The following is excerpted from the excellent anthology, edited by Susan Levine, At the Foot of the Volcano: Reflections on Teaching at a South African University (2018, Human Sciences Research Council Press). Instead of conforming to the logic and rhetoric of elitist...
read more
Critique and Praxis: Commentaries
Introducing Bodymind Healing: A Bibliographic Guide for Students
The Parkmore Institute asked Professor Greg Johanson to provide a bibliography of what he considers a useful approach to studying the literature in bodymind healing. Professor Johanson notes that his list includes items from the early days of somatic psychotherapy,...
read moreParkmore Institute Professor Wins Prestigious Gradiva Award!
As is well known, in recent years some of the most provocatively challenging and intellectually intriguing developments have come from the arena of quantum physics. These developments have stimulated many thinkers to consider what quantum reality means for everyday...
read moreOn Waking Up to Coloniality: An Invitation
It seems that every few decades the dominant paradigms in social theory start to crumble and are replaced by paradigms that supposedly correct for the deficiencies of the former. Then the new paradigms are revealed to be insufficient and are themselves displaced....
read moreSouth African government culls psychiatric patients for financial and political gain
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...
read moreThinking 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 more
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.