Association of Therapeutic Communities
Windsor Conference, 2002

11th September 2002 - Peter van der Linden Lecture

Who's In Charge Here?
Projective Processes, of course!

Dr. Joseph H. Berke

Introduction:

I am going to talk about how projective process dominate relationships, whether with and within individuals, small groups or large groups like a therapeutic community. Of course one doesn't have to be in a therapeutic community for projections to take charge. It happens all the time in everyday life. That is why true or authentic exchanges between people are so difficult and rare.

In this talk I am going to discuss a special projector and special recipient, the Arbours Crisis Centre. In the first part of the presentation I shall consider the Crisis Centre as a target of projections originating from outside the Centre. In other words the originator is or were persons external to the Centre and the Centre was the focus of intensely evacuated impulses.

In the second part of this presentation I shall consider the Crisis Centre as both originator and recipient of the projections. In other words I will be discussing what happens when the projections originate from within the Crisis Centre, from one part of the Centre to another...

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