Susanna Petitpierre Blogs - Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy

On living as becoming (part two)

References –
Bazzano, M. (2019). Nietzsche and Psychotherapy. Oxon: Routledge.
Carson, A. (1998). Eros: The Bittersweet. Illinois: Dalkey Archive Press.
Cixous, H. (1986 [1975]). ‘Sorties’. Trans. Betsy Wing. In Helene Cixous and Catherine Clement. The Newly Born
Woman. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Descartes, R. (1998). Discourse on Method. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Merleau-Ponty, M., (2012) Phenomenology of Perception. Oxon: Routledge

Nietzsche, F. (1886/1978). Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future, trans. R.J. Hollingdale. London:
Penguin.
Nietzsche, F. (1974). The Gay Science. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Random House.
Renshaw, S., (2009). The subject of love. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

March 27, 2023 by BHP Leave a Comment

Some Existential Musings on Love, Generosity, and the Relation Between Self and Other

(Adapted from a presentation given at the SEA conference November 2022) – (Part one)

Anne Carson (1998) wrote,

“‘Now’ is a gift from the gods and an access onto reality. To address yourself to the moment when Eros glances into your life and to grasp what is happening in your soul at that moment is to begin to understand how to live.” (p.153).

Was it Merleau-Ponty (2012) who showed us that, without you, I do not know who I am. I cannot see the back of my head. I need you, the other, to tell me so I can build a picture of it. Yes, it seems we are made in the social. But that means there will be ruptures too. Losses and suffering will prevail without our control. Can we transform in them? Do I need your help for that too?

Sal Renshaw (2009) describes the relation between self and other as a continual movement intrinsic to our becoming. Not only does the relation between self and other reveal the movement of becoming. It also signifies the impossibility and impermanence of the unified subject or absolute being. Encountering self and other reveals difference, perceived “somewhere in the space between that which returns to us that which we recognize as the
same, and that which escapes us” (Ibid, p. 2).

Sometimes difference is felt as a conflict, sometimes as a threat, sometimes as an interest and an opportunity. But difference can be, and is, an opening into our becoming.

It may entail a complex exploration: maintaining positive regard for the other without being implicated in a kind of sacrificial logic rooted in Christian morality and its derivatives and without being caught in the web of patriarchal narratives. As Renshaw states (2009) writers such as Helene Cixous inform us of the extent to which “women have traditionally borne the brunt of sacrificial logic in a patriarchal structure” (p. 7).

How can we hold a space for a version of selflessness that is generous, alive, affirmative and does not fall into self-abnegation? A difficult task, no doubt. But an important one: “loving the other as other, allowing them and oneself to be born into the present in love” (Renshaw, 2009, p. 176). Perhaps they have forgotten or never knew that difference is the astonishing source of their love.

Isn’t there always more to the story, yes, more to come, more to become?

Is not life itself a movement of becoming …

Part two of this blog will follow shortly.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

On living as becoming (part one)

Some thoughts on becoming (part two)

On Living as Becoming (Part One)

February 6, 2023 by BHP Leave a Comment

On Living as Becoming (Part Two)

We seem to be in a world slipping deeper into seeking safety, transparency and the need for power and control to sanitise life. All as an apparent response and remedy to pain and suffering. A desire for continued uninterrupted happiness and security. We seemingly long for the place where happiness is and will remain, but as Nietzsche states-

“the hunt for happiness will never be greater than when it must be caught between today and tomorrow; because the day after tomorrow all hunting time may have come to an end altogether”. (Walter a. Kaufmann, Nietzsche. Philosopher, Psychological, Anti-Christ. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950, p.140.

I interpret Nietzsche’s quote as an ironic statement, one that is not validating the search for happiness but understanding it as a fleeting endeavour. I believe he is asking us not be distracted by it. To go deeper and face and live life in the knowledge of our impermanence.

Both Nietzsche and Kierkegaard (great influences in existential thought) were concerned by how humans repressed and avoided self enquiry. They both strived to understand human existence and used their own existences as a case study for analysis. They recognised how they, and others, would seek to protect themselves from reality and consequently suffer extreme symptoms and tensions, such as depression, guilt, anger, anxiety, obsessive behaviours and disconnection. They had not even considered the effects of social media as an escape on human experience when writing this.

What might get lost in avoiding these affects in terms of our potential and freedom? Soren Kierkegaard (1844) felt without anxiety there would be no possibility and growth as a human being. He suggested anxiety is the ‘dizziness of freedom’ and ‘freedoms possibility’. He famously wrote,

“Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way, has learned the ultimate…” (Kierkegaard S. The Concept of Anxiety. New York: Liverlight; 2014. p. 188.

They both emphasised the influence and importance of passions and the significance of commitment, to take responsibility for their existence, to act, to create. They discussed in their own ways how our affects are significant for explorations (see more in a blog on Nietzsche’s magnificent monsters). That attempts to avoid inner conflict and intensity and intellectualise and externalise struggles were in some way a defence against one’s own vitality. Anxiety was considered as a potent and necessary force for transformation. Potentially leading to an individual’s confrontation with their illusions and consequently a deeper awareness of how they are implicated via defences and rationalisations. As a dear friend and wise man recently said,

“without inner conflict, what chances do we have to give birth to ourselves. At the very least inner conflict is good for generating creative work”.

Both Nietzsche and Kierkegaard died young (in the modern sense of the word). In that time they wrote prolifically and created great texts and thoughts, used to this day, that inform life and some types of psychotherapy in particular. In my mind both seemed to surrender generously their existences to creating and self enquiry (distanced from a need for notoriety or self preservation). They certainly left an enriched soil for those yet to come. There are many stirring and striking aspects to both of them and their writings. However what moves me the most is their similarity to the eucalyptus tree’s surrendering of self-preservation as a dominant force: letting their passions, tensions, vulnerabilities, heartbreaks, limitations and crises become a strength and force for creativity and transformation for those who are interested.

