Videos by David Henderson
Conference: Jungian Psychology & The Human Sciences, International Association for Jungian Studie... more Conference: Jungian Psychology & The Human Sciences, International Association for Jungian Studies, Duquesne University, PA, March 2021 190 views
Books by David Henderson
This book of expert essays explores the concept of the whole as it
operates within the psychology... more This book of expert essays explores the concept of the whole as it
operates within the psychology of Jung, the philosophy of
Deleuze, and selected areas of wider twentieth-century Western
culture, which provided the context within which these two
seminal thinkers worked.
Addressing this topic from a variety of perspectives and
disciplines and with an eye to contemporary social, political, and
environmental crises, the contributors aim to clarify some of the
epistemological and ethical issues surrounding attempts, such as
those of Jung and Deleuze, to think in terms of the whole,
whether the whole in question is a particular bounded system
(such as an organism, person, society, or ecosystem) or, most
broadly, reality as a whole.
Holism: Possibilities and Problems, 2019
Holism: Possibilities and Problems brings together leading contributors in a ground-breaking disc... more Holism: Possibilities and Problems brings together leading contributors in a ground-breaking discussion of holism. The terms ‘holism’ and ‘holistic’ arouse strong emotional responses in contemporary culture, whether this be negative or positive, and the essays in this interdisciplinary collection probe, each in its own way, the possibilities and problems inherent in thinking holistically.
Christian McMillan, Roderick Main and David Henderson bring together established academics and emerging scholars across subject areas and disciplinary approaches to reveal the multiplicity and complexity of issues involved in holism. Divided into four parts, the chapters determine key strands of thinking explicitly or implicitly underpinning contemporary holistic thought, including what ethical conclusions might most reasonably be drawn from such thought. Accessible and diverse, this extensive volume contains chapters from the perspective of history, ecology, psychotherapy, poetry, mythology, and an especially strong representation of continental philosophy and Jungian depth psychology. Due to its multi-disciplinary nature, the book represents an unparalleled discussion of the meanings and implications of holism.
Written by an innovative and international calibre of contributors, this pioneering collection will be essential reading for practitioners in depth psychology and scholars of Jungian studies, as well as academics and students of philosophy, religious studies, spirituality, history and the history of ideas. The book is a rich resource for the enhancement of critical reflection among all those with an interest in holism.
This volume offers a rich tapestry of psychoanalytic thought. The authors demonstrate bold creati... more This volume offers a rich tapestry of psychoanalytic thought. The authors demonstrate bold creativity in their use of psychoanalytic concepts to think about a wide range of problems in philosophy, art and the clinic. The collection grew out of ‘Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society,’ a conference for postgraduate students and research fellows organised by the Centre for Psychoanalysis, Middlesex University, London, in June 2014. The range of themes addressed at the conference demonstrates the interdisciplinary character of psychoanalytic studies.
This book considers apophatic elements in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis through an ex... more This book considers apophatic elements in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis through an examination of Pseudo-Dionysius and C.G. Jung. Pseudo-Dionysius brought together Greek and Biblical currents of negative theology and the via negativa. In this book Henderson discusses how the psychology of Jung can be read as a continuation and extension of the apophatic tradition and identifies neoplatonic themes throughout Jung’s work.
This collection embraces a range of lively and informed discussions of important themes in contem... more This collection embraces a range of lively and informed discussions of important themes in contemporary psychoanalytic discourse. The chapters grow out of presentations at “Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society,” a conference organised by the Centre for Psychoanalysis, Middlesex University, for post-graduate students and research fellows. The essays demonstrate that the future of psychoanalytic studies is full of promise.
