Sometime in 2015, the government of Gauteng Province (which surrounds Johannesburg and is home to over 25% of South Africa’s population) decided to save money by deinstitutionalizing a substantial portion of the inpatient psychiatric population in its care. As...
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Commentaries
Thinking about Books…one psychoanalyst’s perspective
After forty five years of psychoanalytic practice, it is not a particularly easy task to pick out ten books that I believe are singularly important for anyone wishing to understand psychoanalysis ‑‑‑ as a theory of the mind, a cultural critique and a therapeutic practice. I will inevitably leave out some essential texts out (e.g., the works of Sándor Ferenczi and Otto Fenichel). I read many of the books I have listed many years ago. Yet they were formative of my thinking in a foundational way.
read moreBeyond the Pursuit of ‘Happiness’ – The Continuum of Participation Provocative and Progressive Ideas for Mental Health Professionals
I’ll cut to the chase. My sense is that most therapists and counselors accept without question their clients’ particular goals, whether they be to heal from trauma, overcome depression, improve a relationship, become more productive, or work through a loss. (Of...
read moreA Psychoanalytic Perspective on Psycho/Socio/Political Phenomena
As a psychoanalyst, I often try to understand psychosocial phenomena from a psychoanalytic perspective. For this brief overview, I will discuss the current state of our socio/political climate from a developmental viewpoint as well as from the perspective of current...
read moreBody Language: Are men, by their nature, brutish? (Men will only really change if they are willing to examine their fantasies and feelings authentically)
Published in South Africa’s Mail and Guardian, January 5th to 11th, 2018, page 15. South Africa is a worldwide frontrunner in rape and domestic violence. The international news is now also focused on powerful men’s mistreatment of women in the USA (Donald Trump, Bill...
read moreSupporting Professionals as Change Agents: Why Alternative Educational Opportunities are Urgently Needed!
The writings of the late Paulo Freire, most notably his Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which was first published in Portuguese in 1968, continue today to serve as major references on education for critical thinking and literacy, as well as the methods of dialogical...
read moreRevisiting the “Dialectics of Liberation” 50 Years Later
Exactly fifty years ago, in July 1967, a group of scholars and activists gathered in London at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm for a now famous Congress on the Dialectics of Liberation. It was a powerful moment, just a year before the worldwide revolutionary...
read moreEducate for Real Change!
With permission of Professor Yusef Waghid of the University of Stellenbosch, the Parkmore Institute republishes here his commentary that appeared in the 9th June 2017 issue of South Africa’s Mail and Guardian. Although his focus is the tertiary education system in...
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The Parkmore Institute has offices in South Africa (Johannesburg, Gauteng) and the USA (Wilmington, Delaware). However, it is currently expanding and welcomes applications from prospective students, as well as potential Faculty and Fellows, from all parts of the world.