To end this piece, although more will come later about Nietzsche’s ideas about Will to Power’, I thought it might be fun to insert a quote kindly gifted from the aforementioned wise friend, where Nietzsche compares himself to a plant.

“It is absolutely unnecessary, and not even desirable, for you to argue in my favour; on the contrary, a dose of curiosity, as if you were looking at an alien plant with ironic distance, would strike me as an incomparably more intelligent attitude towards me”. (Nietzsche in a letter to Carl Fuchs, July 29, 1888)

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

Some thoughts on becoming (part two)

Some thoughts on becoming (part two)

December 26, 2022 by BHP Leave a Comment

On Living as Becoming (Part One)

Who would have known a recent visit to Alexandria Park in Hastings and a guided tree walk would inspire this work in progress. The Park happens to have a very diverse and nationally significant tree collection planted by Robert Manock in 1882, and subsequent others.

Much of what was conveyed was fascinating but left my memory swiftly. What struck a chord was information about the nature of the Eucalyptus tree: apparently they happen to be self-sacrificing so that their native youngsters can grow in well fertilised soil. In essence, they make themselves as flammable as possible so that when they inevitably burn, in the wild fires of their typical homelands, they burn bright and leave lots of fertilising ash.

This in turn allows and nourishes the younger generations (not yet born) to flourish.

It reminded me once more of the ambiguity of life forces, and the significance of that which is greater than perhaps our own insistence and sense of volition. Something the sea often teaches me and touches in me: the understanding that we are both significantly connected yet open and vulnerable, we are in movement, incongruent and impermanent. Yet far from inconsequential. We all have the potential to be far-reaching and changed in every encounter, even if we don’t see, feel or act on it. In fact, understanding our potential and capacity to act, even in the face of great limitations, could be the very thing that liberates and transforms suffering.

Understanding and identifying the vitality of often ambiguous intensities and affects within existence, when encountering both our freedom and limitations, may support us to act. Perhaps there is great importance in feeling into and investigating our suffering, anxiety and despair. To sometimes move beyond self preservation and safety into discomfort and uncertainty. To perhaps question the idea the self is an identity, an image or an object that needs to be fixed or made safe and certain and move into courage, generosity and open curiosity, with less need for any exchange. Perhaps, when we can face it, to surrender to life’s limitations, crises and drawbacks and let them move us. Transformation is perhaps in the very falling.

Returning, again and again, to the writings of Frederick Nietzsche and Soren Kierkegaard (the latter discussed in more depth in later blogs), and those subsequent great minds who have tackled their ideas, we find discussions and real experiences that highlight commitment to facing and investigating the passions, the intense (affects) forces within experience, and their commitment to act without the need for eminence and self preservation. Nietzsche said,

“Physiologists should think before postulating the drive of self-preservation as the cardinal drive in an organic being. A living thing seeks above all to vent its strength – life as such is will to power; self preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent consequences of it”. (Nietzsche, F. 1886/1978, Beyond Good and Evil. p. 26)

Within the quote we find Nietzsche referring to ‘strength – life as such is will to power’. The interpretation here is not that strength is the opposite of weakness but strength as potential, potency, vitality, a force/forces of energy.

Nietzsche inspires us to look again, across a multiplicity of forces. To widen our stance and help us see there is so much more to the forces of life than self preservation. More will be discussed in part two.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Susanna Petitpierre, BACP Registered, is an experienced psychotherapeutic counsellor, providing long and short term counselling. Her approach is primarily grounded in existential therapy and she works with individuals. Susanna is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

Some thoughts on becoming (part one)

What is the Menopause? (part one)

Some existential musings from the sea

Nietzsche and the body

April 11, 2022 by BHP Leave a Comment

Some thoughts on becoming (part two) …

“‘This – is now my way – where is yours?’ Thus did I answer those who asked me ‘the way’. For the way – it doth not exist!”

(Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra)

Nietzsche (1961) conceives of people as a process of becoming and thus creative and transformative in nature. Nietzsche (1973) calls us to focus on facing up to the realities of the world, develop a loving relationship to ourselves; our dynamic and multiple forces, sometimes conflicting (our passions and paradoxes), and take responsibility for the creation of them and our lives. He uses the idea of our spirit being akin to a process of metamorphosis. Firstly, carrying the heavy weight that life has thrown at us, like a camel. But he calls us to consider and recognise the spirit of the lion within us too. Coining the will to power, not so much about taming, integrating or balancing these forces but more to do with inviting and using power, passion and assertion to guide the active forces and create. He promotes the body as the self; the place from which the will to power is generated.

He argued, once we accept and bear that which has been given to us we must also make space for freedom’s possibility and “seize the right to” new values (p.55). Understanding the significance of power and passions, embracing risk, uncertainty, impermanence and the importance of falling in the process of becoming and transformation. Equally he invites us to consider the rejection of conformity, duty and obligation as a necessary part of the process in decentering and freeing the self. To perhaps see it as a movement. I am free to come and go, to feel the comfort of belonging but also to recognise it is limiting and never stationary.

Therapy can sometimes feel like a space whereby you can/ might begin to navigate this, with another. Discovering, perhaps, through paying attention to how affects and intensities traverse and move through the body, and how we can learn from them. Investigating what has been difficult, whilst also considering what our greatest desires are, and aiming our flight towards them.

