Presenting: Freely Bound: A Resolute Unworking of the Neoliberal Psych

The internalization of neoliberal orthodoxy is a state of self-commodification whereby the self is taken to be a faulty, defective product or project. Indeed, many clients seek therapy for self-enhancement in alignment with the efficiency goals of neoliberalism. Being consumer and consumed in an ouroboros loop of social prestation and personal branding, client immersion in technological conduits of mimetic desire can leave two noetic acts prone to collapse: concentration (attentional acts) and grit (volitional acts). Borrowing from Maurice Blanchot, unworking (deˊsœuvrement) denotes any creative process that refuses to be useful, per se. Therapeutic unworking dialogues are a type of interruption (discontinuité) as existential rupture, or that moment when the spell of internalization is broken by an irreducible presence which can alter various shapes of self in the lifeworld. We will examine somatic-experiential descriptions and strategies to address three attentional and three volitional noetic acts, respectively, that beckon for interrupting the shape of the neoliberal psyche: passing over (Ubersehen); distraction (Zerstreeung); restlessness (Neugier); indifference (Gleichgültigkeit); disillusionment (Enttäuschung); and irresoluteness (Unentschlossenheit).