About this event

Join us for our next installment in our policial mind series with speaker, Dr Allan Shafer and Chair: Phillip Stokoe.

'Does psychoanalysis have the potential to intervene in the proliferation of hate in society?'

"I imagine," said James Baldwin, "one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."

A key focus will be on the divisive and paranoiagenic role of hate amidst rising violence: racism, domestic abuse, child exploitation, climate crisis, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, fundamentalism, and fascism. How does hate hinder thought and understanding?

Can psychoanalytic thinking penetrate these dynamics? And ultimately, can it contribute to strengthening social bonds?

Does psychoanalysis have the potential to intervene in the proliferation of hate in society?

Allan Shafer, MA (Clinical Psychology), D Litt et Phil, Dr Allan Shafer, Clinical Psychologist, is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and a socioanalytic organisation consultant in private practice in Melbourne, and an international group relations consultant. He is a member of the Victorian Association of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists, was an Executive member of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association of Australasia and a former President of Group Relations Australia. He has published numerous articles and chapters in psychotherapeutic and socioanalytic journals and books. Dr Shafer has directed or consulted on the staff of Tavistock-style group relations conferences in Australia, the UK, Europe, India, China, Israel, Poland and Taiwan. He was the associate director of the Tavistock Institute’s 2019 “Leicester Conference”.

Please note: This event will be recorded and available for 1 week to all registered participants.

Concession tickets are available, for students, BPAS candidates and NHS trainees. Please email [email protected] if you are unsure if you qualify for a concession ticket.

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Views and opinions expressed by speakers are their own and do not represent the views or opinions of the Institute, event organisers or other speakers. We expect delegates to respect the confidentiality of clinical material discussed in our events. The content must not be recorded, conveyed or disseminated in any format and participants must not share access to the event with non-registered participants.

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