Existential therapy can be a way to approach this. Van Deurzen (2002) analogised the role of an existential therapist with an art tutor, one which may support the client to reach towards a sense of perspective and begin to create a more detailed picture of their past, present and possible desires for the future world. Understanding the patterns and burdens in which we have been carrying and acting out from and perhaps begin to hold them more lightly. So that we might feel more able to be in relationship with the forever present, fluid and creative spaciousness where phenomena emerges. The creative space where things move, fluctuate and are impermanent, thus always full of possibility and potential.

Perhaps a good place to start is by considering desire as a guiding light in these explorations. Tell me, what is your greatest desire?

This blog follows on from part one.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.Susanna Petitpierre, BACP Registered, is an experienced psychotherapeutic counsellor, providing long and short term counselling. Her approach is primarily grounded in existential therapy and she works with individuals. Susanna is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

Some thoughts on becoming (part one) …

What is the Menopause? (part two)

References:

van Deurzen (2002) Existential Counselling & Psychotherapy in Practice. London: Sage
Nietzsche, F (1973) The Will to Power in Science, Nature, Society and Art, New York: Random House.
Nietzsche, F (1961) Thus Spoke Zarathustra. trans. R.J. Hollingdale ( Harmondsworth: Penguin).

March 28, 2022 by BHP Leave a Comment

Some thoughts on becoming (part one) …

“First we are written and then we write.” These words resound in my head daily. Helene Cixous, the speaker of those words, was immediately given special and spacial status in my lived experience. Her words speaking to the many dynamic forces that seemingly make up my lived experience including past, present and some yet to be birthed influences.

Her words help me understand the paradox and tensions in which I/we continually live; that of our essential solitude and our inescapable connection to the world, the continual uncertainty we must create from and our responsibility to do so. They inspire me to recognise that only I can be responsible for what I make of my life as opposed to holding others responsible. This can sometimes shower me with a sense of liberation and at other times the opposite feeling of hopelessness.

Discovering a way to navigate our existence and relationships, amongst the many prevailing tensions can be hard sometimes. It might often feel difficult to not externalise, to blame others as responsible for what is happening or happened. There is an obvious morass of disparity, privilege and injustice everywhere. We can feel filled up by tragedy, dread and despair and often feel unable to loosen the grip of injustice, loss and fear and welcome uncertainty, ambiguity and difference.

Existential therapy talks of facticity, that which we are born and thrown into and which influences and shapes us and our surroundings. It is much of how we textually create our encounters with ourselves and the world. Some can be heavy forces, which we often feel powerless to when responding. Others we can utilise creatively to conduct and perhaps flow in the rhythm in which we move; cultivating the soil we traverse through more easily.

Merleau-ponty (1964, p. 116) posits,

“We must abandon the fundamental prejudice according to which the psyche is that which is accessible only to myself and cannot be seen from outside …My consciousness is turned primarily toward the world, turned towards things; it is above all a relation to the world.”

Sartre (2003) also tells us about this relationship to the world, amongst many other things, when he discusses how the gaze of the other objectifies us in a position, a role to perform, calling us to be for the other. The gaze of the other interrupts our inherent freedom, consequently we might deprive ourselves of our existence as a being-for-itself and instead learn to insincerely self-identify as a being-in-itself. Sartre argues that if we look to the other to give us definition we are living in bad faith. By not bearing the responsibility of what we are we are denying our freedom.

Sartre (1961) conveys,

“We only become what we are by the radical and deep-seated refusal of that which others have made of us.”

Sartre highlights a paradox; we are discovered by the encounter with Other but it is us who creates our meaning.

These paradoxes, contradictions and tensions are complex and not linear. There is a continual impermanence, uncertainty, negotiation and relationship revealed and expressed via affects and intensities, within and without. We are neither fixed nor congruent but always in passage and in motion.

We are called to create, enchant and become captivated. To remember the “heavy burden of the growing soul” (Elliot, 1964) and perhaps keep cultivating the yet unknown soil in which we breathe. To cease neither enrapturing and traversing the other nor becoming captivated and transformed by them. Perhaps, as Cixous writes, “… to find in myself the possibility of the unexpected.” (p.39).

Part two of this blog can be found here.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here. Susanna Petitpierre, BACP Registered, is an experienced psychotherapeutic counsellor, providing long and short term counselling. Her approach is primarily grounded in existential therapy and she works with individuals. Susanna is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

What is the Menopause? (part two)

What is the Menopause? (part two)

References:

Ciscoux, H. (1992). On writing. In coming to writing and other essays. London: Harvard University Press (pp. 1- 58).

Eliot. T.S. (1964) Animula. In Collected Poems 1909-1962 by T. S. Eliot, copyright,

1936, by Harcourt, Brace & World Inc.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964) The child’s relations with others. In: Cobb, William, translator; Merleau-Ponty, M., editor. The primacy of perception. Evanston: Northwestern University Press; 1964.

Sartre, Jean-Paul (1961) Preface to Frantz Fanon’s “Wretched of the Earth”. In Fanon, Frantz (1925–1961). The wretched of the earth. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 9780140224542. OCLC 12480619.

Sartre, Jean-Paul (2003). Being and Nothingness. Hazel E. Barnes (trans.). London: Routledge.

October 18, 2021 by BHP Leave a Comment

What is the Menopause? (part two)

The historian Susan Mattern argues there is no doubt there is some value to naming menopause as a concept. It has provided women with reasons and different perspectives and interventions on what can be sometimes very distressing symptoms. However she points out that modern medicine can have a tendency to locate cause and explanation inside the body vs society and environment.

Mattern writes – “for most of human history, people have seen menopause for what, as I argue, it really is: a developmental transition to an important stage of life; not a problem, but a solution” (2019, P. 6).

