Coline Covington is a psychotherapist with over two decades of experience, dedicated to guiding individuals toward profound personal transformation. Drawing from her Jungian analysis training, she employs an eclectic approach that is both deeply insightful and remarkably pragmatic. Her extensive work with diverse clients, including leaders, artists, and professionals, is informed by her background in consultancy and her experience with systemic change. Her expertise is further recognized through her leadership roles in major British psychoanalytic organizations and her tenure as an editor for a leading analytical journal.
Shrinking the News brings together the author's wide range of articles from her regular column in the online newspaper, The Week. The articles cover current events from October 2008 until December 2010, concluding with more recent articles from 2013. These articles form a fascinating psychoanalytic insight on crime, politics, the economy, sports and stardom, and the quirky, bizarre events and trends that make up our daily life. The widespread popularity of these articles is a testimony to the public's interest in a psychoanalytic view of the world around us and why people do the things they do.
Exploring the psychological underpinnings of ordinary individuals committing heinous acts, the book delves into various contexts, including Nazi concentration camps and modern-day atrocities. It offers fresh insights into the emergence of evil behaviors and examines the extreme denial mechanisms people employ to distance themselves from these actions. Through a psychoanalytic lens, it challenges readers to confront the unsettling reality of everyday evils and the complexities of human morality.
In the midst of atrocities, there is the silent presence of the brave individuals who act and stand apart from the crowd, who risk their own lives by rescuing others or by voicing their dissent. The actions of these exceptional individuals raise questions as to why they were able to do what they did and why other people don't. But if we look closer at their histories, we discover that they may not be as exceptional as we think.Bravery takes different forms in different contexts. Such as the young male patient, a war hero, struggling to separate from his refugee parents. Or Bailey Thompson, the 17-year-old who rescued concert-goers under sniper fire in Las Vegas in 2017. Or the student protestors in Hong Kong marching to protect their future and beliefs. The compulsion to act bravely is largely ascribed to conscience, that is, being true to one's beliefs. Those who act bravely do not feel as if they have a choice, because not to act is experienced as a betrayal of self. As such, bravery is a fundamental assertion not only of the self but of a moral order necessary to sustain the self.The perfect book for these unprecedented times, as we all need to find our own inner resources to face whatever lies ahead.
Who's to Blame? Collective Guilt on Trial presents a psychoanalytic
exploration of blame and collective guilt in the aftermath of large-scale
atrocities that cause widespread trauma and victimization. It explores aspects
of social and collective guilt and considers how both perpetrators and victims
make sense of their experiences.
