R.D. Laing

Birth : 1927-10-07, Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Death : 1989-08-23

History

Ronald David Laing, usually cited as R. D. Laing, was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illness – in particular, the experience of psychosis. Laing's views on the causes and treatment of serious mental dysfunction, greatly influenced by existential philosophy, ran counter to the psychiatric orthodoxy of the day by taking the expressed feelings of the individual patient or client as valid descriptions of lived experience rather than simply as symptoms of some separate or underlying disorder.

Movies

Arthur Janov's Primal Therapy
Arthur Janov's Primal Therapy
An associative view of the days, nights and characters that enclosed the life of Arthur Janov, which defines in the conclusion "It's never too late to have a happy childhood". Arthur Janov (1924-2017) was a classic instance of being the right charismatic therapist at the right time - the zeitgeist. Dr. Janov first heard about the embryo to the primal scream through one of his patients when he performed conventional psycho dynamic therapy. It was an absurd theatre performance by Raphael Montañez Ortiz called "Mommy, Daddy" presented in London, 1966. The birth of Primal therapy happened when Arthur Janov's book, "The Primal Scream" was published early 1970.
All Divided Selves
All Divided Selves
Writer
Collage film about R.D. Laing, who spearheaded the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s, weaves archival material with his own filmic observations. For Laing normality meant adjusting ourselves to the mystification of an alienating world.
All Divided Selves
All Divided Selves
Collage film about R.D. Laing, who spearheaded the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s, weaves archival material with his own filmic observations. For Laing normality meant adjusting ourselves to the mystification of an alienating world.
Did You Used to Be R.D. Laing?
Did You Used to Be R.D. Laing?
A solo show whose subject - the controversial Scottish psychiatrist Ronald David Laing - has largely faded from public view, starring an actor who doesn't impersonate him. Scottish actor explores Laing's life and work from the perspective of an unnamed genial ad mirer who says he has just come from Laing's funeral in 1989.
Knots
Knots
Man watching rehearsal
A touring company of actors arriving at a theatre, rehearsing and preparing a performance of a revue based on the book 'Knots' by R.D. Laing, devised by Edward Petherbridge
Knots
Knots
Book
A touring company of actors arriving at a theatre, rehearsing and preparing a performance of a revue based on the book 'Knots' by R.D. Laing, devised by Edward Petherbridge
Asylum
Asylum
Himself
A documentary crew lives with the schizophrenic residents of a group home based upon radical psychiatrist R. D. Laing's controversial approach to healing through compassion and freedom.
Cain's Film
Cain's Film
A film about Alexander Trocchi. Scottish born poet, writer, translator and author of "Young Adam" and "Cain's Book". Part of the film was made at the old Arts Laboratory and includes a discussion with William Burroughs. A portrait of Alexander Trocchi, covering his history as a writer, his interest in drugs, his family life, and ‘Sigma’, the organisation he founded to bring together like-minded people.
New Tempo: Stimulants
New Tempo: Stimulants
New Tempo "Stimulants" involves Indian music and Dr. Ronald Laing and concerned repetitious action modified through lenses, filters, change in film speed, etc.