Mattern holds a space for the menopause (what she depicts as a post-reproductive period) as a significant life stage and essential for human flourishing. She argues that for much of human history menopause was not really considered a problem to be treated, and where it was considered it rarely had such negative connotations as it does today. She argues that for many this transition in life can be one of vigour and expansiveness. She uses the metaphor in the title of her book ‘The slow moon climbs’ as aligned with this phase of life.

In terms of historical and cultural meanings and understandings it does seem that our ideas around women’s experiences of menopause has definitely shifted over time. According to Mattern (2019) it is only in the modern era we have considered and discussed the menopause as a syndrome in need of medicalisation. She explores the influence of culture in the experience of menopause today and how the medicalisation of women’s menopausal experiences emerged.

Her book traces a plethora of historical aspects including evolutionary, philosophical, psychological and cultural understandings around the menopause and how meanings have changed. She gives insight about evolutionary theories of menopause, the role it has played in human society and strategies around reproduction and more general aspects of human society. She also dives into how modernisation has altered our experiences and notions of menopause quite dramatically. In my opinion it is a book packed with fantastic information and well worth a read if you are curious.

There are many aspects in both peri-menopause and menopause that can greatly impact our lived experience. This does not always have to feel detrimental. In some of my research many women have found it a liberating sexual experience whilst also struggling with some aspects. Often there are many different factors and impacts within the menopausal experience: physical, psychological, social, sexual, political, cultural and spiritual. Frequently they can feel like they are in conflict. Not knowing whether you should treat it medically or not can leave us at best feeling confused, at worst it can sometimes disrupt our whole lives in terms of its effect on personal relationships and work dimensions.

Whatever route you choose and whether you want to seek medical support, psychological support or just better understand the transition through your own enquiries, therapy can be a space to do this. I feel many transitional experiences can be incredibly meaningful and transformative despite the challenges they might bring. It can invite us to explore, challenge and question our beliefs and expectations and change how we feel, think and relate to ourselves and the world.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre

What is the menopause? (part one)

Reference –

Mattern, S. (2019 ’The Slow Moon Climbs’ The Science and History, and Meaning of Menopause. Princeton University Press: Princeton & Oxford.

(Book tracing historical and cultural understandings of this life stage.

October 4, 2021 by BHP Leave a Comment

What is the Menopause? (part one)

I found myself being asked ‘what is the menopause?’ by a friend’s 13 year old son a few weeks ago. All the women in the room chimed in to answer. It was not surprising to me that he asked, nor was it surprising all the women answered. Interestingly I had no idea about the menopause at his age and I had absolutely no clue about peri-menopause until I was in my mid 30s. However, I found myself wondering how much louder the conversation seemingly is right now than when I was his age.

It does seem that the terms menopause and peri-menopause have become widely discussed in the media and medical world recently. In my experience, this does not always translate to it being more understood. It can be incredibly helpful to know discussions are happening as this can normalise the experience, conversely it can leave us feeling more adrift, especially if we find we are not fitting into any standardised categories or stories.

It led to me writing two short pieces (part two will be published at a later date). Both aim to provide a little portion of food for thought about the concept and possible options for personal explorations around the menopause. In my mind, there is no right or wrong way to consider or act in terms of the menopause, it is whatever feels right for the individual.

Medically the menopause is depicted as the final menstrual period (FMP). This is confirmed after one year of menstrual period. Typically it occurs around 51 years old, however UK statistics show this can vary between 44 and 55 years. One in 100 women can experience menopause before the age of 40 (often due to medical interventions). The peri-menopause is a term used to depict another transition stage before the menopause whereby the ovaries start to make less oestrogen. This typically starts around 40 and can last between four and eight years.

Some people assume the menopause is a medical problem and prefer to manage it with drugs. Medical interventions can be a very positive experience. However, for others this is not always possible or perhaps how they want to relate to this life stage.

Some feel it is best to be with the experience, whilst others want to use alternative routes. Some might see it as an opportunity to face up to changes in their life span and ageing processes and some might not see it as a problem all all.

Whatever your choice or position there are some brilliant options, discussions and spaces which can support women going through these transformations (see some options in the links below).

I feel it is definitely worth exploring all the options and finding out what feels right for you. Therapy might be a space to do this. For me, it is also important to consider that we cannot always place the responsibility on the individual and it is worth considering how history and culture has impacted the medicalisation of these transitions and consequently how and what we think, feel and experience in terms of this life stage. If you are interested in this then you might want to read part two.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre

www.menopausematters.co.uk

Death Anxiety

Potentially useful resources:

https://balance-app.com (menopause experience tracking support app)

www.rockmymenopause.com

The menopause charity.org

https://www.menopausedoctor.co.uk

https://www.menopausecafe.net

https://www.mamaheaven.org/menoheaven-retreats

May 3, 2021 by BHP Leave a Comment

Some existential musings from the sea

“Why do we like the frantic, the unmastered?” Asks Virginia Woolf, in her diaries. This is a question I also return to time and time again as I look out to sea. Feeling the disquiet holds an edge of excitement for me, there is a thrill to its wild and unknown nature.

For me there is something quite awesome about being made to feel small, insignificant, vulnerable.

Something playfully cherishing about being sprayed by the sea and even more so when seeing the other’s surprise as they are splashed by the sea spray as they walk along the promenade.

Even more touching is when I am in the sea, bobbing around, apparently trusting its capacity to hold me, softly caressing my form, knowing its strength could take me over, its sometimes silent, sometimes roaring power could take away any sense of control I may feel I have, at any time.

For me that makes me feel free. For others I am aware that feels like the opposite of freedom. Perhaps it is the sense of disquiet that is not thrilling for the other. Of course that is completely understandable and perhaps very sensible.

The sea, our relationship, has taught me a lot. Not just what was said above. Many other beautiful things too, some known, some still unknown.

