Farhad Dalal - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Farhad Dalal

Research paper thumbnail of Psychoanalysis and racism

Research paper thumbnail of Fanon: the colonial context

Research paper thumbnail of Master-myths and identity formation

Research paper thumbnail of Forgiving the Unforgivable: Mortals, Saints and Sinners

Group Analysis, Jul 11, 2016

This article is a personal reflection on the nature of the complexity called forgiveness. The art... more This article is a personal reflection on the nature of the complexity called forgiveness. The article tries to avoid moralizing by situating the reflection in the social and personal context of the author. Through this route reasons are established as to why it is difficult to be a reflective citizen, and why the author is more prone to being a paralyzed citizen. The individualistic and internalist account of forgiveness is discredited, and it is argued that forgiveness is a property of the network. The article argues for the necessity of 'recognition' prior to any possibility of forgiveness, and in this work the bystander is allocated a central role.

Research paper thumbnail of It’s not in the bottle: research, ethics & psychotherapy

Psychodynamic Practice, Feb 21, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of How could they?: Hyper-rational responsibility and the ethics of managerialism

Psychotherapy Section Review, 2019

The paper is a critique of managerialist ethics. I argue that managerialism utilises a perverse f... more The paper is a critique of managerialist ethics. I argue that managerialism utilises a perverse form of consequentialism and a distorted version of Kantian deontology to create a culture that is both punitive and authoritarian. I attend to the question ‘How could they?’ by calling on Buber to reflect on dehumanization processes which make it possible to harm others, and on managerialist deontology to explain how it is possible to feel virtuous whilst doing so. I examine how bureaucracy and hierarchy are utilised to dissipate responsibility and avoid blame at the level of institution, and to attribute blame to individual workers trying to do the right thing. Finally, I describe some of the problematic managerialist practices taking place in IAPT, to show how they fashion and sustain an illusory reality.

Research paper thumbnail of Psychotherapy: A kind of clinical philosophy?

Group Analysis, Jan 4, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of The tsunami begins

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: The Implicated Subject: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators

Group Analysis, Nov 22, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Statistical spin, linguistic obfuscation or how 14 per cent is turned into 50 per cent

CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Good science

CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Nice

Research paper thumbnail of Master-myths and identity formation

Research paper thumbnail of The tsunami begins

Research paper thumbnail of Power: the generator of difference

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: Unsettling Empathy: Working with Groups in Conflict

Research paper thumbnail of CBF: Cognitive behavioral fallacies

Routledge eBooks, Feb 3, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: The Making of Psychotherapists: An Anthropological Analysis

Research paper thumbnail of Thought Paralysis: The Virtues of Discrimination

... Mr Blair's version was: “You either support the war on Iraq, or you are a lover and ... more ... Mr Blair's version was: “You either support the war on Iraq, or you are a lover and supporter of the despot Saddam”. There is the Islamist's binaried vision: “You accept the words of Mohammed (as I decree them) or you are an infidel deserving of death”. ...

Research paper thumbnail of CBT treatment

CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Psychoanalysis and racism

Research paper thumbnail of Fanon: the colonial context

Research paper thumbnail of Master-myths and identity formation

Research paper thumbnail of Forgiving the Unforgivable: Mortals, Saints and Sinners

Group Analysis, Jul 11, 2016

This article is a personal reflection on the nature of the complexity called forgiveness. The art... more This article is a personal reflection on the nature of the complexity called forgiveness. The article tries to avoid moralizing by situating the reflection in the social and personal context of the author. Through this route reasons are established as to why it is difficult to be a reflective citizen, and why the author is more prone to being a paralyzed citizen. The individualistic and internalist account of forgiveness is discredited, and it is argued that forgiveness is a property of the network. The article argues for the necessity of 'recognition' prior to any possibility of forgiveness, and in this work the bystander is allocated a central role.

Research paper thumbnail of It’s not in the bottle: research, ethics & psychotherapy

Psychodynamic Practice, Feb 21, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of How could they?: Hyper-rational responsibility and the ethics of managerialism

Psychotherapy Section Review, 2019

The paper is a critique of managerialist ethics. I argue that managerialism utilises a perverse f... more The paper is a critique of managerialist ethics. I argue that managerialism utilises a perverse form of consequentialism and a distorted version of Kantian deontology to create a culture that is both punitive and authoritarian. I attend to the question ‘How could they?’ by calling on Buber to reflect on dehumanization processes which make it possible to harm others, and on managerialist deontology to explain how it is possible to feel virtuous whilst doing so. I examine how bureaucracy and hierarchy are utilised to dissipate responsibility and avoid blame at the level of institution, and to attribute blame to individual workers trying to do the right thing. Finally, I describe some of the problematic managerialist practices taking place in IAPT, to show how they fashion and sustain an illusory reality.

Research paper thumbnail of Psychotherapy: A kind of clinical philosophy?

Group Analysis, Jan 4, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of The tsunami begins

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: The Implicated Subject: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators

Group Analysis, Nov 22, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Statistical spin, linguistic obfuscation or how 14 per cent is turned into 50 per cent

CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Good science

CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Nice

Research paper thumbnail of Master-myths and identity formation

Research paper thumbnail of The tsunami begins

Research paper thumbnail of Power: the generator of difference

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: Unsettling Empathy: Working with Groups in Conflict

Research paper thumbnail of CBF: Cognitive behavioral fallacies

Routledge eBooks, Feb 3, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: The Making of Psychotherapists: An Anthropological Analysis

Research paper thumbnail of Thought Paralysis: The Virtues of Discrimination

... Mr Blair's version was: “You either support the war on Iraq, or you are a lover and ... more ... Mr Blair's version was: “You either support the war on Iraq, or you are a lover and supporter of the despot Saddam”. There is the Islamist's binaried vision: “You accept the words of Mohammed (as I decree them) or you are an infidel deserving of death”. ...

Research paper thumbnail of CBT treatment

CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of CBT - The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami Introduction

CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami: Managerialism, Politics, and the Corruptions of Science, 2018

Is CBT all it claims to be? CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami: Managerialism, Politics, and ... more Is CBT all it claims to be? CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami: Managerialism, Politics, and the Corruptions of Science provides a powerful critique of CBT’s understanding of human suffering, as well as the apparent scientific basis underlying it. The book argues that CBT psychology has fetishized measurement to such a degree that it has come to believe that only the countable counts. It suggests that the so-called science of CBT is not just ‘bad science’ but ‘corrupt
science’.

The rise of CBT has been fostered by neoliberalism and the phenomenon of New Public Management. The book not only critiques the science, psychology and philosophy of CBT, but also challenges the managerialist mentality and its hyper-rational understanding of ‘effi ciency’, both of which are commonplace in organizational life today. The book suggests that these are perverse forms of thought, which have been institutionalised by NICE and IAPT and used by them to generate narratives of CBT’s prowess. It claims that CBT is an exercise in
symptom reduction which vastly exaggerates the degree to which symptoms are reduced, the durability of the improvement, as well as the numbers of people it helps.

Arguing that CBT is neither the cure nor the scientifi treatment it claims to be, the book also serves as a broader cultural critique of the times we live in; a critique which draws on philosophy and politics, on economics and psychology, on sociology and history, and ultimately, on the idea of science itself.