My New Podcast Series: 'Taking the Mystery Out of Therapy'

My office in Cawdor, Scottish Highlands

I usually write here about Palestine-related topics, but today I’m sharing something different: a new podcast series I’ve just launched called ‘Taking the Mystery Out of Psychotherapy’.

As many readers know, I’m a psychotherapist. Over the years I have come to realise that most people have little understanding of what psychotherapy actually is, how it works, and what therapists do. I don’t blame anyone for being suspicious of psychology and psychotherapy. Since the 1980s, as neoliberalism has tightened its grip on society, the profound achievements of the humanistic and existential movements in psychology have been systematically rolled back. I consider most what we have now a complete betrayal of our humanity.

Good science, lived experience, and ancient wisdom all converge on the same truth: no individual exists in isolation. We are, by and large, products of our environment, we are naturally interdependent and we also depend on our physical environment. You cannot expect anyone to be psychologically well or to grow to their potential whilst living in miserable conditions—whilst being oppressed, persecuted, abused, or otherwise feeling fundamentally unsafe. Most of what passes for therapy today amounts to little more than symptom management. To pretend that managing symptoms constitutes genuine therapy is, frankly, utterly disingenuous.

The vast majority of people come to therapy not because they are crazy or ‘malfunctioning’, but because they’re in a state of suffering. To recognise that society shapes us and is responsible for our psychological suffering is to acknowledge that psychology and psychotherapy are political by their very nature.

In his book Politics on the Couch (2001), Andrew Samuels says:

“Along with the expected problems—relationship difficulties, early traumas, feelings of emptiness—we see ecological and other crises presented as sources of symptoms and causes of unhappiness in individuals. From a psychological point of view, the world is making people unwell; it follows that, for people to feel better, the world’s situation needs to change. But perhaps this is too passive: perhaps for people to feel better, they have to recognize that the human psyche is a political psyche and hence consider doing something about the state the world is in.” (p.21)

The expectation that people should simply cope in a world that is hurting them is not only a betrayal—it also avoids acknowledging that things need to change. This is why I see no contradiction between being a therapist and a political activist. All my clients go on to become more involved in the world around them in some form, each responding to their own passions and using their skills and abilities. Real psychotherapy helps people become agents of change in society but without becoming drained or disillusioned. (You can read more about this in my essay, Transcending Helplessness & Powerlessness).

My education in psychotherapy took place during the final years when existential and humanistic approaches were still considered mainstream. However, by the time I qualified, individualistic approaches focused on symptom management and the medicalisation of mental health had gained a stranglehold on society. They now drive government policy and dominate medical and mental health practice.

GPs with minimal or no mental health training are permitted—even encouraged—to prescribe mind-altering, addictive, sometimes dangerous drugs, which often come with serious side effects and can have far-reaching impact on people’s health. This should raise eyebrows but it doesn’t. Medication is appropriate in some situations, but it should not be the norm. This peculiar situation does reveal a great deal about the backwards and unscientific way that our Western capitalist society approaches mental health. Medicating people for psychological suffering, while showing so little interest in why they are suffering or what else is going on in their lives or in their history is, I believe, a political choice.

When I qualified in the late nineties, I felt ready to work, yet I quickly had to acknowledge that I didn’t actually understand how psychotherapy worked. My training felt too abstract and vague. What I had studied wasn’t wrong—it simply wasn’t grounded in anything concrete, which meant I couldn’t explain how therapy worked when it did or what happened when it didn’t.

Fortunately, around the same time, I was introduced to Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), the brainchild of Dr Dan Siegel. IPNB provides the concrete scientific foundation we previously lacked—multidisciplinary, consilient research that incorporates attachment theory and neuroscience and more. IPNB didn’t deliberately set out to do this, but it’s clear that it validates humanistic and existential thinking. I have benefited from IPNB myself in ways I couldn’t imagine. Over many years of working within this framework, I have had the privilege of witnessing how therapy focused on reshaping brain architecture genuinely transforms people’s lives. Rather than managing symptoms, IPNB facilitates growth towards our full humanity and purposeful living—the very essence of humanistic and existential principles, and beyond.

A crucial aspect of IPNB is that clients must understand everything we are doing. Therapy is not a mystery, and therapists do not hoard secret knowledge that clients cannot access. Clients are fully empowered—they know exactly how therapy works and understand our respective roles in the process.

In this podcast series, I'll share everything I know, and everything I share and do with my clients. I believe people from all cultures can embrace this framework and experience the same benefits. We are all human and our brains operate according to the same principles, no matter where we are born or where we live. Unfortunately, the podcasts are only in English, which for now limits them to English speakers.

There are two crucial points to understand about genuine psychotherapy. First, what we consider our psychology is regulated in the brain. Therefore, without changes to our brain architecture—our neural connectivity—our psychology cannot change. Second, therapists cannot change the brain architecture of adult clients in any meaningful way. Therapists are facilitators who work collaboratively with clients, who are the ones actually doing the work to change their brains.

My podcasts are, and will always remain, free to all. Working towards better neural integration—psychotherapy’s primary task—benefits not only us as individuals but everyone and everything connected to our lives. Alongside my advocacy for Palestinian human rights, sharing my professional knowledge through these podcasts stems from my hope that I can contribute something towards a better world.

I have already uploaded three episodes on YouTube and on Spotify, and my aim is to upload a new episode every Wednesday. You can also access the recordings through my website. I have never done this before so I’m on a learning curve. I hope that what I have already posted is clear, accessible and hopefully helpful.

The series will cover many topics from my book series: ‘Fully Human Psychotherapy Tools for Life Series’. The first few podcasts cover the topics in Therapy Without A Therapist more or less in the order.

Both YouTube and Spotify have a comment section. Over time, comments, suggestions or questions from viewers can prompt me to cover additional topics that I might not have thought about. I will always speak only about what I know.

*Please remember that these podcasts are not intended as a substitute for medical or psychological treatment. They should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of any illness. Please seek the advice and care of a professional if you experience symptoms that worry you.*

Thank you!