It has deepened my capacity to feel, to reach into sensations, when to let go and when to push forwards. It has taught me how not to take things personally, how to play and take risks, how to feel and experience joy, it has taught me, or at least invited me to be open even in the unknown and when I think I might be unsafe; not to judge or believe every thought that emerges from the reckless mind. It has taught me there is much I don’t know and that it is ok not to know. It has taught me lessons about connection, intimacy and friendship.

It has inspired me, filled me with awe. It has provided beautiful gifts, delightful and magnificent gifts. Whether seeing elusive pods of dolphins in the early dawn, as I witness the wonder of the full moon and the rising sun in unison. Or the simple drama of playful young seagulls dipping and diving into the waters. It has yielded me a space to dive deeply into the unknown, into pleasure, and held me patiently on its voluptuous and flowing surface as I come up for air, breathing, resting and trusting.

And when its roaring form prevents me from entering its embrace it still teaches me much. It teaches me about patience, power, movement and change, and it quietly, continually gives me permission to become. It invites me once more to come into contact with and enjoy the unmastered within me.

Even if one only feels a slight desire to see the sea, and not even consider entering it, there are many gifts to receive, lessons to learn. But if that desire increases I recommend dipping a humble toe into that vastness, you never know what might happen.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna Petitpierre, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre

Death Anxiety

December 28, 2020 by BHP Leave a Comment

Nietzsche and the body

Here I reflect, a little, on a few of Nietzsche’s words on and as the body. These reflections are not conclusive or comprehensive. The only agenda is inspired by Nietzsche, to perhaps stimulate the reader’s curiosity and desire to experiment and explore. Please do read my previous article – ‘Why read Nietzsche?‘

“The body is a great intelligence, a multiplicity with one sense, a war and a peace, a herd and a shepherd.” (1)

Nietzsche felt many philosophers, including Plato and Descartes, failed to grasp the significance of the corporeal nature of human beings and the pivotal role of affect.

In much of his writing he explored the impossibility of pure thinking, reminding us that we are embodied thinkers, and our senses and emotions are as much a part of this reasoning as thought, if not more so.

Nietzsche treasured being and walking in nature. In fact, Nietzsche (1967) seemingly suggests physical movement was necessary for a thought to be accepted as plausible when he said –

“Give no credence to a thought that was not born outdoors while one moved about freely”. (2)

He depicted how the air we breathe, the food we eat, the place we live and what we ingest through reading, writing and talking all have an impact on our physiology and philosophy and vice versa. Nietzsche (1974) even advised:

“Our first questions about the value of a book, of a human being, or a musical composition are: Can they walk? Even more, can they dance?” (3)

Nietzsche wrote a poem called ‘Writing with one’s feet’. It emphasised the principle of embodiment through metaphor and description of the anatomy of his writing.

“Not with my hand alone I write:

My foot wants to participate.

Firm and free and bold,

my feet Run across the field – and sheet”(4)

I understand Nietzsche as a passionate defender of the embodied lived experience. His philosophy is one that elevates both known and unknown instincts and drives that interplay with our bodily lived experiences. In fact, Nietzsche seems to suggest the self is the body.

“Behind your thoughts and feelings… there stands a mighty rule, an unknown sage – whose name is self. In your body he dwells; he is your body”(5)

Nietzsche was not defining the body in a conventional way, such as a physical body or a single unit. He viewed it more metaphorically as a collection of corporeal and psychic forces, including emotions and instincts which are in a continual and often conflictual interplay. He saw the self as a plurality of forces, or more precisely a plurality of (relational) affects. These relational affects each express a viewpoint and seek domination. Affects, for Nietzsche, are dynamically and continually interpreting and creating perspective. (6)

This multiplicity can sometimes create confusion and conflict, especially if one gets stuck in thinking there is a such a thing as supremacy, or the right way, or the truth. Perhaps the key is to recognise that they all say many things at once. Rather than seeing this multiplicity of meaning and often unknown elements as something to fear, one could be curious and trust there is something to be listened to in all aspects. This exploration and experimentation is something that therapy can be helpful for. A potential space to sit in the unknown for a while, exploring, experimenting and experiencing, and see what might emerge.

Perhaps as Nietzsche suggests this very experience of conflicting affect can dislodge the notion that there is one way to be and create an opportunity for us to be guided into new, more fluid and creative ways of becoming. It can show us there are no limits to novel forms and there is always potential for transformation even within the limitations, obstacles and challenges that we may face. It also tells me that the idea of a rational pure thought that can somehow ignore or overcome the influence of emotions, physical sensations and those forces that reside in the unknown or unreflected, is unlikely. For Nietzsche it seems, nothing is, or needs to be, left behind in this often enigmatic embodied endeavour we might call lived experience.

As I conclude I feel a pressure to tie this short piece up into a nice and neat bow, so that it feels complete and reassuring somehow. However, I also feel the desire to swim. Perhaps the former would be missing the entire point of Nietzsche and the latter highlights his case in point.

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Susanna Petitpierre, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre

A consideration of some vital notions connected to Existential Therapies

Death Anxiety

References –

1) Nietzsche, F. (1883/2010) Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Ed. B Chapko),Ebook.

2) Nietzsche, F. (1967) Ecce Homo, in On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo, trans. and ed. by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Vintage Books, 1967

3) Nietzsche, F. (1882/1974), The Gay science. With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs, trans. W Kaufmann, New York: Random House

4) Nietzsche, F. (1882/1974), The Gay science. With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs, trans. W Kaufmann, New York: Random House

5) Nietzsche, F. (1883/2010) Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Ed. B Chapko), Ebook.

6) Bazzano, M., (2019) Niezsche and Psychotherapy. London: Routeledge.

