Authentic Existential Therapy in Ghana? A poetic authethnography on the happenings in the therapy room with suicidal clients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65828/apxh5034Keywords:
Poetic autoethnography, existential therapy, suicidal clients, Ghana, anti- suicide law, psychiatric settingsAbstract
This SEA presentation was concerned with the provocation of whether existential therapy can be practiced authentically in collectivist or semi-collectivist societies such as Ghana. It showcased the tensions a therapist has to hold when trying to honour existential principles that run contrary to Ghanaian healthcare-seeking practices. Participants were taken on a poetic tour of what psychotherapy with suicidal clients looked like under both the then anti-suicide law and within psychiatric settings. Included in this paper are some of the questions and answers that were discussed, as well as my post-conference reflections on them. This autoethnography provides an example of how poetic research writing can be used to explore and critically reflect on one's psychotherapy practice.
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