An enactive approach to psychiatry and (psycho)therapy 

An enactive approach to psychiatry and (psycho)therapy

Workshop, 18–20 October 2017

Organized by Simón Guendelman and Sanneke de Haan (Berlin School of Mind and Brain)

Description

In this workshop we discuss an enactive approach to psychiatry and its practical relevance for psychiatric treatment.

In their daily practice, psychiatrists are confronted with human problems triggered by factors as diverse as traumas, chemical imbalances, existential worries, genetic risks, and relational conflicts. One of the most interesting and difficult questions in the field of psychiatry is how these heterogeneous factors are related. This is no mere theoretical concern: what is seen as the primary cause of the problems typically influences the conception of the illness and the choice of treatment.

One common way of relating these heterogeneous aspects is through neuro-reductionism: the assumption that in the end only what happens in the brain matters. Such a reductionist approach to psychiatry however has several pragmatic and ethical disadvantages; downplaying the causal role of psychological and existential processes and over-simplifying the complexity of the development of psychiatric problems.

An integrative alternative framework could be developed from enactivism. Enactivism is a relatively new scientific paradigm in the cognitive sciences which draws on dynamical systems theory, phenomenology, and systems biology, amongst other disciplines. Its main tenet is that cognition should not be located exclusively within the brain, but that cognition rather depends on brain, body, and environment together: the idea is that cognitive processes emerge from the ongoing interactions of a person with their social and physical environment. As such, enactivism offers a promising non-reductive approach to the nature, causes, and treatment of psychiatric disorders.

This workshop brings together philosophers, psychiatrists, and mental health therapists to discuss the potential merits and pitfalls of an enactive approach to psychiatry and (psycho)therapy. The workshop will address the general framework of enactive psychiatry, an enactive approach to specific psychiatric disorders, and the implications of enactivism for psychiatric treatment.

Confirmed speakers

Yochai Ataria (Weizmann Institute of Science)
Thomas Fuchs (Heidelberg)
Shaun Gallagher (Memphis)
Richard Gipps (Oxford)
Gerrit Glas (VU Amsterdam)
Nicolas Gravel (Eindhoven)
Simón Guendelman (Berlin School of Mind and Brain)
Sanneke de Haan (Berlin School of Mind and Brain)
Hanne De Jaegher (University of the Basque Country) 
Jan Slaby (FU Berlin)

Program

Day 1: On the general enactive framework for psychiatry

Wednesday 18 October 2017


09:30 – 10:15     Welcome and introduction of all participants
10:15 – 11:00     Shaun Gallagher - The therapeutic reconstruction of affordances
11:00 – 11:30     Coffee break
11:30 – 12:15     Discussion
12:15 – 13:45     Lunch break
13:45 – 14:30     Sanneke de Haan - An enactive framework for psychiatry
14:30 – 15:15     Discussion
15:15 – 15:45     Tea break
15:45 – 16:30     Thomas Fuchs - An enactive account of delusions           
16:30 – 17:15     Discussion
17:15 – 17:45     Poster session

19:00                  Dinner (at one’s own expense)

Day 2: Enactive approaches to specific disorders and implications for treatment

Thursday 19 October 2017


09:00 – 09:45     Richard Gipps - Hallucination as unrelinquished anticipation
09:45 – 10:30     Discussion
10:30 – 11:00     Coffee break
11:00 – 11:45     Gerrit Glas - An enactive approach to autism spectrum disorder
11:45 – 12:30     Discussion
12:30 – 14:00     Lunch break
14:00 – 14:45     Nicolas Gravel - Dynamic systems theory and enactivism as a framework for psychiatry
14:45 – 15:30     Discussion
15:30 – 16:00     Tea break
16:00 – 16:45     Edward Harcourt - tba
16:45 – 17:30     Discussion

18:30 - 20:00     Public Lecture - Hanne De Jaegher - Loving and knowing: Towards a humane science of subjectivity

Day 3: Enactive approaches to specific disorders and implications for treatment

Friday 20 October 2017


09:00 – 09:45     Yochai Ataria - Trauma from an enactive perspective
09:45 – 10:30     Discussion
10:30 – 11:00     Coffee break
11:00 – 11:45     Hanne De Jaegher - Autistic Linguistic Bodies
11:45 – 12:30     Discussion
12:30 – 14:00     Lunch break
14:00 – 14:45     Simon Guendelman - An enactive account of emotion (regulation), conceptual disquisitions and implications for psychotherapy
14:45 – 15:30     Discussion
15:30 – 16:00     Tea break
16:00 – 16:45     Jan Slaby - Enactivism and psychotherapy: A plea for arrangement thinking
16:45 – 17:30     Discussion & Closing remarks

Poster session

A poster session is included in the program. If you wish to present a poster on the topic of the workshop, please send a description of max. 400 words to mb-assistance@hu-berlin.de before the 25th of August. You will be notified by 1 September 2017.

Registration

Attendance is free, but spaces are limited. Please register by sending an e-mail to mb-assistance@hu-berlin.de. Please include your name, affiliation and current position.

This page last updated on: 05 January 2018