Beyond The couch

London’s Science Museum is holding a fascinating exhibition entitled Psychoanalysis: The Unconscious in Everyday Life.   The public programme of events makes me want to hop on a plane immediately.  I’m particularly interested in this full day symposium, which takes place on 19 March – The murder of sanity and the sanity of murder: The art and science of psychoanalysis.

How can psychoanalysis help us to understand why events that seem incomprehensible have occurred? With the aid of clinical observation, literature and art, this event will cover issues to do with sexual addiction, revenge, victimhood, murder, psychopathy and our blindspots in thinking about these issues.

It occurs to me that psychoanalysis has a lot to contribute to helping us understand much of the confusion in the world right now – assisting us understand isn’t quite the same thing as fixing the problems, but we’re in dire need of some schema to help think through the political, religious and economic confusion that abounds.  Taking it a step further – psychoanalysis can help us understand smaller group processes such as those at work and the inevitable inter-personal issues that arise making it difficult to deliver on goals and strategies.

Beyond the Couch which is supported by the Institute of Psychoanalysis runs until April 2011.