Being a graduate from 3 years of studying psych and with an active experience of mental illness, I can say that no amount of studying theory and doing therapy+ taking meds for years helped me realize the root of my problems and my worth as a human. more than Marxist analysis. I live to be a part of the revolution, and as long as psychotherapy reinforces the client to believe in themselves and to accept the realities of it is what it is, it will never achieve its job of liberating the person. There is a need for psychology to gain a Marxist perspective, more so from modern day leftists in the mental health field.
Thanks for this. I’ll look into it.
I have to say that just learning about Marxist dialectics did wonders for my mental health. I haven’t suffered from a job rejection ever since, for example (I’ve still been rejected or outright ignored enough times!). It’s just how things are under capitalism, which needs a reserve army of labour. And I haven’t worried so much about having to move for work ever since, either. Workers are forced to be nomadic under capitalism. I find it a lot easier to accept these things now that I understand that I am floating on geopolitical currents. The contradictions between reality and bourgeois idealism were the cause of a lot of angst, as I sure they are for others. Simply understanding the dialectics involved makes life a lot more manageable.
Yea totally! Being able to point the blame somewhere accurately instead of internalizing our lack of success as some personal failure is pretty nice.