How to write a psychoanalytic session

Anyone, analyst or patient, who has tried to write down the content of a psychoanalytic session, knows how complex an exercise it is. The complexity comes first of all from the great diversity of the clinical material: an event from the day before, a dream, a type of silence, a fantasy, a certain noise, a distant memory, elliptical phrases, secret intimate languages, and so on. However, I believe that at a deeper level, it is the unconscious nature of some clinical phenomena that explains this difficulty.

In this open seminar, I will study the formal stratagems invented by Freud to describe the unconscious at work in a session. My purpose will be to show how Freud’s endeavour is not only theoretical and clinical but also an aesthetic one. I will argue that Freud developed a form of writing to solve the problem raised by the formalisation of unconscious ideas.

Manuel Batsch is a Lecturer in the department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex. He works as a honorary psychotherapist at Camden Psychotherapy Unit and he is a candidate at the Institute of Psychoanalysis.

This seminar is open to all levels of study and we welcome non-University attendees too! The event is free of charge however you will need to reserve a place as seats are limited. Use the link below to reserve your place for free now: