
DIPLOMA IN COMMUNITY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
Phenomenology is a discipline which brings into view the phenomena of the world rather than explaining things by some particular schema. Social phenomenology addresses itself to the basic phenomena of ordinary living. The phenomena of ordinary living and community situations has been an enquiry of the PA since its early days. After the Kingsley Hall experiment the PA has fostered some 19 therapeutic community households which have offered refuge and asylum to those who sought it, exploring communal solutions to personal crises to work through situations together in a collective manner.
But it isn’t as easy as saying that community is good and marginalisation is bad. It is possible to feel at home in prison and in prison at home. Thinking about community must also involve thinking about how one group impacts, threatens, ignores, deprives another. Community presupposes conflict.
In the current economic and political climate of austerity which is ushering in the model of computerised quick-fix therapy, community solutions have all but disappeared. Day centres, youth clubs, libraries and other shared spaces have closed down. What is left is a fragmented and afflicted society in what can feel like a hostile environment. Community as a therapeutic ideal remains as elusive as ever yet the need for it is more and more urgent.
Held at the PA premises in Hampstead, north London, the course takes place over six weekends spread out over the academic year. You will encounter various group experiences and seminars discussing Towards a phenomenology of Community, Madness in the Family, Politics and Community, Psychiatry and Institutions, personal journeys.
This course serves as both a stand alone course and an introduction to the PA (including the PA communities) Students may apply to the Psychotherapy training after completing this course.
REQUIREMENTS
Students are required to bring their own experience of group or community work to reflective practice
i.e. a facilitated group which invites exploration about crucial issues necessary to understand the nature of organisations, groups and communities.
Outside of the course weekends students will be offered one tutorial per term and invited to a reading group.
Students can also use the course to devise and set up community groups and take advantage of a range of advice provided by experienced community practitioners as part of the course.
(b) Completion of a satisfactory 4000-word essay reflecting an experience of community work will lead to a Diploma certificate but students can also attend the course without fulfilling this requirement.
APPLICATION AND FEES
Application is by interview, there is a £50 interview fee.
The course costs £840
A limited number of bursaries are available for students surviving on low income.
Interviews begin in late April 2023 to apply Click here for the application form or contact the course coordinators for further information
courses@philadelphia-association.org.uk
In addition to the regular meetings of each individual course, students from all the courses will be invited to attend a series of Saturday morning online seminars. Details to follow
COURSE PROGRAMME 2023/4
Course Coordinators:
Andrea Heath & Lucy King
Reflective Practice Facilitator:
Nicola Saunders
Consciousness-raising Group Facilitator:
Paul Atkinson
Reading Group Facilitator
Iain Strong
Administration:
Sophia Raja
TERM 1
Autumn Term Saturday Seminar
25 November & 2 December 2023
10am - 11.30am
Meaning-Fullness
Jan Resnick
See Here for Details
WEEKEND 1
Phenomenology of Community
Saturday 21 October 2023
Arrivals 10 - 11
Seminar;
11 -12.30
Andreas Constandinos & Ian McMillan
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Seminar;
On Community
Jake Osbourne
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Reflective Practice
Nicola Saunders
Sunday 22 October
10.30 -11 Arrivals
11—12.30 Seminar
Communities that nominate us as members, and communities we elect to join
Jeremy Cutler
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Consciousness-raising Group
Paul Atkinson
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Experiential Group
The experiential group has no agenda apart from attending to how this particular group forms and develops, the contribution each person makes, and whether we can learn from the experience to understand what a group is.
WEEKEND 2
Madness in the family, groups
Saturday 9 December
10.30 — 11.00 Arrivals
11- 12.30 Experiential Group
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Seminar
Scapegoat
Del Loewenthal
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Reflective Practice
Nicola Saunders
Sunday 10 December
10.30 - 11 Arrivals
11—12.30 Seminar
Hell is other people : existential approach to anorexia
Lucia Giombini
Kevin Ball
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Consciousness-raising Group
Paul Atkinson
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Experiential Group
Spring Term Saturday Seminar
January 27 2024
10 - 11.30am
PA Communities- What are we doing there ?
Amy Ison, Kay Holmes, Nina Shores
WEEKEND 3
Politics and Community
Saturday 20 January 2024
10.30 - 11 Arrivals
11 - 12.30 Experiential Group
12.30 — 1.30 Lunch
1.30 — 3.00
Seminar;
Masculinity & can it be called Toxic ?
Lakis Georghiou
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Reflective Practice
Nicola Saunders
Sunday 21 January 2024
11—12.30 Seminar;
The Social Comes First
Paul Gurney
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Consciousness-raising Group
Paul Atkinson
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Experiential Group
WEEKEND 4
Psychiatric Discussions
Saturday 2 March 2024
10.30—11 Arrivals
11 —12.30 Experiential Group
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Seminar;
Psychiatric Discussions
Vincenzo Passante
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Reflective Practice
Nicola Saunders
Sunday 3 March
10.30 - 11 Arrivals
11—12.30 Seminar;
Suicide
Ben Scanlan
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Consciousness-raising Group
Paul Atkinson
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Experiential Group
WEEKEND 5
Personal Journeys
Saturday 13 April
10.30—11 Arrivals & Large Group
11 —12.30 Experiential Group
12.30—1.30 Lunch
!.30 - 3.00
Narratives and Personal Journeys
Emma Stroker
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Reflective Practice
Nicola Saunders
Sunday 14 April
11—12.30 Seminar
Learning how to read again (and again), or teaching how to curse: counter-colonial conversations (can reading poetry help us to listen? Can writing help us to read? And what of responding in kind or with kindness?)
Robbie Lockwood
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Consciousness-raising Group
Paul Atkinson
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Experiential Group
WEEKEND 6
Situations
Saturday 8 June
10.30—11 Arrivals
11.00—12.30
Experiential Group
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Seminar
The Privacy of the Self, the intricacies of personal ,public and relational life.How much do we really want to reveal about ourselves and our innermost thoughts to others?
James Mann
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Reflective Practice
Nicola Saunders
Sunday 9 June
10.30 - 11 Arrivals
11—12.30
Seminar;
Endings
Mark Elmer
12.30—1.30 Lunch
1.30—3 Consciousness-raising Group
Paul Atkinson
3—3.30 Break
3.30—5 Experiential Group
