Racial Encounters in Research Seminar

Professor Claudia Bernard and Dr Sally Skaife
Department of Social and Community Studies
15 June 2016, 4-6pm

In this seminar we seek to enable discussion about encounters in research which concern marginalized voices and attempts to make them heard. We posit that interrogation of the position of the researcher can generate understanding of how gendered, raced and classed identities are thought about in the research process. We will demonstrate this through discussion of qualitative research, with women by women, carried out with therapeutic groups for victims of torture and teenage mothers with traumatic childhood experiences.

We suggest that ongoing, reflexive analysis of researcher positionality in research, affords insightful and in-depth understanding of the often covert, overt and nuanced processes of race and racism in practice. Key ideas considered throughout are insider/outsider status, white privilege, inter-racial/intra-racial dynamics and othering.

Racial Encounters in Research Seminar (PDF Download)

MA Art Pychotherapy Previous exhibitions

MA Art Psychotherapy Exhibition 2014 (PDF Download)

Past Events

"Only Connect." Siege, Trauma and Attachment in Gaza. 

Lessons from Palestine Trauma Centre in Gaza about Family and Community Therapy. 

As part of our Psychosocial Open Talks Series we are delighted to invite you to a talk presented by Dr Mohamed Altawil and David Harrold on the work of the Palestine Trauma Centre

Find out more about the Palestine Trauma Centre

"One person suffering from PTSD in a family affects all the rest: everyone becomes in a state of hyper-vigilance. The sufferer’s symptoms seem bizarre at best, intolerable at worst. Imagine if you have tens, or thousands, of people all living together, who have these kinds of symptoms. Together, it makes for a psychotic society."

There will be a panel discussion with:

Dr. Maya Mukamel

(Lecturer in MA Counselling - Department of Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies)

Dr. Chrysanthi Nigianni

(Lecturer in BA Psychosocial Studies - Department of Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies)

This talk is free to attend, if you are interested in booking a place please contact Michela Goddard on m.goddard(@gold.ac.uk) 

Queer Social Dreaming Matrix Workshop

A gathering for people who identify as LGBTQI (and allies) to share dreams. We will not 'interpret' these dreams on an individual level, but we will share our responses to them and make connections where possible, seeing what meanings may emerge for our community. Come along if you're interested in dreams, creativity, imagination and new thinking.

The Workshop is free but early booking is required.

For booking please e-mail Michela Goddard on m.goddard(@gold.ac.uk)

Social Dreaming was (re) discovered by the group analyst Gordon Lawrence, who observed that some dreams in groups speak to the whole group or even the societal level and not just the individual. Since then, this ,ethod has been used in a wide range of settings, from teenagers and groups of rappers to business consultancy and trainee theatre directors. It is an experiential process in which people gather and share their dreams. The aim is the share associations to the dreams (including more dreams) and not interpretations. We are not trying to work out the meaning of the dream individually for the dreamer, but for the group and the wider community. The result is that new threads are often discovered and new thinking emerges. A Queer Social Dreaming Matrix  has been taking place in London in the past year. The two facilitators wondred if dreams by queer people would reveal a different quality: could it be that more of our wishes and desires have to be channeled to our dream life because of lack of visibility and of internalised oppression? 

Facilitators:

Laurie Slade is a UKCP registered analytical psychotherapist, in private practice in West London. He is a member of the Guild of Psychotherapists, the Confederation for Analytical Psychology, and the International Neuropsychoanalysis Association. He has been actively involved in social dreaming since 2001, hosting sessions in a wide variety of contexts, in the UK and abroad. 'Image to Gesture', his account of a 4- year project using social dreaming to facilitate creativity for student theatre directors, was published in W.Gordon Lawrence's The Creativity of Social Dreaming (2010). 

George Taxidis is a therapeutic counsellor, registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MSc - MBACP). He is in private practice in East London and is currently training in Jungian Analysis. He has a background in political activism and is a member of Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility. He has been involved in Social Dreaming since 2013 and has set up Queer Social Dreaming with Laurie Slade. 

Creativity and Expression as a Therapeutic Process 

As part of our Psychosocial Open Talks Series we are delighted to invite you to a One Day Workshop with Frances Walton.

This is an experiential workshop that focuses on the healing aspects of creativity and expression and reflects on visual arts as a medium to think and talk about emotions outside the realm of words and language. 

The workshop is open to all and no previous experience is required.

Please come wearing casual clothes - we will be using a range of art materials for experiential learning. Materials are provided and there will be a short refreshment break. 

The event is free but early booking is required. 

For booking please contact Michela Goddard on m.goddard (@gold.ac.uk) 

About the Facilitator Frances Walton:

After gaining a degree in Fine Art in 1987, Frances has worked extensively in supporting and facilitating a diverse range of people in various settings through the use of art making. She qualified as an art psychotherapist in 2001 and continued to develop her individual and group work practice. Frances has developed an Art therapy service within a large Mental NHS trust –specializing in mental health rehabilitation and community art therapy groups. She is interested in the transition taken up by people managing and adapting to change between institution and community. Her interest in the understanding of unconscious psychological and systemic group processes within art therapy groups, and the development of multi-disciplinary team work through supervision, reflection and clinical review has culminated in the completion of a Masters in working with groups at the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust. She has continued to be active in my own art making process and exhibit regularly in group shows.

Participants will be provided with a certificate of attendance by the Department of Social Therapeutic and Community Studies (STACS).

The Art of Psychotherapy: Workshop and Seminar

Our new Psychosocial Open Talks Series will be inaugurated with a Taster Event in Psychosocial Studies. The Taster Event will offer prospective undergraduate students a taste of what it is like to study in the programme of mPsychosocial Studies at Goldsmiths College.

The Workshop/Seminar is free but early booking is required.

For booking please e-mail Michela Goddard on m.goddard(@gold.ac.uk) 

For information about the Taster Event or Psychosocial Studies at Goldsmiths contact Dr Chrysanthi Nigianni on c.nigianni(@gold.ac.uk)

Day Programme

Conference - Safeguarding Black Children: Good Practice in Child Protection

Wednesday 25 January 2017 10am - 4pm. King’s College London

As the population of black children has become much more culturally diverse in the UK, safeguarding and promoting their welfare has thus become more complex and challenging. Precisely because black children are so culturally and ethnically diverse, the child protection issues arising for them are multifaceted and perplexing. Sexual, emotional and physical abuse within the family environment, abuse related to belief in witchcraft, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, and sexual exploitation in gang associated circumstances are just some of the examples of different kinds of abuse suffered by black children and young people in Britain. Such abuse experiences are made even more difficult because, as black children, they also suffer racism and discrimination. This conference seeks to address the particular cultural and social issues that affect black children in relation to child protection.

Programme