Ever wonder why anxious people love horror movies? Curious about how having the daylights scared out of you can help you feel better? Hosts Jenn Adams, Lara Unnerstall, and therapist Mike Snoonian break it down (and back it up with academic research) on Psychoanalysis: A Horror Therapy Podcast.
Each month, we’ll take an in-depth look at a topic in the mental health field like anxiety, PTSD, and toxic relationships. For our bi-weekly episodes, we’ll pair topics with a horror film and analyze its plot and characters through the lens of mental health. We’ll also discuss our own mental health exp
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Attachment Theory / M3GAN (2023) with Rachel Reeves and Sally Hourigan
This week Mike is joined by Rachel Reeves (the Losers’ Club, The Pod & The Pendulum) and voice actor Sally Hourigan to talk about the viral sensation that danced into our
Apr 6 2023 1 h 50 min
A Conversation with Kay Lynch (Salem Horror Fest)
This week Mike is joined by Kay Lynch. She's the founder and program director of the Salem Horror Festival which is returning this April for two weekends in lovely, sceni
Mar 23 2023 57 min
Sibling Rivalry / Basket Case (1982) with Nichole Goble
This week Mike is joined once again by Nichole Goble of the Bodies of Horror podcast to discuss the 1982 exploitation and cult classic Basket Case directed by Frank Henne
Mar 16 2023 1 h 49 min
Comfort Horror / You Are Not My Mother (2021) with Ygraine Hackett-Cantabara
This week Mike is joined by Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana (Ghouls’ magazine, What A Scream pod, Moving Pictures Film Club) to talk about the 2022 psychological horror from I
Mar 9 2023 1 h 11 min
Sibling Rivalry / What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) with Taffeta V
This week brings a new month and a new topic. What better way to kick off the topic of sibling rivalry with a classic of old world Hollywood that featured one of the most
Mar 2 2023 2 h 16 min
Comfort Horror / The Wolf Man (1941) with Lindsay Moore
Even a pod who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a Comfort Horror episode on Universal Monsters when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is b
Feb 23 2023 1 h 41 min
Aging and Relationships / X (2022) with Dan Pfleegor and Nichole Goble
This week Mike is joined by Dan Pfleegor (Losers’ Club) and Nichole Goble (Bodies of Horror) to talk To West’s X. This mashup of Boogie Nights And The Texas Chain Saw Mas
Feb 16 2023 1 h 57 min
New Relationship Energy / An American Werewolf in London (1981) with Rebecca McCallum
This week, Mike talks about his favorite horror movie of all time when he discusses 1981’s An American werewolf in London, written and directed by John Landis. Once deeme
Feb 9 2023 2 h 04 min
Bad Romance / Possession (1981) with Jessica Scott and Taffeta V.
We’re kicking off bad romance and couples issues month with one of the greatest stories about a marriage going up in flames ever told. To try to relay the events of this
Feb 2 2023 2 h 13 min
Discomfort Horror / Eden Lake (2008) with Joe Lipsett
This week Mike is joined by the wonderful Joe Lipsett (Horror Queers, Anatomy of a Scream podcast network) for a discomfort horror movie. We’re packing our tents and slee
Jan 26 2023 1 h 44 min
COVID / Host (2020) with Gena Radcliffe, Nichole Goble, and Terry Mesnard
During the height of lockdowns and uncertainty in the summer of 2020, a little movie hit Shudder. New movies hit the streaming service all the time, but this was a big de
Jan 19 2023 1 h 33 min
Comfort Horror / Friday the 13th Part 2 w Andy Mitton
This week we have a very special episode as Mike is joined by director Andy Mitton (The Harbinger, yellowbrickroad, The Witch in the Window) to talk about his go-to slash
Jan 12 2023 1 h 25 min
COVID / The Harbinger (2022) with Jessica Scott and Rachel Reeves
It’s a new month and a new year, which means a brand new topic. As we enter the third year of living through the pandemic, Mike is joined by Jessica Scott and Rachel Reev
Jan 5 2023 1 h 41 min
Good For Her Horror / Dolores Claiborne (1995) and Gerald’s Game (2017)
Sometimes you have to be a fifth Thursday episode to survive... Sometimes, being a pod, is all a woman has to hang onto.
