Psychoanalysis and the unconscious

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THINKERS AND THEORIES

‘Man cannot stand a meaningless life’ – a conversation with Carl Jung at 84

Video by Face to Face

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PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

How I became a psychoanalyst by losing my keys

What are we really doing when we sit in a room with our patients and exchange some words?

by Jordan Osserman

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PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

Men’s anxiety about hair loss can have a deeper meaning

As a psychoanalyst, I’ve seen how reflecting on the emotional symbolism of hair loss can be therapeutic for many men

by Tom Wooldridge

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THE SELF

Why bad doodles can reveal more about you than good drawings

For Marion Milner, ‘not being able’ is a valuable state – one that allows for new and unexpected forms of learning

by David Russell

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PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

Three ways to get in touch with your Shadow self

Jung believed we all have a Shadow self. Facing up to it could help you live more fully and be more forgiving of others

by Ruth Williams

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PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

For Jung, architecture was a tool to represent the psyche

Carl Jung’s approach to architecture is a provocation: how are we creating spaces for the forgotten dimensions of our minds?

by David Borkenhagen

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SEX AND SEXUALITY

My take on ‘Venus in Furs’ as a modern-day dominatrix

My experiences as a 21st-century femdom echo the gendered themes that feature in Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel

by Gia Marcos

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SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE

The violence of suicide reverberates in, and through, us all

A psychodynamic perspective on suicide can help us all reckon more honestly with the interconnectedness of psychic pain

by Kyle Boyd

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HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY

How a Viennese genius (not the one you think) understood penis envy

Karen Horney’s challenge to Freudian psychosexual theory helped me say ‘penis’ without flinching in my Cairo classroom

by Heba Yosry

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HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF MENTAL HEALTH

Can we diagnose suffering without knowing a person’s history?

Human bodies and mental states are always transforming. How can the DSM portray the full range of human suffering?

by Christos Tombras

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PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

The power of slow therapy, revealed in two pioneering memoirs

Two therapy memoirs by Lucy Freeman, an overlooked mental health pioneer, remind us of the value of slow, convoluted therapy

by Elliot Jurist

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THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Either/or questions are part of psychotherapy’s language games

When a patient poses a binary question, it’s tempting to give a straight answer, but they are often seeking so much more

by Darren Haber

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DRUGS AND PSYCHEDELICS

To learn from a psychedelic trip, explore the dreams that follow

Psychedelic experiences, properly digested, offer opportunities for change – and the dreams that follow them can help

by Mackenzie Amara

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THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIPS

My failed analysis gave me confidence and taught me when to quit

What does successful psychoanalysis look like? I’d read all around Freud and I didn’t know, but then neither did my analyst

by Lisa Levy

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DIFFICULT EMOTIONS

How to stop emotional eating

Whether compelled by an inner void, loneliness or boredom, psychoanalysis can help you understand why you seek comfort in food

by Nina Savelle-Rocklin

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HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF MENTAL HEALTH

For Donald Winnicott, the psyche is not inside us but between us

For Donald Winnicott, your psyche isn’t just in your head – it emerges from your relationships with others and the world

by James Barnes