In the Western Christian tradition, this phrase would be followed in many people's associations by 'is the root of all evil'. Lesley Murdin will consider the psychoanalytic implications of our relationship with money. At least two of the seven deadly sins (avarice and gluttony) connect with the acquisition and spending of money and at the moment we are all invited to scapegoat 'greedy' bankers, lawyers and in fact anyone who is financially successful. Where money goes, envy soon follows, but the use of money as a means of exchange between disparate objects, rather than staying with all the complexity of bartering, is one of the great achievements of civilisation. Lesley Murdin will raise some controversial questions for the profession about money and relationship.

Lesley Murdin is Chief Executive of WPF Therapy and is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist with a small private practice. She has written on boundaries, particularly on beginning and ending therapeutic work and on ethics. Her experience of running a charity which offers therapy to all including those on low incomes has taught her the importance of money as well as the emotional maelstrom that surrounds it. She has also held office in UKCP as well as in her own Graduate Society.

Renos Papadopoulos
'Beyond love and money; the unique and elusive nature of psychotherapy'

This presentation will endeavour to explore the complex nature of the therapeutic relationship by identifying its various constituting dimensions as well as arguing that it is beyond the sum of all its parts. The Conference title locates the activity of psychotherapy in its professional context and the various paradoxes that emanate from this location will be explored. What is the psychotherapists' expertise of about? Is psychotherapy a profession or a vocation? What parameters construct the psychotherapy service users? What wider societal discourses enable and define psychotherapy as a profession and how do they affect all the implicated parties? Various models of the therapeutic relationship will be developed and it will be argued that psychotherapy involves both love and money and it is also beyond both.

Renos K. Papadopoulos Ph.D. is Professor of Analytical Psychology at the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, Director of the Centre for Trauma, Asylum and Refugees, and a member of the Human Rights Centre, all at the University of Essex, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Tavistock Clinic, training and supervising systemic family psychotherapist and Jungian psychoanalyst in private practice. As consultant to the United Nations and other organizations, he has worked with refugees and other survivors of political violence in many countries. He is the founder and director of the Masters and PhD programmes in Refugee Care that are offered jointly by the University of Essex and the Tavistock Clinic. He lectures internationally, his writings have been published in ten languages and he is the editor of the 'International Journal of Jungian Studies' as well as of the 'The International Series of Psychosocial Perspectives on Trauma, Displaced People and Political Violence' (published by Karnac Books, London).

Booking
The conference fee of £50 (or £35 for psychotherapy trainees).
Numbers are limited. Booking is essential.

The booking form for this conference may be downloaded here:

Booking form
RTF format
PDF format

Enquiries
Please phone 020 7700 1911