Depth Counseling Blog | Articles on Psychoanalysis

Narcissism: Heinz Kohut’s Thoughts on Self-Love

Have you been called a narcissist? Do you think that someone in your life may be a narcissist? What if someone told you that narcissism plays a valuable role in your feeling lovable, confident, and whole, and in your overall functioning in life? Jessica Ngiam explores the thoughts of Heinz Kohut, the founder of self psychology, on the importance of narcissism in the development of the self, and what could happen when the caregiving experience during childhood isn’t good enough.

Confessions of a Teletherapy Clinician

Flora Lazar, PhD LCSW

In their eagerness to return to a semblance of normality after COVID, many psychoanalytic clinicians have treated teletherapy as a crisis improvisation not unlike factory women did in World War II. Flora Lazar offers a candid assessment of the benefits of teletherapy and argues that the benefits of these adaptations may have long-term benefits to psychoanalysis—benefits that may result in some of the most serious challenges to date about the use of the iconic psychoanalytic couch.

Dealing with Identity: Transforming Apologies into Progress

Flora Lazar, PhD LCSW

Dr. Lazar reflects on the slow pace of change in psychoanalytic thinking and teaching about race and gender. She asks what it will take for psychoanalysis to become more inclusive of people whom it has historically dismissed and pathologized. One possibility, she suggests, lies in the integration of institute training with a university culture of research, critical inquiry and interdisciplinary dialogue.

Mourning and Melancholia: Freud’s Thoughts on Loss

Danielle Trudeau, MA

During the unprecedented times we are experiencing due to COVID-19, most of us are adjusting to changes in our lives that we hadn’t anticipated even a month ago. We are all dealing with loss. Danielle Trudeau, MA discusses Freud’s ideas of mourning and melancholia in the context of the losses we are all experiencing during the pandemic.

Let’s Talk (About COVID-19)

Danielle Trudeau, MA

Here’s what Depth Counseling is doing to continue offering counseling services during COVID-19.

Peter Fonagy: What Is ‘Mentalization’?

Danielle Trudeau, MA

The ability to think about what might be in other people’s minds (the skill of putting ourselves in another person’s experience) is something the Hungarian-born psychoanalyst Peter Fonagy calls ‘mentalization.’ Simply put, Fonagy describes mentalization as “having one’s mind in mind.”

Rethinking Social Media: Insights from Dr. Maria Mastronardi

Dr. Maria Mastronardi, PhD LPC, is a licensed therapist and a professor of communication studies. Her research and teaching focus on social media use, relationship issues, trauma, and gender. Dr. Mastronardi offered some of her insights about how social media can both contribute to and alleviate mental distress for those who may be interested in seeking help.

Jessica Benjamin, “Beyond Doer and Done-to”

Danielle Trudeau, MA

Dr. Jessica Benjamin, who currently works as a psychoanalyst and is considered one of the most important contemporary contributors to the field of psychology, describes her idea of ‘Thirdness’ as a kind of co-creation in regular relationships.

Let’s Talk About Sex (and Gender): Insights from Edie Hitchcock

Edie Hitchcock, MA MFA LCPC is a licensed therapist specializing in issues related to identity, gender, and sexuality. Edie offered some of her insights about how sex and gender come into play in psychotherapy for those who may be interested in seeking help.