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September 21, 2020 by BHP Leave a Comment

Why read Nietzsche?

Nietzsche reflected on and wrote much about the lived experience of human beings. He discussed many things that were seemingly in conflict with the last thing he wrote. I have sometimes heard this used as a reason not to read Nietzsche. This apparent paradoxical nature might sometimes leave you confused and resistant to look again. However, I feel he is always worth returning to, especially if we are curious about life.

According to Kaufman (2004) Nietzsche depicted himself in Ecce Homo as “a psychologist without equal and many consider his philosophical work to have a deeply psychological understanding of the human experience.” [1]

Freud apparently discussed the level of introspection Nietzsche reached as being greater than anyone else past or potentially in the future. [2]

When I began to read Nietzsche, I was actually surprised at how engaged I became, despite how little I seemed to understand. He inspired me then and continues to each time I return to his texts, often seeing it from a different perspective each time. I feel his rhythmical and metaphorical offerings were made to stimulate exploration and awaken emotional responses rather than offer conclusive truths. He was purposely ambiguous and contradictory. For me, Nietzsche was on the side of experiencing and embracing the significance of creativity, music and dance. He
welcomed understandings about fluidity, multiplicity, becomings and going beyond. I feel he invited us to see that we are so much more than we have dreamed of thus far, and there are many dimensions to be explored.

My understanding of Nietzsche is that he was not one to be dogmatic, and he challenged scientific reductionism. Bazzano (2019) discusses how Nietzsche did not see science as able to explain life, only describe it. He challenged people to see how structures and systems were filled with our attempts to the bring natural dynamic and conflicting forces (both internal and external) into order and control [3] .

Or sometimes, perhaps, as a way to avoid taking responsibility. In fact, Nietzsche was often suspicious of the systematisation of life, “I mistrust all systematizers and I avoid them. The will to a system is a lack of integrity.” [4] (Part 2, sec 26)

Nietzsche welcomed the dance of life. His writings pointed to the multiple dynamic perspectives and interpretations that direct human experience, and the oscillating movements between chaos and structure that we all seemingly exist within on a macro and micro level. He championed understandings and explorations that focused on active over reactive forces. He centred the ‘need to know’ that can monopolise human thought and perhaps gave consciousness and intellectual knowledge its origins and apparent semblance of supremacy as, in fact, secondary
to the primacy of the body. The latter being a direct experience of active forces experienced through feeling the body’s affects. [5]

Nietzsche has both inspired and disturbed me. He manages to shake the ground beneath you, leaving you adrift at times. Equally he evokes a desire to live this opportunity to exist and experience more fully, within all facets presented. I feel he provokes a desire to feel, listen and move. To take responsibility for this existence we are living in all its uncertainty, intensity and affect and utilise creatively their influence in our transformations. [6]

Sadly, his thinking can be overlooked and dismissed due to his fall into apparent madness. I feel that is a fruitful encounter missed. He is worth reading if only to find out if any gems touch and inspire something within you.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

A consideration of some vital notions connected to Existential Therapies

Being embodied in Therapy: Feeling and listening to your body

References –

1 Kaufman (2004). Nietzsche, Heidegger and Buber- discovering the mind vol 2. New York: transaction publishers.

2 ibid

3 Bazzano, M, (2019) Nietzsche and Psychotherapy. London: Routledge

4 Nietzsche, F. (1888/1969) Twilight of the Idols, trans, R. J. Hollingdale, Harmonsworth: penguin.

5 Bazzano, M, (2019) Nietzsche and Psychotherapy. London: Routledge

6 ibid

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A consideration of some vital notions connected to Existential Therapies

May 18, 2020 by Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy Leave a Comment

Magnificent Monsters

“The passions, these “magnificent monsters” (Nietzsche, 1967, p. 521), can we consider them a gift in which something valuable can be learnt?

Below is a consideration of the multiple, dynamic, creative and sometimes conflicting forces of energy that are often competing for dominance within us – what Fredrick Nietzsche sometimes described as ‘the passions’. Others may describe them as drives, passions and impulses. They are always present and seemingly are what constitutes and influences much of what is our lived experience. Despite their force and significance, they can often go unnoticed and our knowledge of them is always incomplete. They sometimes emerge into our conscious awareness when we are awakened into our existence, for instance when we are confronted by experiences such as uncertainty, grief and love.

Feeling passionate can be both enthralling and scary. Passions are sometimes encountered as other worldly, because they can appear out of nowhere and stir us and shake the ground beneath our feet. Passions can cross the many boundaries of our lived experience. They can symbolise our strong emotional states including joy and suffering. Perhaps many people can relate to the passions felt in the first stages of falling in love, or the sudden earthquake of loss.

At times, we may find ourselves running away from them. This is perhaps born out of a sense of needing to escape from what is being experienced. Perhaps this can be influenced by our conditioned beliefs, rooted in religious and philosophical beliefs, which might espouse that passions are dangerous, uncivilised and something that need to be tamed, and/or eradicated.

Other times we may run towards them, feeling that despite the fear they might cause within us, their intensity and irreducible form feels like an opportunity to live more vitally and come-into-being.

As time passes, human beings seem to be moving into spaces where connection and desire are dampened down by our addiction to technology, self-preservation and control. Even therapy can find itself, unwittingly perhaps, offering ways to master the ever-arising encounter with thoughts, emotions and sensations, so that we might never have to feel perturbed. Other times therapy may be seen as providing an opportunity to self actualise, by integrating all that we apparently are. Perhaps all of this in some way is a strategy to defend against feeling unsafe and uncertain.

