Richard D. McCutchan, Ph.D.
Books & Research
Books now available:
Awakening the Spirit of Osiris
The Transformative Power of Anger
by
Richard D. McCutchan PhD.
“Richard McCutchan has written an illuminating and penetrating book exploring the raging turbulence as well as transformative potentials of anger. He eloquently and lucidly interweaves the myth of Osiris with clinical case studies leading the reader towards psychological conclusions that are clear, easy to follow, and exquisitely enhanced by the myth. I finished the book with a deepened under-standing and respect for this often scapegoated emotion that is so clearly illustrated as the heartbeat of our human condition personally, culturally, and politically.” Sandra Shelley, Ph.D. |
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In Awakening the Spirit of Osiris Richard McCutchan explores the creative power of anger. Using the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (the myth of Osiris) as a doorway into the unconscious, he shows how, in a paradoxical twist of psychological life, the very fear of the powerfully destructive forces of anger keep us from experiencing our full human potential.
Drawing from Imaginal Psychology and clinical experience, the author gives special attention to the multiple modes of experiencing anger, rage and hate that are responses to living in a world of chaos, conflict, confusion, and diversity. By focusing on the archaic and primitive defenses of the self and the mythic poetic language of ancient Egyptian stories, he connects Post Jungian theory, contemporary object relations theory, and the social/cultural evolution of civilization. He shows how anger when not fully experienced limits the potential to illuminate and transform us as human beings.
Anger re-imagined is the human response to the inherent human desire to have impact on the world and to have authentic relatedness to others. Richard McCutchan breaks through the problematic discourse around anger that keeps us stuck in a world of anxiety, fear, hatred, destruction and violence, opening the way for deeper relationships and compassionate aggressiveness that can positively impact both our inner and outer world.
Research on Anger
Awakening Osiris: by Richard David McCutchan This dissertation proposes a new perspective for understanding the expression of anger. Drawing from depth psychology, affect-theory, and mythology, it attempts to free the understanding of anger from its problematized conceptualization by exploring the role of reflexivity and its transformative potentials. The dissertation presents a typology of the ways in which anger is experienced. The research investigates the reported experience of five men who had physically abused their partners. The investigation focuses on their anger and the role of reflexivity in tapping the transformative potential inherent to the experience of anger. Identifying and engaging with the imaginal structures associated with these anger experiences is viewed as a catalyst for transformation. The entire research text of "Awakening Osiris: The Transformative Potential Of Anger" is provided as a PDF version for those who are interested. I hold all copy write and only ask that permission is requested for any reproduction and that any use of text be given proper reference acknowledgment. Selective Seminars and Other Presentations by Richard
The Transformative Potential Of Anger
The typology categorizes four constellations of how anger is experienced. It focuses on the interaction between self- and other-focused anger and the role of reflexivity. The four constellations are reflexive/self-focused anger (watching mode), reflexive/other-focused anger (participating mode), non-reflexive/self-focused anger (numbing mode), and non-reflexive/self-focused anger (reacting mode).
Guided by the typology, interviews were conducted with five men convicted of spousal abuse. The taped interviews were then subjected to a narrative analysis utilizing co-researchers. In a second round of interviews, these men were introduced to the typology along with its associated mythic imagery. They were encouraged to identify and engage the imaginal structures associated with their anger experience as identified by the co-researchers. It is hypothesized that this type of reflexivity may catalyze transformation of identity and relationship.
Through theory and application, the research presents an in-depth perspective of the potential of identifying and engaging with the imaginal structures associated with anger as a catalyst for transformative change. The response to the typology by the participants shows potential for its use in working with domestic violence abusers, particularly for the purpose of increasing self-awareness.
(6 meetings per topic/9 hours continuing education credit per topic )
Participation Mystique (October 1st through December 31st, 2001),
The Face of the Therapist (January 1 through March 31,2002).
Therapist and Madness, (April 1 through June 31,2002),
Confidentiality (October 1st through December 31st, 2002),
The Inner World of Trauma The Client’s Dreams and the Therapist’s Dreams of their Clients ( January 1 through March 31, 2003),
Ethics and Jurisprudence (April 1 through June 30, 2003),
The Inner World of Trauma (July 1 through September 31, 2003).
The Inner World of Trauma Part II (October 1 through December 31, 2003)
The Client We Think We Know (January 1 through March 31, 2004)
The Client We Think We Know Part II (April 1 through June 8, 2004)
Countertransference Revisited (September 1 through December 31, 2004)
Law and Ethics (April 1 through June 8, 2005)
Spousal Abuse (September 1 through December 31, 2005
Being a therapist (January 1 through March 31, 2006)
Clinical Case Review (September 1 through December 31, 2006)
Therapist Issues: Terminating Therapy, Couples vs. Individual Therapy (January 1 through March 31, 2007)