People Like Us: Poverty, Social Class and Trauma – an online webinar with Darren McGarvey and Miriam Taylor
17th January 4.00-6.00 GMT

The implications of class and poverty for clinicians, coaches and organisations are many. Access to resources, the impact of class on the socially mobile, what is passed on through families and the class attitudes of the practitioner are important considerations, alongside the need for systems change. How come we privilege gentrification to create images of prosperity, while evidence of working-class lifestyles remains hidden? What is the link between poverty, class and trauma?

These questions and many others will be addressed in what promises to be a dynamic conversation between Darren McGarvey, social commentator, writer, broadcaster and rapper and Miriam Taylor, psychotherapist, trainer and writer on trauma.

Darren McGarvey, has lived through extreme poverty, homelessness and addiction. He also has one of the most insightful and thought-provoking ways of communicating how the world works. He is currently working on a book about trauma. In his first book, ‘Poverty Safari’ which won the Orwell Prize for political writing in 2018, he writes ‘The existence of emotional stress, how it affects us and what we do to manage it throughout our lives, is one of the most overlooked aspects of the poverty experience. Yet stress is often the engine room that fuels lifestyle choices and behaviours that can lead to poor diet, addictions, mental health issues and chronic health conditions.’ This has to be of great concern to mental health practitioners and organisations supporting them, and yet the voices of the poor, the working classes become marginalised in everyday discourse, politics and in the often middle-class professions that are designated to ‘help’ them.

By way of a counterpoint, Miriam will share some of her experience of trauma from her middle-class background. She links social justice issues to trauma, and considers this to be a human rights issue. In her book “Deepening Trauma Practice” she wrote: “The need for personal, group or national survival can come at the expense of "others" who are seen as being outside the group that is, or risks being, threatened. One way of understanding power is that unbearable pain is displaced from one person or group or bloodline to another. An individual or marginalised group is implicitly called upon to bear the suffering that others cannot”. This provides us with an important view of power in our societies today.

Together, in this webinar, they will create a live opportunity to consider how the two experiences might meet. In particular, the role of power as a structure of the wider field will be highlighted.

Bookings for this event are now moving quite fast, so you might want to reserve your place soon!