But what if moving out of uncertainty is not possible or even necessary? What if these passions are revealing our possibilities, our strengths, our potential to move and become? What if we need them to create, to learn, to feel alive within our uncertain world. What if really feeling them slowly and subtly before acting on them or attempting to eradicate them is important? What if becoming intimate with them and patiently listening to them is what is necessary?

Perhaps this is where therapy can facilitate; by providing a space to feel, to explore, to experiment so that maybe we can change the relationship. What is perhaps significant to consider, for a while at least, are the desires and possibilities they are revealing within us. As Clarice Lispector (2012) wrote: “Life, my love, is a great seduction in which all that exists seduces.” (p 55).

Perhaps some passions must sometimes be tamed in order to live within a collective space. However, within any taming I feel it is equally, if not more significant, to understand what is being felt and moved within us with curiosity and kindness so that we may experience this brief encounter with life more deeply and compassionately.

Maybe letting go of a need to control, just for a while, and trusting our continually changing movements, just for a bit, is all that has to happen?

With gratitude and inspiration from Nietzsche (1967) and Clarice Lispector (2012).

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

Being embodied in Therapy: Feeling and listening to your body

References –

Lispector, C (2012) The Passion According to G.H. Trans, Idea Novey. London, Penguin

Nietzsche, F. (1967) The Will to Power, trans. Walter Kaufman London: Weidenfeld and

Nicolson.

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A consideration of some vital notions connected to Existential Therapies

November 18, 2019 by Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy Leave a Comment

Death Anxiety

This blog follows on from my previous blogs – Existential Therapy and A consideration of some vital notions connected to Existential Therapies.

In Existential Therapy reflecting on death anxiety would not be the same without a consideration of Heidegger. Heidegger (1927) regarded human beings as always ‘being towards death’. He asserted the significance of anticipating death as a vehicle to address the possibility of being itself. Heidegger (1927) described the earnest recognition of our being towards death and its possibility in the following way:

“Impassioned freedom towards death – a freedom which has been released from the illusions of the ‘they’ and which is tactical, certain of itself, and anxious”

(p. 266) ^[1]

To me it seems Heidegger postulated that by confronting our finitude we can take responsibility for our existence and be released from the illusions surrounding a life of conformity. However, this does not remove anxiety from living but reframes it as something inherent in being.

To a greater and lesser extent ‘death anxiety’ is considered by existential therapists as a central theme. One’s mortality is recognised as a continuing condition of human beings. It is perhaps the only thing that belongs to us, and we can knowingly and unknowingly be living in the anticipation of its possibility and eventuality. This theme holds much uncertainty and reflects back to us the pervading uncertainty of life. It gives birth to the existential angst inherent in the human condition. This angst is generated by the fragility and unreliability of a life lived in this existence.

This does not have to be a pessimistic view. It is in fact allowing an exploration of the boundaries of life. By confronting our mortality, and in fact any pain and suffering experienced along our path, we have the opportunity to clarify our limits and identify that which is out of our reach rather than evading it. Simultaneously it can support us to become aware of our potential and the elements in our lives that it is possible to do something about. It can make us feel more adventurous and alive.

Existential Therapy frequently espouses the importance of facing up to our life and death and all that is experienced between the two poles of our existence, whether it be inevitable suffering or joy. We must find the capacity to confront our difficulties in living and permit the experience to feel it, without needing to linger for too long.

Equally we must see the good in our existence and recognise these times as they happen. Allow learning to ensue so that we can augment this in our lives, but without getting caught in the pursuit of unending happiness. Ultimately all aspects experienced, wherever they fall on the spectrum of suffering or joy, do not stand alone. They are all parts of the same indivisible perspective that each individual experiences as they travel within their existence.

So whether or not death anxiety is viable to consider, angst or anxiety is seen as an inevitable part of existence by Existential Therapists. Many will emphasise the significance of valuing, understanding and tolerating anxiety. Many recognise anxiety as a sign that something in our life needs our energy and attention rather than it being a threat or something to be eliminated. Perhaps it may be the very thing that unshackles us from conformity and seeking validation or permission from others. Perhaps it is the vehicle within which we may feel our aliveness, engagement, and vital connection.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

Being embodied in Therapy: Feeling and listening to your body

Resources –

^[1] Heidegger, M. (1927) Being and Time (transl. J. Macquarrie and E.s Robinson) Londo: Harper and Row, 1962 edn.

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September 30, 2019 by Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy Leave a Comment

A consideration of some vital notions connected to Existential Therapies

This blog follows on from my previous blog – Existential Therapy. This is how I have interpreted some vital notions connected to existential therapies.

Existential therapy is a diverse approach which is used to understand and clarify a client’s problems and possibilities for living their existence. Below are some more of the vital principles (as I see them) typically considered by existential therapists. I would like to make clear that what I have written is not exhaustive, conclusive or necessarily a general order of things.

1) A belief in the relational nature of being as a central aspect of existence ^[1].

This suggests two things to me. That we are always in relationship with the world, and how we relate to it is often fundamental in how we are and what we become. It is interesting to note that in therapy the relationship has been continually found to be the key to efficacy whatever the approach.

In contrast to the relational sense of existence some existential philosophers have asserted we are ultimately alone in our existence. For instance, Kierkegaard emphasised the individuality of being human, describing human existence as a solitary affair.

Wherever one falls on this spectrum the discussion of how one is relating to their world can be a fruitful enterprise in existential therapy.

2) Seeking to understand a client’s subjectively lived experience and how it is taking place within a framework of temporality (past, present and future), tensions and contradictions. ^[2]

For me this means the intention is to understand that human existence is full of paradoxes. The aim is to clarify a client’s life as they have lived it, support them to reflect on what has happened and allow them to determine how they would like to live in the future in line with their values.

