Harriet Mossop

Biography

I am a PhD student and Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex. My PhD, supervised by Professor Raluca Soreanu, proposes a trans*psychosocial theory of erotic trans*ference as an embodied, politically oriented phenomenon in which there is potential for re-mixing the mythosymbolic structures of both the patient and the psychotherapist, but also the potential for violence and harm to the patient. My queer phenomenological reframing of Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlinghams long and liminally queer relationship has resulted in a tour and symposium at the Freud Museum London, two single authored and two co-authored papers, and the co-editorship of a special issue of Psychoanalysis and History. My pedagogy spans Psychosocial Studies undergraduates (Freud: Mind, Culture and Society), Sociology Masters students (a seminar on queer theory), queer / trans community reading groups on psychoanalytic theory, reading and writing groups for postgraduate anthropology students, and continuing professional development / workshops for psychotherapists. I also write about psychotherapy pedagogy: my mobilisation of epistemological insubordination (Preciado, 2019) as a queer pedagogy takes historic psychoanalytic texts as transferential objects within psychoanalytic training courses (paper accepted as part of a special edition of the Journal of Medical Humanities). As Research Assistant for the UKRI-funded FREEPSY research project, I am part of a vibrant research team that is drawing attention to the novel psychoanalytic theory emerging from politically-oriented free psychoanalytic clinics, especially in the Global South. As Research & Development Officer for the Centre for Anthropological Mental Health Research in Action at SOAS, I work with the Centre directors to develop our research strategy and culture, identify sustainable sources of funding to support the Centres programme of research, and generate inter- and intra-institutional collaboration. I especially enjoy mentoring Early Career Researchers. I am a long-term volunteer befriender in the LGBT+ community and at a refuge for people with suicidal thoughts. PUBLICATIONS Special issue Meadows, A., Mossop, H., & Soreanu, R. (2026). Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlingham: Queer encounters with the psychoanalytic archive. Psychoanalysis and History, 28(1), In press Articles peer-reviewed Mossop, H. (2026). Enigmatic Messages from Anna and Dorothy: Theorising my Lesbian Ghost Hunt through Psychoanalytic History. Psychoanalysis and History, 28(1), In press Mossop, H. (2026). Should queer and trans people want psychosocial studies to grow and flourish? Reflections on The Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies. Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society. In press. Mossop, H., & Meadows, A. (2026). Queering the Freud Museum: critical reflections on a museum tour about Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlinghams life together at 20 Maresfield Gardens. Psychoanalysis and History, 28(1), In press Mossop, H. (2025). Was Anna Freud a friend of Dorothy? A queer phenomenological historiography of Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlinghams personal and professional relationship. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 41(1), 139158. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjp.12929 Articles in peer review Mossop, H. Queer angles in the psychoanalytic archive: epistemological insubordination in psychoanalytic pedagogy (paper submitted as part of a special Queer Medical Humanities edition of the Journal of Medical Humanities) Articles not peer reviewed Mossop, H. (2025). The Queer Pleasures and Pains of Autotheory. The Polyphony. Meadows, A., & Mossop, H. (2025). Queer Encounters at the Freud Museum. New Associations, (46), 8. Mossop, H. (2022). Annotated bibliography of psychoanalytic texts on queer female sexuality. Stillpoint Magazine https://stillpointmag.org/articles/other-women/ Reviews Mossop, H. (2026). In the Shadow of Diagnosis, Kunzel, R. The Psychoanalytic Review, 113(1), In press Mossop, H. (2026). The queerness of psychoanalysis, Sinclair, V., et al. Psychoanalysis and History. 28(2). Forthcoming. Mossop, H. (2024). Psychoanalysis, Gender, and Sexualities: From Feminism to Trans*, Patricia Gherovici & Manya Steinkoler (Eds.). Routledge, 2022. The Psychoanalytic Review, 111(2), 219230. https://doi.org/10.1521/prev.2024.111.2.219 Mossop, H. (2024). The Psychotherapist and the Professional Complaint: The Shadow Side of Therapy, edited by Adah Sachs and Valerie Sinason. Published by Karnac books, London, 2023; 238 pp, £29.99 (paperback) £23.99 (ebook). British Journal of Psychotherapy, 40(2), 280283. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjp.12889 Mossop, H. (2023). Queering Psychotherapy, ed. Jane C. Czyzselska. Feminism and Psychology, 2023 https://doi.org/10.1177/09593535231177516 Blogs Being a bad cis psychoanalytic subject when trans lives are under attack: an invitation FREEPSY News 11 - The Transgender Issue, 2026 https://www.academia.edu/164818991/Being_a_bad_cis_psychoanalytic_subject_when_trans_lives_are_under_attack_an_invitation Through the P-HOLE FREEPSY News 11 - The Transgender Issue, 2026 https://www.academia.edu/164819107/Through_the_P_HOLE FREEPSY Visual Cartography Workshop FREEPSY Blog 16 March 2026 https://freepsyproject.com/freepsy-visual-cartography-workshop/ Conference report: Psychoanalysis and Radical Psychiatry November 2024 FREEPSY Newsletter, 2024 https://www.academia.edu/126870727/Conference_report_Psychoanalysis_and_Radical_Psychiatry_November_2024 Conference report: Rethinking Radicality in Queer Theory Queer Encounters, 2023 https://www.academia.edu/126870860/Conference_report_Rethinking_Radicality_in_Queer_Theory

Qualifications

• MSc, Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health King's College, London (2021)

• MA (Cantab.), Natural Sciences University of Cambridge (1996)

• Certificate in LGBT+ affirmative counselling East London Out Project (2022)

Thesis