From: Andrew Phelps <dis_course@yahoo.com>
To: psysr-humanrights@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [PsySR-humanrights] The NDAA, paralyzing fear, and marginalization avoidance
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011, 8:24 AM
Hi
The client/survivors continually engage the "sneer" from clinicians: Instead of learning the problematics of our life projects, and instead of judging how to struggle for social justice for our socially responsible advocacies, our commonplace experience is denial and "sneer" is the upfront manner of expression of denial. The PsySR advocacy represents a re-emphasis on "social responsibility" and many of us find that most encouraging, for its potential collateral effect on our human rights advocacy.
The "sneer" is grounded in political dysfunction of the APA. Bryant Welch' book The State of Confusion shows some of that "dysfunction." The practical problem of client/survivors experiencing "behavior management" reflects a general phenomenology which involves pressure to practice denial. That appears as a "bad habit" and our immediate advocacy would be for such clinicians to upgrade their habits and stop reducing arguments about social responsibility to "sneer" expressions.
I think Srp's point here is well taken. A positive advocacy for PsySR here would not marginalize the organization (as Aei has also indicated) .. and it has the potential for a creative critical direction.
Thank you for listening to my experience as a "mental patient" activist.
Best
Andrew Phelps
On Tue, 12/13/11, Srp wrote:
I worry about long-term effects of PsySR using ridicule as a strategy. There are mmany military and intelligenc sympathizers to PsySR's anti-torture work. This strategy, even though fun and well directed, would alienate some.