{"id":2417,"date":"2025-10-07T10:33:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/?p=2417"},"modified":"2026-04-08T17:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:02:16","slug":"exploring-the-power-threat-meaning-framework-a-reading-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/2025\/10\/07\/exploring-the-power-threat-meaning-framework-a-reading-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the Power Threat Meaning Framework \u2013 A Reading Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"465\" data-end=\"857\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In recent years, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bps.org.uk\/member-networks\/division-clinical-psychology\/power-threat-meaning-framework\"><em data-start=\"486\" data-end=\"525\">Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF)<\/em> <\/a>\u2014 developed by Lucy Johnstone and Mary Boyle for the British Psychological Society \u2014 has opened up a new conversation about how we understand emotional distress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Rather than viewing distress as an illness within individuals, the PTMF invites us to see it as an understandable response to experiences of power, threat, and meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Many people and initiatives feel connected to this way of thinking. It opens up possibilities for developing new ways of understanding and relating \u2014 moving beyond diagnosis toward meaning, context, and connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">This is why we are beginning a shared reading journey through the PTMF \u2014 to learn, reflect, and imagine how these ideas might come alive in creative, community-based, and peer-led spaces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Below you\u2019ll find an eight-part reading plan. Each session focuses on one part of the book and includes guiding questions to support reflection and conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Whether you read with others, with friends, or on your own, we invite you to approach this journey not as study, but as exploration \u2014 a way of discovering new forms of connection, expression, and understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1574\" data-end=\"1619\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #008000;\"><strong data-start=\"1581\" data-end=\"1617\">RECASAS Exploratory Reading Plan<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1620\" data-end=\"1693\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em data-start=\"1620\" data-end=\"1691\">Based on The Power Threat Meaning Framework (Johnstone &amp; Boyle, 2018)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1695\" data-end=\"1821\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"1695\" data-end=\"1712\">Overall goal:<\/strong><\/span><br data-start=\"1712\" data-end=\"1715\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">To explore how the PTMF can inform creative, peer-led, and nonclinical approaches to emotional distress.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 data-start=\"1828\" data-end=\"1873\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #ff6600;\">Session 1 \u2013 Introduction &amp; Overview<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1874\" data-end=\"2028\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"1874\" data-end=\"1886\">Reading:<\/strong> Document Summary + Introduction (pp. 5\u201318)<\/span><br data-start=\"1929\" data-end=\"1932\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"1932\" data-end=\"1942\">Focus:<\/strong> Why the PTMF was created, the paradigm shift away from diagnosis.<\/span><br data-start=\"2008\" data-end=\"2011\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2011\" data-end=\"2026\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2029\" data-end=\"2240\">\n<li data-start=\"2029\" data-end=\"2074\">\n<p data-start=\"2031\" data-end=\"2074\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">What resonates most with your experience?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2075\" data-end=\"2155\">\n<p data-start=\"2077\" data-end=\"2155\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How does this framework challenge traditional ideas of illness and recovery?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2075\" data-end=\"2155\">\n<p data-start=\"2077\" data-end=\"2155\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">What would it feel like to enter a space shaped by these ideas?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"2242\" data-end=\"2297\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Session 2 \u2013 Problems of Psychiatric Diagnosis<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2298\" data-end=\"2425\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2298\" data-end=\"2310\">Reading:<\/strong> Chapter 1 (pp. 19\u201336)<\/span><br data-start=\"2332\" data-end=\"2335\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2335\" data-end=\"2345\">Focus:<\/strong> The limits of diagnosis and the role of language and power.<\/span><br data-start=\"2405\" data-end=\"2408\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2408\" data-end=\"2423\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2426\" data-end=\"2545\">\n<li data-start=\"2426\" data-end=\"2491\">\n<p data-start=\"2428\" data-end=\"2491\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How have labels shaped people\u2019s stories \u2014 including your own?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2492\" data-end=\"2545\">\n<p data-start=\"2494\" data-end=\"2545\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">What might a post-diagnostic language sound like?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"2547\" data-end=\"2608\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #ff6600;\">Session 3 \u2013 Philosophical and Conceptual Principles<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2609\" data-end=\"2746\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2609\" data-end=\"2621\">Reading:<\/strong> Chapter 2 (pp. 37\u201374)<\/span><br data-start=\"2643\" data-end=\"2646\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2646\" data-end=\"2656\">Focus:<\/strong> Beyond the DSM mindset; reclaiming meaning, agency, and relationship.<\/span><br data-start=\"2726\" data-end=\"2729\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2729\" data-end=\"2744\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2747\" data-end=\"2846\">\n<li data-start=\"2747\" data-end=\"2786\">\n<p data-start=\"2749\" data-end=\"2786\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">What does \u201cagency\u201d mean in healing?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2747\" data-end=\"2786\">\n<p data-start=\"2749\" data-end=\"2786\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How can community spaces embody a different view of being human?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"2848\" data-end=\"2891\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #ff6600;\">Session 4 \u2013 Meaning and Narrative<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2892\" data-end=\"3000\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2892\" data-end=\"2904\">Reading:<\/strong> Chapter 3 (pp. 75\u201391)<\/span><br data-start=\"2926\" data-end=\"2929\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2929\" data-end=\"2939\">Focus:<\/strong> Culture, shame, and the stories we tell.