Systems Psychodynamics
Description
Most of my research and pedagogical practice are informed by a systems psychodynamics perspective. First introduced by social scientists who conjugated open systems and psychoanalytic theories in their scholarly writing and organizational consulting, this perspective embraces the conceptual cornerstone of psychoanalysis-that much mental functioning occurs below the surface of awareness. It also shares with psychoanalysis the assumption that conflicting elements coexist within the self and the effort to explain how such conflicts are experienced and managed, intra-psychically and in social interactions.
To the traditional psychoanalytic concern for the way in which early experiences with primary caregivers shape leaders' cognition, emotions and behaviour, systems psychodynamics scholars juxtapose a concern for the way social dynamics in the present affect the emergence and functioning of leaders. Our work pays attention to the way in which the emotional needs of individuals and groups shape and give meaning to social structures, processes, and cultures-as well as to how these structures, processes, and cultures, in turn, shape the experiences and meaning making of those individuals and groups.