64: Unhoused Minds with Dr Chris Scanlon and John Adlam

In this podcast, Chris and John share the ideas presented in
their recent book, which examines how trauma and marginalization
are produced and perpetuated by in-group and out-group dynamics.
They turn questions upside down, making us think differently
about social problems. When asked how to help the homeless, they
return the question in a different way, asking how the ‘we’ of
‘housed’ in groups cause people to be psycho-socially 'unhoused',
revealing how we are all implicated in the trauma of others. The
hundreds of migrants who die at sea are not poor neutral victims,
but those we have unhoused and displaced through wars,
colonialism and neo-liberal capitalist economics.  

They invite us to make use of their "Diogenes Paradigm", drawing
on the story of the ancient street philosopher to highlight
questions of power and authority; they re-tell the story of how
Alexander the Great asked Diogenes, who lived in a barrel with
his dogs, whether he could do anything for him. Diogenes replied:
“Yes, you can move as you are blocking the sunlight”. This
Diogenes Paradigm allows us to explore power dynamics between
systems of care and excluded out-groups, from housing policies in
London or the UK prison system at the micro level to the broader
issues of human mobility, the "might" of empires, and the climate
disaster that threatens us all. 

Enjoy this thought-provoking podcast that asks important
questions for our times. 


Bios


Chris and John have been writing and teaching together for two
decades. Their recent co-authored book "Psychosocial explorations
of trauma, exclusion and violence: Un-housed minds and
inhospitable environments" was published by Routledge in
2022: 
https://www.routledge.com/Psycho-social-Explorations-of-Trauma-Exclusion-and-Violence-Un-housed/Scanlon-Adlam/p/book/9780367893316


Dr Chris Scanlon (DPhil) is an independent
psycho-social Researcher/Consultant, Training Group Analyst at
the Institute of Group Analysis (UK) and at the Irish Group
Analytic Society (Dublin), associate lecturer on the Integrated
Professional Doctorate (IPD) programme Tavistock
Centre/University of Essex and is a founder member and board
member of the Association for Psychosocial Studies (APS). He has
worked for over 30 years as a practitioner and educator in NHS -
including 15 years as an NHS Consultant Psychotherapist in
general adult and forensic mental health and has acted as an
expert advisor/consultant to a range of agencies.


John Adlam is a group psychotherapist and
independent researcher and a founder member of the Association
for Psychosocial Studies. He lives in Brixton in South London and
works for the most part in the National Health Service, where he
is Consultant Adult Forensic Psychotherapist at Bethlem Royal
Hospital and Principal Adult Psychotherapist at Springfield
Hospital. Previously he worked for the Henderson Hospital
Democratic Therapeutic Community. He also worked for many years
for the Adult Eating Disorders Service at Springfield. Apart from
his book with Chris, he is also co-editor of Violent States and
Creative States: From the Global to the Individual (2018);
Forensic Music Therapy (2012); and The Therapeutic Milieu Under
Fire: Security and Insecurity in Forensic Mental Health (2012);
Chris is one of the five co-editors of this last volume - all
published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.