Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy

Bibliography: leaves 64-71. === This dissertation explores the relevance of Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue for the theory and practice of psychotherapy. In particular, Buber's distinction between I-Thou and I-It modes of relating, his understanding of sickness and healing as occurri...

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Main Author: Solomons, Jason Charles
Other Authors: Swartz, Sally
Format: Dissertation
Language:English
Published: University of Cape Town 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8606
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spelling ndltd-netd.ac.za-oai-union.ndltd.org-uct-oai-localhost-11427-86062020-10-06T05:11:25Z Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy Solomons, Jason Charles Swartz, Sally Clinical Psychology Bibliography: leaves 64-71. This dissertation explores the relevance of Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue for the theory and practice of psychotherapy. In particular, Buber's distinction between I-Thou and I-It modes of relating, his understanding of sickness and healing as occurring in the "between" of relation, and his thoughts on psychotherapy are examined. It is argued that his work in these areas can make a contribution to the field of psychotherapy by providing a broad, coherent relational philosophy in which to place many of the insights of different schools of psychotherapy, while also helping to provide an understanding of the source of some of the current debates and tensions within the field. The contribution that Buber's work can make to key theoretical questions in psychotherapy, such as the unit of study in therapy, the goal and direction of therapy, and the agent of change and healing are explored. The challenges that Buber's concept of "healing through meeting" presents to orthodox psychoanalytic theory is examined, together with the correspondence between his work and recent trends within psychoanalytic theory towards a more relational approach. Further, some guidelines for the practice of psychotherapy are examined. Buber's concept of the therapist's need for "existential trust" and his/her ability to see the patient as a whole unique person are explored, together with the blocks to dialogue and meeting in the therapy relationship that are created by both the therapist and psychoanalytic theory. The thesis ends with a critique of Buber and an examination of the relevance of his philosophy for both psychotherapy and wider social issues in the South African context. 2014-10-18T06:01:34Z 2014-10-18T06:01:34Z 2003 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8606 eng application/pdf University of Cape Town Faculty of Humanities Department of Psychology
collection NDLTD
language English
format Dissertation
sources NDLTD
topic Clinical Psychology
spellingShingle Clinical Psychology
Solomons, Jason Charles
Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy
description Bibliography: leaves 64-71. === This dissertation explores the relevance of Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue for the theory and practice of psychotherapy. In particular, Buber's distinction between I-Thou and I-It modes of relating, his understanding of sickness and healing as occurring in the "between" of relation, and his thoughts on psychotherapy are examined. It is argued that his work in these areas can make a contribution to the field of psychotherapy by providing a broad, coherent relational philosophy in which to place many of the insights of different schools of psychotherapy, while also helping to provide an understanding of the source of some of the current debates and tensions within the field. The contribution that Buber's work can make to key theoretical questions in psychotherapy, such as the unit of study in therapy, the goal and direction of therapy, and the agent of change and healing are explored. The challenges that Buber's concept of "healing through meeting" presents to orthodox psychoanalytic theory is examined, together with the correspondence between his work and recent trends within psychoanalytic theory towards a more relational approach. Further, some guidelines for the practice of psychotherapy are examined. Buber's concept of the therapist's need for "existential trust" and his/her ability to see the patient as a whole unique person are explored, together with the blocks to dialogue and meeting in the therapy relationship that are created by both the therapist and psychoanalytic theory. The thesis ends with a critique of Buber and an examination of the relevance of his philosophy for both psychotherapy and wider social issues in the South African context.
author2 Swartz, Sally
author_facet Swartz, Sally
Solomons, Jason Charles
author Solomons, Jason Charles
author_sort Solomons, Jason Charles
title Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy
title_short Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy
title_full Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy
title_fullStr Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy
title_full_unstemmed Healing through meeting : Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy
title_sort healing through meeting : martin buber's philosophy of dialogue and its relevance for the theory and the practice of psychotherapy
publisher University of Cape Town
publishDate 2014
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8606
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