Reviews of Apophatic Elements by David Henderson
In this study David Henderson, who teaches and practices psycho-analysis, attempts “to identify a... more In this study David Henderson, who teaches and practices psycho-analysis, attempts “to identify apophatic elements in the theory and practice of C.G. Jung.” (p. 153). The main representative of that tradition studied in this vol- ume is the sixth century mystic Pseudo-Dionysius, who authored such works as The Divine Names and The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. Henderson’s key argu- ment, as spelled out in his opening chapter, is that “psychoanalysis, in this case the psychoanalysis of Jung, can be read as a continuation of the apophatic tradition.” (p. 5)
This work by David Henderson puts forward an entirely plausible thesis: that psychoanalysis in ge... more This work by David Henderson puts forward an entirely plausible thesis: that psychoanalysis in general, and Jung’s psychology in particular, is a modern expression of the apophatic tradition. Apophasis can be translated as ‘unsaying’ or ‘away from speech’, and in religion and philosophy it is linked with the via negativa or negative theology. More broadly, it is associated with the mystical experience of unknowing. Apophasis affirms by negation (saying what it is not) the existence of a mystery in which we are involved, and in relation to which our lives achieve meaning. But this mystery, while felt and intuited, is unknowable. This ought not to provoke nihilism, but on the contrary an affirmative sense that we are resting in the arms of an abiding presence. As soon as we develop fixed ideas or images of this presence, we are in danger of losing touch with it.
Review of Apophatic Elements in the Theory and Practice of Psychoanalysis: Pseudo-Dionysius and C.G. Jung, by David Henderson, reviewed by Louise Nelstrop, Medieval Mystical Theology
Book chapters by David Henderson
Jung, Deleuze and the Problematic Whole. Roderick Main, Christian McMillan and David Henderson (eds.). Routledge: London ISBN 9780367428754 , 2020
Reading Deleuze, one hears Jung. The internal resonance between
Jung’s psychological theory and D... more Reading Deleuze, one hears Jung. The internal resonance between
Jung’s psychological theory and Deleuze’s philosophy is uncanny.
Žižek in characteristically pithy fashion states: ‘No wonder,
then, that an admiration of Jung is Deleuze’s corpse in the closet; the
fact that Deleuze borrowed a key term ( rhizome ) from Jung is not a
mere insignificant accident – rather, it points toward a deeper link’. This deeper link has been more sympathetically explored by
Kerslake, Semetsky, McMillan, and Jenkins. They provide us with the only systematic studies of Deleuze and Jung available thus far. This chapter
is part of an interest in using concepts from the work of Deleuze to
amplify elements of Jung’s theory. In this case, it employs the concepts
of symptomatology, percept and minor literature from Deleuze’s discussion
of the critical and the clinical. As such, it belongs to Jungian
studies rather than constituting an intervention in Deleuzian philosophy.
It is preliminary spadework, experimental exploration of the rhizome,
rather than definitive interpretation.
The debate about the nature of psychoanalytic knowledge has been a perennial theme in psychoanaly... more The debate about the nature of psychoanalytic knowledge has been a perennial theme in psychoanalytic writing. This includes discussions about the scientific status of psychoanalysis, the aims of analysis, the nature of interpretation, the relationship between fantasy and reality, and so on. The ‘talking cure’ places a premium on insight and putting things into words. “Where id was there ego shall be,” said Freud. A strong implication is that where ignorance was there knowledge shall be. This chapter focuses however not on psychoanalytic knowledge, but on psychoanalytic ignorance and the disciplined learned ignorance of the analyst, in Jung's depth psychology.
