The Performance Therapist and Authentic Therapeutic Identity

Book excerpt: Exploring what it means to be an authentic therapist in the present day, Sara London playfully melds together the tenets of performance art and psychoanalytic theory to advance the hopeful new notion of the performance therapist. In an era where the therapist is now more of a public-facing entity than ever before, developing a sense of who one is both inside and outside of the consulting room is a complex undertaking. In response, London reconceptualises the therapist’s identity in a contemporary way, transcending preconceived labels, by bringing an understanding of performance art into an analysis of psychotherapeutic practice. Through this interdisciplinary approach, London attends to the complex questions faced by psychoanalysts and psychotherapists in training and in practice: can a therapist perform and be authentic? Can a therapist perform and have true intimate relationships within the confines of that performance? And can a therapist perform as themselves? This provocative and highly original work will provide both new and experienced psychotherapists with an understanding of the clinical and philosophical significance of performance art to cultivating therapeutic identity.