<\/span><br data-start=\"2980\" data-end=\"2983\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"2983\" data-end=\"2998\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"3001\" data-end=\"3103\">\n<li data-start=\"3001\" data-end=\"3053\">\n<p data-start=\"3003\" data-end=\"3053\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Whose stories are heard, and whose are silenced?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3054\" data-end=\"3103\">\n<p data-start=\"3056\" data-end=\"3103\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How can storytelling and art restore meaning?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"3105\" data-end=\"3145\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #ff6600;\">Session 5 \u2013 The Social Context<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"3146\" data-end=\"3263\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3146\" data-end=\"3158\">Reading:<\/strong> Chapter 4 (pp. 92\u2013151)<\/span><br data-start=\"3181\" data-end=\"3184\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3184\" data-end=\"3194\">Focus:<\/strong> The role of adversity, inequality, and ideology.<\/span><br data-start=\"3243\" data-end=\"3246\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3246\" data-end=\"3261\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"3264\" data-end=\"3366\">\n<li data-start=\"3264\" data-end=\"3314\">\n<p data-start=\"3266\" data-end=\"3314\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How do power and threat operate in your world?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3264\" data-end=\"3314\">\n<p data-start=\"3266\" data-end=\"3314\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Why does society need new forms of community and support?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"3368\" data-end=\"3409\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #ff6600;\">Session 6 \u2013 The Role of Biology<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"3410\" data-end=\"3511\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3410\" data-end=\"3422\">Reading:<\/strong> Chapter 5 (pp. 152\u2013181)<\/span><br data-start=\"3446\" data-end=\"3449\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3449\" data-end=\"3459\">Focus:<\/strong> Biology as mediator, not cause.<\/span><br data-start=\"3491\" data-end=\"3494\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3494\" data-end=\"3509\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"3512\" data-end=\"3623\">\n<li data-start=\"3512\" data-end=\"3579\">\n<p data-start=\"3514\" data-end=\"3579\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How can we honor the body without reducing distress to disease?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3580\" data-end=\"3623\">\n<p data-start=\"3582\" data-end=\"3623\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">What does embodied healing mean to you?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"3625\" data-end=\"3682\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Session 7 \u2013 Describing Patterns within the PTMF<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"3683\" data-end=\"3796\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3683\" data-end=\"3695\">Reading:<\/strong> Chapter 6 (pp. 182\u2013254)<\/span><br data-start=\"3719\" data-end=\"3722\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3722\" data-end=\"3732\">Focus:<\/strong> Power \u2192 Threat \u2192 Meaning \u2192 Threat Response.<\/span><br data-start=\"3776\" data-end=\"3779\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3779\" data-end=\"3794\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"3797\" data-end=\"3920\">\n<li data-start=\"3797\" data-end=\"3860\">\n<p data-start=\"3799\" data-end=\"3860\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Which of the four PTMF questions speaks to you most deeply?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3797\" data-end=\"3860\">\n<p data-start=\"3799\" data-end=\"3860\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How can these ideas be integrated into creative or community spaces?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-start=\"3922\" data-end=\"3956\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #ff6600;\">Session 8 \u2013 Ways Forward<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"3957\" data-end=\"4084\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3957\" data-end=\"3969\">Reading:<\/strong> Chapter 8 (pp. 262\u2013317)<\/span><br data-start=\"3993\" data-end=\"3996\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"3996\" data-end=\"4006\">Focus:<\/strong> From theory to action \u2014 peer work, policy, and community.<\/span><br data-start=\"4064\" data-end=\"4067\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong data-start=\"4067\" data-end=\"4082\">Reflection:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">What could \u201cways forward\u201d look like for us &#8211; individually and collectively \u2013 as we move forward?<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-start=\"4149\" data-end=\"4209\">\n<p data-start=\"4151\" data-end=\"4209\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How might you personally help bring these ideas to life?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 data-start=\"4216\" data-end=\"4247\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #008000;\">After the Reading Journey<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"4248\" data-end=\"4472\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">At the end of this journey, we invite participants to create something inspired by the PTMF questions \u2014 a short text, poem, drawing, or photo. <\/span>These creative responses can become part of a shared exploration of how we begin to rethink emotional distress, connection, and meaning.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4474\" data-end=\"4629\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If you would like to read the original publication, it\u2019s freely available here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bps.org.uk\/member-networks\/division-clinical-psychology\/power-threat-meaning-framework\">https:\/\/www.bps.org.uk\/member-networks\/division-clinical-psychology\/power-threat-meaning-framework<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent years, the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) \u2014 developed by Lucy Johnstone and Mary Boyle for the British Psychological Society \u2014 has opened up a new conversation about how we understand emotional distress. Rather than viewing distress as an illness within individuals, the PTMF invites us to see it as an understandable response [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"2","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"floatbottom","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"3","show_author_box":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0","show_comment_section":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-715","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"coauthors":[39],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-program"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2417"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2573,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions\/2573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2417"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recasas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}