Journal articles by David Henderson
Psychodynamic Practice, 2020
Editorial (draft) Our world has been shaken by an unprecedented convergence of crises. The pandem... more Editorial (draft) Our world has been shaken by an unprecedented convergence of crises. The pandemic, climate change, the erosion of democratic values and institutions, the ongoing plight of refugees and the struggle with racism and the legacy of slavery undermine faith in enduring values or structures. Internal anxieties are mirrored by the sense of external chaos. We cannot rely on the 'big picture' to provide reassurance and containment. It can feel that we are collectively uncontained and lost. As lockdowns begin to lift the situation can feel, if anything, even more precarious as the comfort of collective action dissolves and we are left to our own devices to make what can feel like life or death decisions. As psychotherapists and counsellors we have faith in the rhythm and stability of the analytic frame to mediate the alpha function. Having been evicted from our consulting rooms by the lockdown we have scrambled to find our way in the virtual world. Some therapists seem to have adjusted quickly to the new frame. Others continue to grieve the loss of their consulting rooms and long for a return to embodied co-presence. Collectively therapists are searching for the resilience, creativity, humour and fortitude to manage the 'new normal.' So much of our world has been upended. Psychodynamic Practice usually opens an issue with two to four original articles, followed by Open Space articles and book reviews. In this issue we upend the traditional order to open the issue with two Open Space articles, 'A Brief Reflection on Losing and Finding Toilet Paper,' by Aziz Guzel and 'The Lockdown' by Roger
How can we think about or imagine the psychoanalytic universe in which we work, think, organise a... more How can we think about or imagine the psychoanalytic universe in which we work, think, organise and speak? How can we make sense of a universe of discourse that includes id psychology, object relations, neuropsychoanalysis and existential analysis, and all of the Freudian, Jungian, Kleinian, Lacanian and Kohutian tendencies and their neo- and post- versions? What sort of historiography will help us to orient ourselves? Is there an approach to the history of psychoanalysis that will serve the interests of historical accuracy and heuristic possibility?
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Videos by David Henderson
Books by David Henderson
operates within the psychology of Jung, the philosophy of
Deleuze, and selected areas of wider twentieth-century Western
culture, which provided the context within which these two
seminal thinkers worked.
Addressing this topic from a variety of perspectives and
disciplines and with an eye to contemporary social, political, and
environmental crises, the contributors aim to clarify some of the
epistemological and ethical issues surrounding attempts, such as
those of Jung and Deleuze, to think in terms of the whole,
whether the whole in question is a particular bounded system
(such as an organism, person, society, or ecosystem) or, most
broadly, reality as a whole.
Christian McMillan, Roderick Main and David Henderson bring together established academics and emerging scholars across subject areas and disciplinary approaches to reveal the multiplicity and complexity of issues involved in holism. Divided into four parts, the chapters determine key strands of thinking explicitly or implicitly underpinning contemporary holistic thought, including what ethical conclusions might most reasonably be drawn from such thought. Accessible and diverse, this extensive volume contains chapters from the perspective of history, ecology, psychotherapy, poetry, mythology, and an especially strong representation of continental philosophy and Jungian depth psychology. Due to its multi-disciplinary nature, the book represents an unparalleled discussion of the meanings and implications of holism.
Written by an innovative and international calibre of contributors, this pioneering collection will be essential reading for practitioners in depth psychology and scholars of Jungian studies, as well as academics and students of philosophy, religious studies, spirituality, history and the history of ideas. The book is a rich resource for the enhancement of critical reflection among all those with an interest in holism.
Reviews of Apophatic Elements by David Henderson
Book chapters by David Henderson
Jung’s psychological theory and Deleuze’s philosophy is uncanny.
Žižek in characteristically pithy fashion states: ‘No wonder,
then, that an admiration of Jung is Deleuze’s corpse in the closet; the
fact that Deleuze borrowed a key term ( rhizome ) from Jung is not a
mere insignificant accident – rather, it points toward a deeper link’. This deeper link has been more sympathetically explored by
Kerslake, Semetsky, McMillan, and Jenkins. They provide us with the only systematic studies of Deleuze and Jung available thus far. This chapter
is part of an interest in using concepts from the work of Deleuze to
amplify elements of Jung’s theory. In this case, it employs the concepts
of symptomatology, percept and minor literature from Deleuze’s discussion
of the critical and the clinical. As such, it belongs to Jungian
studies rather than constituting an intervention in Deleuzian philosophy.
It is preliminary spadework, experimental exploration of the rhizome,
rather than definitive interpretation.
Journal articles by David Henderson