The Agora Speaker Series is hosted by the School of Liberal Arts. Lectures presented as part of the series are free of charge and are open to members of the School of Liberal Arts, the University and the general public.
Agora Talk by Dr Mark McKergow
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UOW Wollongong - Building 20 Room 4
An enactive view of ‘mental illness’, what it means and how it might be treated
(45 mins plus 45 mins Q&A)
Abstract:
The concept of mental illness is surprisingly difficult to pin down. Biological, psychological and social-environmental paradigms compete and usually produce muddle and confusion. Mark McKergow will briefly review the situation and present a new and clearer picture based on enactive cognition, giving a new way to look at mental illness and novel and unexpected ways to help those who suffer. The basis of mental illness is highly contested (biological, psychological, social), indicating that something is missing. Mark’s proposal that (much) mental illness can be seen as a ‘persistent out-of-tuneness of affordances’ sheds light on how ‘stretching the world’ of the sufferer can address matters, often rapidly and effectively. Mark will show how therapies from the brief therapy tradition, including Solution Focused Brief Therapy, work in this way.
Bio:
Mark is an international author, speaker and teacher. He has been bringing new ideas into the world of organisation and therapy for over thirty years. He is the author of The Solutions Focus: Transforming change for coaches, leaders and consultants (now in its third edition, 2024) and The Next Generation of Solution Focused Therapy (Routledge, 2021) and leads the Centre for Solutions Focus at Work based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He also edits the peer-reviewed Journal of Solution Focused Practices. He writes Steps to a Humanity of Organisation on Substack.