Navigating Professional Identity through Strength and Vulnerability: A conversation with Keith Tudor

Interviewer: Diana Deaconu
July, 2017

BIO

Keith Tudor is a TSTA in the field of psychotherapy, has been involved in TA for over 30 years, and is co-author, with Graeme Summers, of various articles and a book on co-creative transactional analysis. He is professor of psychotherapy at Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, where is also currently Head of the School of Public Health & Psychosocial Studies. He is also a Fellow of The Critical Institute; a Visiting Associate Professor at University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia; and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton, London, UK. He is the author and editor of some 300 peer-reviewed publications, including 15 books; is the editor of the journal Psychotherapy and Politics International; and is the editor of a series of books on “Advancing Theory in Therapy” published by Routledge (UK). He is a critical thinker, a proponent of the radical psychiatry tradition within TA, and views psychotherapy essentially as a critical and subversive activity which, therefore, needs to be practiced and thought about freely.

Video 1: Building identity when travelling long distances, internally and in the outside world

• Writing as a form of social critique informed by experiences of injustice or oppression
• Discussion and debate as “part of the water” (Tudor, K.) when growing up, as well as when writing
• Encountering otherness as inspiration for writing and for developing cross-cultural sensitivity
• “Immigration is good for being anxious” (Tudor, K.) – an experience of learning and vulnerability

Video 2: The complexities of being a professional

• The value of vulnerability in an educational and organizational setting
• Being vulnerable alongside someone as a component of leadership
• The argumentative approach: advantages and potential risks
• Doctrine and/ or theory in Transactional Analysis
• The richness and tussles of developing co-authorship

Video 3: Reflecting on psychotherapy in a wider socio-political context

• If Rogers met Berne: an imagined encounter
• How does the political influence the ways of practicing psychotherapy?
• Is psychotherapy about healing or about making people happier?
• If Tudor met Berne: a straightforward conversation

References:

// Brown, K., & Tudor, K. (1981). Social work education and practice: Reform and revolution – a theory for change. Contemporary Social Work Education, 4, 101–112

// Cornell, W.F. (2000) If Berne Met Winnicott: Transactional Analysis and Relational Analysis. Transactional Analysis Journal, 30 (4), 270-275.

// Naughton, M., Tudor, K. (2006). Being White. Transactional Analysis Journal, 36 (2), 159-171.

// Sen, A. (2005). The Argumentative Indian. Great Britain: Penguin Books Ltd.

// Summers, G., Tudor, K. (2000) Cocreative Transactional Analysis. Transactional Analysis Journal, 30 (1), 23-40.

// Tudor, K. (2018). Psychotherapy: A critical examination. Monmouth, UK: PCCS Books.

// Tudor, K. (Ed.). (2017). Pluralism in psychotherapy: Critical reflections from a post-regulation landscape. Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand: Resource Books.

// Tudor, K. (2011). Empathy: A co-creative perspective. Transactional Analysis Journal, 41(4), 322–335.

// Tudor, K. (2008). “Take It”: A Sixth Driver. Transactional Analysis Journal, 38 (1), 43-57.

// Tudor, K. (2011). Understanding empathy. Transactional Analysis Journal, 41(1), 39–57.

// Tudor, K., & Summers, G. (2014). Co-creative transactional analysis: Papers, dialogues, responses, and developments. London, UK: Karnac Books.