Café Psychologique is a
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
public discussion initiative where people who are interested in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
and psychological ways of thinking meet to discuss issues that are important to them.
Philosophy
Café Psychologique follows the philosophy of
Café Scientifique
Café Scientifique currently exists in more than 60 towns and cities across the United Kingdom and world-wide. It was the idea of Duncan Dallas, from Leeds, who was impressed by the Café Philosophique session he saw in France. Café Scientifiqu ...
in using invited experts and a discussion-based format to make specialist subjects accessible to a
lay
Lay or LAY may refer to:
Places
*Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada
* Lay, Loire, a French commune
*Lay (river), France
* Lay, Iran, a village
* Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community
* Lay Dam, Alaba ...
audience.
Café Psychologique is intended to bring the insights and methods of psychological therapies into accessible public spaces.
The UK's Café Psychologique movement was set up by a group analyst
and adheres to the principles of
group analysis
Group analysis is a method of group psychotherapy originated by S. H. Foulkes in the 1940s. He had left Germany in 1933 and practised as a psychoanalytic psychiatrist in London. He developed group methods with soldiers in the Northfield experime ...
by promoting a culture where groups can meet and talk in a way that benefits the participants and promotes psychological well-being.
Format
The café-based format is a combination of
world café and
Café Philosophique or
Pub Philosophy.
Visiting experts introduce a theme for the session, and then participants discuss issues surrounding the theme as a large group.
Guest therapists and psychologists participate in the discussions as invited.
History
The UK's first Café Psychologique started in 2011 and meets in the Severn Arts Centre,
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
.
Other
UK Café Psychologiques include
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
and
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. There is also a Cafe Psychologique in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
[{{cite web , url=https://www.meetup.com/Cafe-Psychologique-Sydney/ , website=meetup , access-date=2019-09-03 , title=Cafe Psychologique - the dark side of human nature]
See also
*
Café philosophique
*
Collective intelligence
Collective intelligence (CI) is shared or group intelligence (GI) that Emergence, emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making. The term appears in sociobiolog ...
*
Group analysis
Group analysis is a method of group psychotherapy originated by S. H. Foulkes in the 1940s. He had left Germany in 1933 and practised as a psychoanalytic psychiatrist in London. He developed group methods with soldiers in the Northfield experime ...
*
Public awareness of science
Public awareness of science (PAS) is everything relating to the awareness, attitudes, behaviors, opinions, and activities that comprise the relations between the general public or lay society as a whole to scientific knowledge and organization. ...
References
Psychology organisations based in the United Kingdom
Organizations established in 2011