David Pilgrim is Honorary Professor of Health and Social Policy University of Liverpool UK and Visiting Professor of Clinical Psychology University of Southampton. After training and working as a clinical psychologist he completed a PhD examining psychotherapy in the organisational setting of the British NHS. He then went on to complete a Master’s in sociology. He has worked at the boundary between clinical psychology and medical sociology for the past 20 years and has produced over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals based upon his research into mental health policy and practice. His years working in the British NHS provided him with extensive everyday experience of the theoretical and policy aspects of mental health expressed in practical settings. One of his books A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness (3rd edition Open University Press 2005) co-authored with Anne Rogers won the British Medical Association’s medical book of the year award for 2006. Currently he is writing a book on child sexual abuse and public policy. ... Read more Read less
This pioneering book focuses on the social context in which psychotherapy takes place, examining the relationship between psychotherapy and sociology in two important ways. First, author David Pilgrim explores some of the shared theoretical roots of the two traditions and second, he documents the application of wider sociological work on mental health. Until now no single text has brought together and considered the two perspectives in conjunction. The book begins by discussing the points of convergence and divergence between psychotherapy and social science, focusing on case studies of psychoanalysis, phenomenology, existentialism, objectivism, post-structuralism and general systems theory. It then concentrates on the relationship between mental health and gender class, race, and professionalism, asking and examining a number of questions about each and summarizing the relevant social research. Further chapters examine therapy in relation to the personal, organizational, and political context of its practice and the book concludes by providing a critical analysis of the professionalization and the experience of service users. Psychotherapy and Society provides training and practicing counselors, psychotherapists, and other mental health workers with a rigorous and provocative analysis of the role of psychotherapy in society and the relevant sociological work about mental distress. ... Read more Read less
