Psychological and psychotherapeutic orientations often neglect the notion that the individual is not one unit, but rather a coalition of affects. Providing a multi-disciplinary framework for the practice of psychotherapy and philosophy, this book explores and embraces this multiplicity within the human psyche and challenges the reader to explore and celebrate difference within society.

Chapters reframe the breadth and scope of psychotherapy as an endeavour at the service of both healing and care, while also fostering bold exploration, emphasizing the risk and adventure of being alive. Through clinical studies, first-person accounts, forays into contemporary philosophy, psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, and the Arts, this book presents insights that encourage readers to be in the world with courage, compassion, and kindness, with the sense that we don’t have to know who we are before becoming active citizens of the world. Bazzano then extends that exploration to the domain of public life by examining contemporary challenges related to climate change, race, gender, ethnicity, and more.

This book is essential reading for therapy practitioners, and professionals of related disciplines, who want to expand their knowledge and find different ways to understand and practice their art.

Manu Bazzano, PhD is a writer, psychotherapist, Zen priest and Butoh dancer. He is a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University, Goldsmiths College London, and founder of Affect Therapy.