For instance, if a client comes to see me I am not going to attempt to fit them into any theory or model. I am also not going to tell them what to do. I do hope to hold an openness to each client’s way of being-in-the-world and support them to get clarity on what is going well and what needs to be changed. I may employ an exploration of philosophy and other wisdoms as well as psychological theory to support a client’s inquiry, but I will always lean towards emphasising a client’s lived experience as key to the investigation rather than any theoretical understanding.

This leads me to another understanding that frames existential therapy.

3) A consideration and discovery of a client’s freedom and responsibility

For me this element is summed up nicely by Nietzsche’s words “Follow not me, but you”. ^[3]

When he said this I think he was responding to people’s attempts to pinpoint his ideas into an all-encompassing approach to life. For me, it feels like a relevant description of every individual’s existential responsibility.

An existential therapeutic perspective typically strives for the clients to take responsibility for their lives and see their very existence, their being-ness, as the source of their potential as well as an opportunity to confront their limitations.^[4] This possibility of being also upholds a fluid sense that we are always becoming and not a static substance. It invites a platform from which clients might begin to take responsibility for their existence and what they value. In this movement we may begin to reveal, understand and clarify their choices and actions. This takes courage though. It takes courage to birth and live out one’s potential, especially in the face of adversity and limitation.

This links into another significant understanding or theme underpinning existential therapy: ‘being towards death’. Please also read my blog on Existential Therapy and Death Anxiety.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

Being embodied in Therapy: Feeling and listening to your body

Resources –

^[1] Spinelli, E. (2007) Practising Existential Psychotherapy. The Relational world. London: Sage

^[2] van Deurzen, E. (1998) Paradox and Passion in Psychotherapy: an Existential Approach to Therapy and Counselling. Chichester: Wiley.

^[3] May, R., (1958) Origins of the existential movement. in Existence. (Eds: Rollo May, Ernest Angel & Henri, F Ellenberg) Rowman and Littlefield Publishers: USA. p. 31

^[4] van Deurzen, E. (1998) Paradox and Passion in Psychotherapy: an Existential Approach to Therapy and Counselling. Chichester: Wiley.

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Being embodied in Therapy: Feeling and listening to your body

August 19, 2019 by Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy Leave a Comment

Existential Therapies

“A rich tapestry of intersecting therapeutic practices, all of which orientate themselves around shard concern: human lived experience” (1)

What is existential therapy? I’m asked this a lot. I even ask myself from time to time. In some ways it could be described as an attitude held by the therapist. It is certainly, in my experience, a continually unfolding enterprise due in part to its emphasis on relationship, non-directive stance, non-structured framework and an openness to wonder and mystery rather than reduction and categorisation.

In this blog, and future blogs I will begin to reflect on some understandings within existential therapy.

It is perhaps safe to start with reiterating what many have said before: there are as many ways to be an existential therapist as there are existential therapists (2) (and clients may I add). I am aware how vague that sounds, however, I believe it is actually what makes existential therapy so valuable. Its variety and openness invites connections and relationships to be developed in an authentic and unique way with each client. It also challenges some illusions regarding life (and therapy) including that it is and can be objective, manualisable and unambiguous.

Existential therapy is framed around a variety of existential thinkers, and other philosophers. Many have been influential in its development. At times the diversity of understandings about human existence reveals contrasting understandings which can be confusing. However, this is also the very ingredient that permits the aforementioned subjectivity, diversity and disagreement.

Existential therapy recognises the significance that each individual interprets from their particular context, therefore rejecting the notion that one size fits all. It invites every individual to recognise and bring forth their unique potential. Its very nature permits consideration of life in all its complexity and nuance and recognises how uncertainty is intricately connected with living life.

What underpins existential therapy is the starting point: May (1958) (3) described existential therapy as an exploration that seeks to understand individuals as being. It invites a person to experience and have awareness of their own being, their own existence, their own aliveness, their own relation to one’s self and one’s world as a precondition for unravelling and working through their difficulties. Its focus is on the existence of each individual is sitting with the therapist, and what occurs between them. It does not disparage investigations about behaviour patterns or dynamisms but it recognises these elements are only really understood in the context of each individual’s structured existence. It is existence, or as May (1958) described the ‘I am’ experience, that underpins everything else.

So what does this mean in practical terms? Typically, existential therapy does not employ diagnostic frameworks to label or categorise personal characteristics or experiences. Abstract knowledge about a person, an assessment report or a theoretical understanding about a certain type of experience or behaviour is less important than the reality and experience that emerges between two people (client and therapist for instance) encountering each other in a room.

How else does this show up in an existential therapeutic session? In other ways, and always depending on the client’s needs, clients may be encouraged to understand their relationship to, and come to terms with, the ‘four ultimate concerns’ of existence as understood by Irvin Yalom (1980). Yalom described these as death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness.

Additionally, clients may be invited to consider how they are being and relating to four basic existential dimensions (4). This may take the shape of exploring their relationship to personal, spiritual, physical and social aspects of their existence.

As mentioned in other blogs what has been written above and before is not a blueprint for what to expect in existential therapy. It is also not an exhaustive discussion of ideas within existential therapy. However, if you are interested in reading about other significant ideas in existential therapies, as I understand them, please read my other blogs.

Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –

References

(1) Cooper, M. (2003) Existential Therapies. London: Sage. (p. 1)

(2) Cohn, H. (2002) Heidegger and the roots of Existential Therapy. London: Continuum

(3) May, R., (1958) Origins of the existential movement. in Existence. (Eds: Rollo May, Ernest Angel & Henri, F Ellenberg) USA: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, (p. 31).

(4) Van Deurzen, E. (2012) Existential Counselling & Psychotherapy in Practice. London: Sage

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