A NEW reading group will discuss the links between psychoanalysis and literature using the latest tome published by acclaimed Irish author Edna O’Brien.
Psychotherapist Brid Greally will use O’Brien’s The Country Girl memoir to lead the conversation Psychoanalysis, Colonialism and Catholicism and the work of Edna O’Brien for the group which starts next month.
“We will focus on how psychoanalytic practice can address questions in relation to race, culture and gender,” she told The Irish Post.
“We will engage with the controversies which arise from a critique of the concept of ‘internalisation’ of the Object Relations tradition and the phallocratic limitations of much of the Lacanian approach,” she added.
The therapist, who has more than 25 years clinical experience, is the founding Director of the Maya centre – a community based counselling centre for women.
She also lectures at WPF and the British Psychotherapy Foundation and has a private practice in Walthamstow.
Greally believes O’Brien’s position as a leading women’s writer offers an angle on which to explore literary links with human emotions.
“By situating Edna O'Brien within both post-colonial writing and as an example of ‘ecriture feminine’, we will discuss working through, ‘de-colonisation’ and the differing role of shame, abjection and guilt,” she added.
The group will meet at the WPF Therapy offices in London Bridge where the charity offers therapy to more than 500 clients per week.
The first session takes place at 7pm on Friday, April 11. Tickets cost £10/£5.
For more information contact Kathinka Reid on 020 7378 2054.
See More: Brid Greally, Discussion, Edna O'Brien, Psychoanalysis
