’ Conference in 2019.
His recent blog post – “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” addressed the anguish and the action that has risen from the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and has been widely read by UK and US therapists. Dr Turner’s new book: ‘Linking Intersectional Theory of Privilege and Otherness to Counselling and Psychotherapy’ will be published by Routledge. You can keep up to date with his work and latest blog posts at: https://www.dwightturnercounselling.co.uk/ and follow him on twitter @Dturner300.
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Next Event:
- University of Greenwich, 10 Stockwell Street Greenwich, London, SE10 9BD, United Kingdom
- 26/06/2022

Upcoming at TWU
This episode is sponsored by our upcoming Day on Changing Consciousness, taking place at the University of Greenwich on 26th June, 2022.
This will be The Weekend University’s first ‘in person’ event in over two years, and it’s shaping up to be a special occasion. The lectures will focus on consciousness paradigms that go beyond the brain, how they work, why they matter, and how understanding them can enhance your everyday experience of reality, with talks on:
–> Panpsychism: Is Everything Conscious? – Dr Philip Goff, PhD
–> From Ego-Centric to Eco-Centric: Changing Consciousness through Psychedelics – Dr Sam Gandy, PhD
–> Is Reality an Illusion? – Professor Donald Hoffman, PhD (via live video link)
By attending live, you can interact with the speakers in the Q&A sessions, connect with like-minded participants during the conference, and get CPD certification.
Should you be unable to attend in person, you’ll also be able to tune in from the comfort of home with a “Livestream Pass”.
As a listener of this podcast, you can get a discount on your ticket, if you go to https://bit.ly/ccj-twu, and use the discount code: POD when registering.