Lives of the Unconscious. A Podcast on Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

Episode 37: Male Perversion and Sexual Violence

Support our project and get access to the scripts for all episodes: https://www.patreon.com/lives From catcalling and unsolicited “dick pics” to upskirting and other for

Episode 36. What poverty does tu us. And what it has to do with our history.

We are back with a new episode! "Behind what is referred to in psychoanalysis as fate neurosis or repetition compulsion often lurks the uncanny magnetism of one's own so

Episode 35. Envy. A hidden force within human relations

Envy can arise wherever there exists inequality between people: in societies and families, between siblings, genders, and generations. “Envy is the tax which all distinct

Episode 34. Dissociative Identity Disorder - Secret Lives

The idea of split personality is fertile ground for stories of great imagination—while regrettably also inspiring and perpetuating numerous misunderstandings that continu

Episode 33.The Phantom of Emptiness. On the Psychodynamics of White Depression.

In contrast to “black depression,” white depression denotes an often inconspicuous, insidious affliction that can last a lifetime. Its distinguishing quality is a feeling

Episode 32.The Pseudo-Community. Or: The Family behind the Rubber Fence

“You’re free to do anything you want! But this man, of all people—you’ll never be happy with him.” Or: “Of course, if you don’t have time, you don’t have to come to the b

Episode 31. A Lover's Bind: The Psychoanalysis of Romantic Relationships

One couple fights over household responsibilities. Another is trapped in a cycle of jealousy and control. Still another strives for total harmony and oneness—only to be t

Episode 30: On the psychoanalysis of addictive disorders

Addiction is one of the most widespread forms of mental illness. However, it is also burdened with many stigmas, and those suffering from it are often stigmatized. Treati

Episode 29: The Anorexic Dynamic. Or: Why eating disorders are not about the food

“You are what you eat.” We are continuously negotiating our identity through food, setting the boundaries of the self. Inscribed into the symptoms of anorexia is an uncon

Episode 28: Malignant Narcissism: A Reservoir of Hatred and Violence

History has certainly never failed to offer reasons and occasions to cause violence of all sorts; making it understandable how Freud arrived at the following verdict towa

Episode 27: The Tragedy of Narcissism

The diagnosis of “narcissism” appears to have come into vogue, not only in the field of clinical psychology. It is an inescapable diagnosis for just about any critique of

Episode 26: Grief. The path through the realm of shadow.

Grief is one of life’s inevitable experiences, for we live in a world that is fleeting. Processing loss is one of the most difficult mental processes and yet every human

Tales of Therapy—Alex. Part Three. The Night has an End.

After the previous phases of therapy, in which Alex’s symptoms and later his own life story took center stage, the outbreak of the Corona crisis sends the therapeutic wor

Tales of Therapy—Alex. Part Two. The Lost Self.

Alex, a man in his mid-thirties, comes to therapy with psychosomatic symptoms and anxiety attacks, for which initially there appears to be no explanation. In the first ph

Tales of Therapy—Alex. Part One. Searching for Words

This case study is about Alex, a man in his mid-thirties, who spent over four years in analysis, most of that time with three sessions a week. Alex came into therapy with

Winter break

We well be back in March with new episodes! See you soon Your Lives-of-the-Unconscious-Team Support us on Patreon and get the scripts to the episodes: www.patreon.com/li

Episode 25: “O Parting, Fountain of all Words.” — Why progress is grounded in loss

Attachment, love, always goes hand in hand with losses—thus happiness and sadness are also close relatives. In this episode we will hear more about why separation and los

Episode 24: The Concepts of Contemporary Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is often equated with the work of Sigmund Freud. Contemporary modes of thought and therapeutic approaches such as relational psychoanalysis or mentalizatio

Episode 23: On the Psychoanalysis of Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy phantasma derive their power from affects, not from arguments. They cannot be understood by differentiating them from some supposedly reasonable normality – fo

Episode 22: C.G. Jung and the Collective Unconscious

“The school of C.G. Jung has played a controversial role in psychoanalysis. More than almost any other psychological school, it grants a greater role to the symbolic worl