We can only change ourselves: psychology and mental health in China

Thesis

This thesis is based on 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted 2018/19 with psychological counsellors, their clients, psychology hobbyists 心理爱好者 and their wider social milieu, in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. These people are participants in the “psy-boom”– –the dramatic rise of interest in psychology and adoption of psychological services––that has been a significant social development in the late reform period. First, this thesis shows that the psy- boom is taking place in multiple kinds of venues throughout society, for instance, in workshops, reading groups, workplaces, families and online. The second contribution is to show the diversity of ideas within the psy-boom as it existed in Chengdu at the time of the ethnography, and how it intersected with other social phenomena. These include gender, class, economic precarity, and the rise of digital technologies. The third contribution is to explore the affective dimension and subjective shifts that constitute the psy-boom and how these inform people’s perception of agency. Building on the observation of how the psy-boom intersects with other phenomenon, the thesis shows how people interpret the structural and social causes of personal trauma and how they shape their responses to these. The psy-boom helps people cultivate a particular understanding of agency, that is found in the way they apply psychological tools to better understand themselves, to feel validated in their distress, and to rearticulate themselves in their social worlds. For Ms. Liu, a key figure in this ethnography, to say, “we can’t change others, we can only change ourselves,” represents an understanding of healing that is not passive. However, this notion of there being something that can be done, must come from somewhere. The psy-boom is a social phenomenon constituted by and constitutive of the society in which it has developed.

Authors: Bram, B

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: psychology; psychological counselling; mental health; ethnography; anthropology; chengdu; China
• Subjects: Area Studies; Psychology; Anthropology; China