Oliver James (psychologist) explained

Oliver James
Birth Date:1953
Alma Mater:Eton College
Years Active:2013-present

Oliver James (born 1953) is a British pop psychologist, author, and television producer.

Biography

Oliver James was born in 1953 to parents who were psychoanalysts.[1] He was educated at Eton College.[2] [3] He took a degree in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and one in Psychology at the University of Nottingham.[4] He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Staffordshire in 2007.[5]

He trained as a child clinical psychologist at the University of Nottingham, then worked at the NHS Cassel Hospital in Richmond, London, in a clinical psychology post.[4] He is registered as a therapist at the John Bowlby Centre[6] and as a Chartered Psychologist at the British Psychological Society.[7] He is registered with and regulated by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.[8] In 2009 Mary Fitzgerald of The Guardian described James as a "prolific pop-psychologist.[9]

Speaking on Channel 4's 2013 Psychopath Night, James described the credit crunch as a "mass outbreak of corporate psychopathy which resulted in something that very nearly crashed the whole world economy".[10] In 2013 he was interviewed by Bob Hopkins of transitionnetwork.org about his books Affluenza and The Selfish Capitalist: The Origins of Affluenza.[11]

In 2016, writing for The Guardian about his book Upping Your Ziggy: How David Bowie Faced His Childhood Demons and How You Can Face Yours, James said "There are many ways for us to take charge of our personas, be it simply by self-reflection, with the help of friends, by writing novels or creating art, or through therapy. We simply need to get a dialogue going between our different parts."[12] [13] [14] Speaking at the Market Research Society annual conference, Impact 2017, he urged the audience to "embrace their multiple personas, just as the late David Bowie did", saying: "To a degree we all have multiple personality disorder – it shouldn't be called a disorder."[15]

James is a patron of Mothers at Home Matter[16] and has been a trustee of the UK charities Contented Dementia Trust,[17] National Family and Parenting Institute,[4] [18] and Home-Start UK.[4] [19]

Criticism

Some have criticised James' research methods and writing and his thoughts and opinions have attracted controversy. Deborah Orr of The Guardian described his views on the nature versus nurture debate as hypocritical, "If he was confronted with a mother doing exactly that to her child, I'm sure James would consider it abusive".[20]

Stuart J. Ritchie, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, wrote a strongly critical review of James's book Not In Your Genes. He described the book as a "straw man made flesh", "a compendium of psychological myths and legends", and "bending over backwards to avoid awkward conclusions". Ritchie wrote, "Few books risk such damage to the public understanding of science as those by Oliver James", and accused James of "scientific illiteracy".

Ritchie described the book's thesis as "children are born with brains of soft clay, their mental makeup unaffected by genes and infinitely mouldable by their parents", and that "DNA has no effect on the mind or mental health, whereas parenting reigns supreme". Ritchie described a variety of evidence which contradicts this view.[21]

Ritchie also responded to a letter from James in The Psychologist.[22] following which James and Prof Richard Bentall of the University of Liverpool engaged him in argument.[23] James responded to Ritchie's criticisms in an article in The Guardian in March 2016, where he argued, "... mental illness is often caused by maltreatment and social disadvantage. In one study, a person who had suffered five or more kinds of maltreatment was 193 times more likely to become schizophrenic compared with someone who suffered no maltreatment. It's the same for other mental illnesses. In the best study following children from an early age, nine out of 10 who were maltreated had developed a mental illness by the age of 18."[24]