Joe Lipsett and Gena Radcliffe join Jenn for a
Dec 29 2022 2 h 04 min
Archetypes / The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
This we offer in humility and fear. For the blessed peace of your eternal listening. An episode on archetypes in The Cabin in the Woods. As it ever was.
Are we on speake
Dec 22 2022 2 h 00 min
Agoraphobia / The Battery (2012)
Help us find the keys and meet us in the orchard for a one pitch episode on Agoraphobia in Jeremy Gardner’s The Battery.
Those headphones are gonna get us killed.
Follo
Dec 15 2022 2 h 04 min
Grief and Suicide / The Night House (2020)
Meet us at the secret house across the lake for an episode on grief and suicide in David Bruckner’s The Night House.
You were right. There is podcast. Podcast is after y
Dec 8 2022 1 h 40 min
Comfort Horror / Barbarian (2022)
Do we look like some kind of monster?
By our baby and join us for a comfort horror episode on Barbarian.
Why is it always the pods who get their hearts ripped out in th
Dec 1 2022 1 h 24 min
Comfort Horror / Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
Lace your boots up kiddies and meet us in the apple orchard for a comfort horror episode on Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. It’s kind of like the birth canal.
Nov 17 2022 1 h 31 min
Kink / Hellraiser (1987)
The pod, you opened it, we came. Join us in exploring the further regions of experience as we talk about pleasure, pain, and everything that lies in between. Come to Dadd
Nov 10 2022 1 h 51 min
Chart trend
Position in the Film History chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#99#197JulAugSep
#29
all-time peak
26
days in the top 50 since Nov 2024
Chart positions
Where Psychoanalysis: A Horror Therapy Podcast ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 30, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
I grew up watching and loving horror movies, but haven’t been able to go there in probably 10 years due to life things and past trauma. Listening to the hosts describe and dissect the movies over the last year has given me the nudge I needed to rediscover some old favorites. Today I watched a new, horrifying movie, all by my 40 yr old self :)! This podcast is amazing and one of my go to’s! I love the mix of horror and mental health connections. Hosts are interesting and insightful.
Yngwiezimm · Jan 2023
I came to this pod because I’m a huge fan of The Losers’ Club which Jenn is a cohost on. I really like the way that Mike, Jenn, and Lara explore horror and mental health in a way that’s accessible, easily digestible, and very fun! Listening to their conversations and analysis before watching certain films has helped me feel more comfortable while watching them and made me think differently about films I’ve watched previously. I always end each episode learning something new. I truly can’t say enough good things about this podcast!!
illtakethenightshiftx · Dec 2022
I’ve been listening to this podcast for over a year (having already been a fan of Lara and Jenn’s work from other shows), and it’s become one of my favorite podcasts. This is mainly due to the three hosts—Jenn, Lara, and Mike— who are equal parts warm, funny, and insightful.
Oddly, I dislike most horror movies (I HATE jump scares and gore), but was led to this podcast through my love of Stephen King and other scary books. For a show that discusses plenty of bloody, disturbing movies, I find it a surprisingly soothing listen with plenty of smart and engaging discussion.
Would definitely recommend to horror fans and those seeking better mental health habits.
Kory Merritt · Dec 2022
Discussing horror movies and the very real issues they often confront could easily fall prey to shallowness or to sensationalizing instead of normalizing the discussion of mental health. Jenn, Lara, and Mike do a fantastic job of covering both the mental health topic and the film of the week, without losing sight of how these issues involve real people and real suffering. They honor the artists who create the films, including the writers, who often get ignored in favor of the visuals, or the director and actors, especially in horror. If you’re interested in mental health, psychology, film in general or horror in particular, social justice, and just being a human being, then treat yourself to some episodes of PsychoAPod. You won’t be as sorry as you were the time you went to check on that noise in the attic without taking a priest and a machine gun with you.
DindraneErin · Dec 2022
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