It’s funny to look back, ten years on, and realise I’m still just doing the stuff I was trained to do at university. It’s essentially just close reading – I like to pick up a game and look at one facet or another. It’s not a strict rule, but it’s pretty clearly my bread and […]
Writing and the Public Sphere
The reflective Karen Horney, like her psychoanalytic predecessors, stood at the crossroads of the 19th and 20th centuries. Revolutionary responses to feudalism and new visions of happiness did not end with the rise of nation-states or the slow expansion of democratic ideals. Dissatisfaction endured—in the nuclear family, in intimate relationships, and in work. Though further […]
Cultural Psychoanalysis: Karen Horney Pt. 1
Heart of the heartless world, Dear heart, the thought of you Is the pain at my side, The shadow that chills my view. The wind rises in the evening, Reminds that autumn is near. I am afraid to lose you, I am afraid of my fear. On the last mile to Huesca, The last fence […]
‘Huesca’ by John Cornford
Psychotherapy is the process of acclimating one to the ordinary. Many, however, approach treatment in the opposite way, looking to psychology for answers on how to become special or, even worse, unlock their inner kings or queens. People often consider psychotherapy as a validation of and springboard for their narcissistic drives. They may have good jobs but want […]
Psychotherapy Isn’t Always About Becoming Better
I have long been a fan of Shirley Jackson’s unnerving fiction, which never fails to unsettle me. From the creeping sense of dread running through her short stories to the magical but disturbing world of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Jackson excels at stripping back the surface veneer of seemingly polite society, exposing […]
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson
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