Shut Up or We’ll Throw You Overboard — the Quest For Belonging and the Terror of Coming Home to Self

Belonging and co-creating a “therapeutic” home are key themes that resonate with Minh, both as a psychotherapist and from her own experience as a child refugee. Yet, seeking refuge and a sense of belonging is something we all share, whether we are in the therapeutic space as clients or as therapists, especially in today’s socio-environmental and biopolitical context.

In this presentation, Minh will explore various themes from a recent paper she wrote, which stem from her personal refugee experience and the lessons she has learned through the healing process.

She will discuss Renos Papadopoulos’s concept of Nostalgic Disorientation (2002)—the loss of home due to forced dislocation that causes a profound psychological rupture—highlighting that home is not just a physical space, but a dynamic system involving spatial, temporal, relational, and cultural dimensions.

She will also address the shift from working solely at the intrapsychic level to a broader psychosocial and psychospiritual perspective, recognising that our true sense of home encompasses belonging at the universal and spiritual levels. Minh will then introduce the idea of the Brokenwhole, a state of psychic rest and embodiment that allows people to come back into connection with their bodies, experience enough resilience to acknowledge and sit with their brokenness, without needing to strive for wholeness or escape from brokenness.

There will be an opportunity for discussion and an experiential embodiment practice using the Realisation Process—a modality Minh is trained and qualified to teach.