Works

Television

Books

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Guest . Katy . 4 January 2008 . Oliver James: How to have a sane New Year . 14 October 2024 . The Independent.
  2. News: 29 May 2010 . Oliver James: It's all about you . 6 June 2022 . The Independent . en.
  3. News: 25 February 2013 . Oliver James learnt all about office backstabbing politics at Eton - . Evening Standard . en.
  4. Web site: Oliver James - RSA . www.thersa.org.
  5. Web site: 2024 . Pre-2007 Honorary Graduate List . 14 October 2024 . staffs.ac.uk.
  6. Web site: James, Oliver . The John Bowlby Centre.
  7. Web site: Mr Oliver James CPsychol . 8 October 2024 . bps.org.uk.
  8. Web site: Oliver James . 16 October 2024 . United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.
  9. Web site: Fitzgerald . Mary . 2009-01-18 . Review:Selfish capitalist . 2024-10-11 . The Guardian.
  10. Psychopath Night, Channel 4 (2013).
  11. Web site: 18 December 2013 . Rob Hopkins | Oliver James on 'affluenza' .
  12. Web site: Silverton . Peter . 2016-06-02 . David Bowie: New book explores how childhood influenced his life and identity . 2024-10-11 . The Independent.
  13. News: James . Oliver . 21 June 2016 . Embrace your inner Ziggy Stardust – the power of personas in therapy . The Guardian.
  14. Web site: 3 June 2016 . How David Bowie's childhood influenced the singer's life and identity . The Independent.
  15. Web site: Oliver James on what chief executives can learn from David Bowie | News . Research Live.
  16. Web site: 2024 . About Us: Patrons and Advisors . 10 October 2024 . mothersathomematter.com.
  17. Web site: CONTENTED DEMENTIA TRUST people . 2024-10-15 . find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk . en.
  18. Web site: CORAM FAMILY AND CHILDCARE LTD people . 2024-10-15 . find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk . en. The National Family and Parenting Institute changed its name to Family and Childcare Trust in 2013 and to Coram Family and Childcare Ltd in 2018.
  19. Web site: HOME-START UK people . 2024-10-15 . find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk . en.
  20. Web site: Orr . Deborah . 12 March 2016 . Oliver James is wrong to blame parents for their children's mental illness . 11 October 2024 . . en.
  21. Web site: Stuart Ritchie . 8 March 2016 . On genetics Oliver James is on a different planet to the rest of us . https://web.archive.org/web/20190720081426/https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/on-genetics-oliver-james-is-wrong-about-everything/ . 20 July 2019 . 8 April 2017 . Spectator Health (Health.spectator.co.uk).
  22. Web site: 28 December 2015 . Not in your genes | The Psychologist . 8 April 2017 . Thepsychologist.bps.org.uk.
  23. Web site: Jump the gun and you will be shot down . 8 April 2017 . Thepsychologist.bps.org.uk.
  24. Web site: Oliver James . 30 March 2016 . Sorry, but you can't blame your children's genes . 8 April 2017 . The Guardian.
  25. Web site: 9 January 2017 . Room 113 – Private Lives . YouTube.
  26. Web site: 9 January 2017 . New Britain on the Couch . YouTube.
  27. Web site: 24 March 2024 . INFIDELITY, OLIVER JAMES, PSYCHOLOGIST . YouTube.
  28. Web site: The Last Day (1990) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220531185626/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7aaba6e2 . 31 May 2022 . 31 May 2022 . BFI . en.
  29. Web site: The Last Day . 31 May 2022 . BFI Collections.
  30. Web site: Wot U Lookin At? (1993) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220531185632/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c8e5aad . 31 May 2022 . 31 May 2022 . BFI . en.
  31. Web site: Wot U Looking At? . 31 May 2022 . BFI Collections.
  32. Web site: 24 May 1993 . Horizon – Wot U Lookin At? . 31 May 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  33. Web site: Prozac Diary Late Show Special (1995) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220531185635/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7e4a5a51 . 31 May 2022 . 31 May 2022 . BFI . en.
  34. Web site: The Late Show – Prozac Diary . 31 May 2022 . BFI Collections.
  35. Web site: 1 May 1995 . States of Mind: Prozac Diary . 31 May 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  36. Web site: The Chair . 1 June 2022 . BFI Collections.
  37. Web site: Vanessa Feltz (1997) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223915/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8051a5f1 . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  38. Web site: 21 May 1997 . The Chair – Vanessa Feltz . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  39. Web site: Paul McKenna (1997) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223906/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8058873f . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  40. Web site: 28 May 1997 . The Chair – Paul McKenna . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  41. Web site: Peter Mandelson (1997) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223924/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b805a9b33 . 1 June 2022 . 2022-06-01 . BFI . en.
  42. Web site: 4 June 1997 . The Chair – Peter Mandelson . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  43. Web site: Patsy Palmer (1997) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223912/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8061c348 . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  44. Web site: 11 June 1997 . The Chair – Patsy Palmer . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  45. Web site: Julian Clary (1997) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223918/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b807db3e6 . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  46. Web site: 23 July 1997 . The Chair – Julian Clary . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  47. Web site: David Icke (1997) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223921/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8081c583 . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  48. Web site: 30 July 1997 . The Chair – David Icke . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  49. Web site: 31 July 1997 . The Chair – George Graham . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  50. They F**** You up: How to Survive Family Life . 10.1136/sbmj.0305168 . 2003 . Dosani . Sabina . BMJ . 326 .

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