1st Edition
Deleuze and Psychology Philosophical Provocations to Psychological Practices
An increasing number of scholars, students and practitioners of psychology are becoming intrigued by the ideas of Gilles Deleuze and of Felix Guattari. This book aims to be a critical introduction to these ideas, which have so much to offer psychology in terms of new directions as well as critique.
Deleuze was one of the most prominent philosophers of the 20th century and a figure whose ideas are increasingly influential throughout the humanities and social sciences. His work, particularly his collaborations with psychoanalyst Guattari, focused on the articulation of a philosophy of difference. Rejecting mainstream continental philosophy just as much as the orthodox analytical metaphysics of the English-speaking world, Deleuze proposed a positive and passionate alternative, bursting at the seams with new concepts and new transformations.
This book overviews the philosophical contribution of Deleuze including the project he developed with Guattari. It goes on to explore the application of these ideas in three major dimensions of psychology: its unit of analysis, its method and its applications to the clinic.
Deleuze and Psychology will be of interest to students and scholars of psychology and those interested in continental philosophy, as well as psychological practitioners and therapists.
1. A Walk in the Park 2. A Question of Failed Identity: Psychology’s unit of Analysis 3. Empirical Becomings: The Problematic position of Psychology’s Method 4. The Actuality of Multitudes 5. A Practical Approach: Deleuze and the Clinic
Biography
Maria Nichterlein PhD is a psychologist working both in private practice and as a Senior Clinician at the Youth Brief Intervention Service at Austin CAMHS in Melbourne, Australia.
John R Morss PhD is a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University Law School, and a member of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Melbourne, Australia.
"With Deleuze and Psychology, Maria Nichterlein and John Morss bring the critical and creative potential of Deleuze’s philosophy to bear on psychiatric theory and clinical practice. They do so with deep understanding, analytical clarity and an unwavering commitment to illuminating examples and cases. This is a landmark book on philosophy and psychology." James Williams, author of Gilles Deleuze’s Difference and Repetition: a Critical Introduction and Guide
