The Anti-Polarisation Paradox: Meeting Dehumanisation with Humanity

In The Anti-Polarisation Paradox, Mick Cooper explores a profound dilemma relevant to psychotherapy, politics, and human relationships alike: how can we meet intolerance, dehumanisation, and polarisation without reproducing those same dynamics? Drawing on personal, professional, and socio-political examples, Cooper reflects on the temptation to respond to domination or contempt with counter-attack or withdrawal—responses that risk perpetuating cycles of alienation.

He proposes that therapists’ skills and attitudes offer valuable guidance in navigating such tensions. Cooper maps a continuum of possible strategies, from Direct Opposition (fighting domination) to Radical Acceptance (empathic understanding), and considers intermediate approaches such as Calling Out, Reflexivity, Ignoring, Assertiveness, Persuasion, Genuine Dialogue, Protection, and Pluralism. Each strategy, he notes, carries strengths and risks: for instance, Radical Acceptance may model humanity yet risk appeasement; Direct Opposition can defend the vulnerable yet mirror aggression.

Cooper’s preferred stance resonates with the therapeutic ethos of pluralism, reflexivity, and dialogue—a disciplined openness to complexity and to the humanity of all parties, including those who dominate or harm. He acknowledges, however, that no single approach suffices: context, power dynamics, urgency, and one’s own positioning all shape what is ethical and effective.

Ultimately, the “anti-polarisation paradox” invites therapists to model the very processes we facilitate in clients: holding ambivalence, seeking understanding across difference, and engaging others with compassion without colluding or retaliating. It is a call to enact psychotherapy’s deepest principles in the public sphere.

Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event

• Reflect on the “anti-polarisation paradox” – Develop an understanding of how efforts to confront intolerance or domination can inadvertently reproduce the same dynamics, and consider the relevance of this paradox to therapeutic, relational, and social contexts.
• Critically evaluate strategies for responding to polarisation – Identify and appraise a range of possible responses (e.g., opposition, acceptance, assertiveness, dialogue, protection), recognising their potential benefits, risks, and contextual appropriateness within both therapy and wider social engagement.
• Apply pluralistic and dialogical principles – Explore how therapeutic values such as empathy, reflexivity, openness to complexity, and respect for difference can inform constructive responses to conflict and dehumanisation in professional and personal practice.

Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?

• Psychotherapists, counsellors, and those interested in therapeutic processes and conflict resolution.

How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?

• This workshop invites therapists to translate the principles of pluralism, reflexivity, and dialogue into their everyday professional interactions—both within therapy and in wider social or organisational contexts. By engaging with the “anti-polarisation paradox,” participants will be encouraged to notice when their own responses to conflict risk mirroring the very dynamics they oppose, and to experiment with alternative stances that maintain compassion, curiosity, and nuance. The workshop aims to enhance therapists’ capacity to hold difference without collapse into defensiveness or appeasement, to respond assertively yet humanely to power and intolerance, and to foster relational climates—whether in therapy rooms, teams, or communities—that model psychological safety, openness, and mutual respect.

RECORDING

This event will be recorded and you can use the ticket function to pre-purchase the recording before the event. This will be useful for colleagues who are not able to attend the event live and also for those who attend the event live and want to watch it again.

ZOOM

This event will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform where we will use our cameras and microphones to interact with each other as a group.

SELF-SELECT FEE

The self-select fee is a radical inclusion policy to open learning for all colleagues. The guide price for this event is £20.00, however, we appreciate that income varies greatly in different locations and circumstances. Please contribute what you can to help us maintain inclusive professional training.

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If you are not a member of a professional organisation, we ask that you participate in a way that is both authentic and respectful, fostering a space of mutual learning and professional engagement.

By registering for this event, you agree to be present and interact in a manner that reflects these principles.

Mick Cooper

Mick Cooper is an internationally recognised author, trainer, and consultant in the field of humanistic, existential, and pluralistic therapies. Mick is a chartered psychologist and Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Roehampton. Mick's books include Existential Therapies (2nd ed., Sage, 2017), Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2nd ed., Sage, 2018), and Integrating Counselling and Psychotherapy: Directionality, Synergy, and Social Change (Sage, 2019). Mick’s principal areas of research have been in shared decision-making/personalising therapy and counselling for young people in schools. In 2014, Mick received the Carmi Harari Mid-Career Award from Division 32 of the American Psychological Association. He is a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Academy of Social Sciences. In recent work, Mick has been exploring the contribution that counselling theory and practice can make to wider social change and justice: Psychology at the Heart of Social Change: Towards a Progressive Vision for Society (Bristol University, 2023).

Website | www.mick-cooper.squarespace.com