Author Archives: Jane Hall

“Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have, so to speak, pawned a part of their narcissism.” – Freud (Standard Edition, XIV, On Narcissism, p 98) Those of us who do psychoanalytic work are privileged, challenged, subjected to, and expected to experience … Continue reading →

How can simply talking have transformative power? To really speak freely, and to be heard in the way a psychoanalyst works, allows a person to discover themselves. It can be surprising… A ball player having a slump started talking to … Continue reading →

Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s death has cast a spotlight on the nationwide prevalence of heroin use and abuse. One aspect of the craving, or addiction to opiates that has not been stressed so far in the psychoanalytic literature is the psychic … Continue reading →

Who can afford to go lie on a couch five times a week where the shrink hardly speaks and nothing happens! And wasn’t Freud proven wrong anyway – they should have called him Fraud. Also, I’ve heard that it’s painful. … Continue reading →

Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy – or psychoanalytic work as I refer to it – is a method of self exploration – finding out how we tick by looking inside. This does not mean that the ‘outside’ is not important – but … Continue reading →