Over the years I have met people in different settings, mostly in people´s kitchen and in my therapy room, but also at the university, during rehearsal for a theatre play, during a walk in the forest… I have been lucky to meet people in different ages, coming from different backgrounds, living in different settings, expressing themselves in different ways. However, what seems to be in common, no matter where the meeting takes place or whom I meet, is the importance of how we talk and listen to each other.
What does it mean to listen? And how to talk in a way that makes it possible to listen? What kind of language and words might be useful for me as a therapist? What kind of knowledge do I bring into the meeting? How do we together make use of our lived experience?
During my talk I will share some experiences with you. I will let you know about some of the people I have meet over the years, and how the meetings have made an impact in my life, as well as in the other.
Sweden
“The art of therapy”
Carina Håkansson
PhD, Licensed psychotherapist and Author
Carina Håkansson is a Swedish psychotherapist, teacher and supervisor. Her PhD is titled “The extended therapy room”. This title describes Carina's work well, because she shows how to work with people based on knowledge that comes both from lived life, art and a therapeutic understanding. For many years, Carina was head of the Familjevårdsstiftelsen, which based its work on a humanistic understanding, and they made an early decision not to use a diagnostic language in their work. She is also the initiator of The International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (IIPDW). Carina has also published the book “Terapeuten – om levd erfarenhet och profession”(“Therapist - about lived experience and profession”), where she conveys what is difficult to put into words about what happens in therapeutic encounters.