Discovering the World in the Individual: the World Channel in Psychotherapy

Abstract

Many therapists today are raising questions about psychotherapy's contribution to politics, its responsibility, view, and influence on the world. This article addresses one aspect by elucidating the reciprocal relationship between the world and the individual as this relationship appears in individual therapy. It offers a process-oriented theory in which the individual's relationship to the world appears in what is called the "world channel." Clients can find world channel phenomena emerging spontaneously from their experience and can, with or without the help of a therapist, unfold the events in this channel. This theory does not prescribe how to act in the world or how to be politically correct or even socially aware. Rather, the theory and method allow unexpected and individual behavior to emerge from a client's signals, dreams, and fantasies. By caring for and unfolding individual experiences in the world channel we learn more about our specific roles and contributions to global history.