Comparative Psychoanalysis

Comparative Psychoanalysis studies controversy and dialogue in psychoanalysis. Intellectual, personal, and institutional conflict are endemic to the history of psychoanalysis. Alongside this there are creative efforts to establish understanding and communication among differing perspectives. Comparative methodologies are encouraged among all schools of psychoanalysis regardless of topic, theoretical or clinical orientation, or application to the behavioral sciences and humanities including historical reassessments, conceptual clarification, clinical exploration, reflections on the future of applied psychoanalytic thought, and attempts to articulate the conditions for fruitful dialogue. All subject matters in the arts and humanities, philosophy, anthropology, cultural studies, and the human sciences are ripe for comparative investigation within the frameworks of theoretical, clinical, and applied psychoanalysis. As an inherently interdisciplinary field of study, psychoanalysis requires a robust understanding of comparative methodology. Controversial discussions and criticism are invited. In the spirit of pluralism, Comparative Psychoanalysis is open to any theoretical school in the history of the psychoanalytic movement that offers novel critique, integration, and important insights in comparative scholarship.

David Henderson, PhD is Director of the Comparative Psychoanalysis Research Group, Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK and is a Jungian analyst and practicing psychotherapist. He teaches in the MA in Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies and the BA in Psychoanalytic Studies programs, as well as supervises PhD research. Before his appointment at Essex, he was a member of the Centre for Psychoanalysis at Middlesex University, UK. He founded and ran the Association of Independent Psychotherapists training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy from 1988 until 2018. As a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor in private practice for over 37 years, he is a member of the British Jungian Analytic Association (BJAA), the International Association for Analytical Psychology (IAAP), the British Psychotherapy Foundation (BPF), the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC), and the British Association for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Supervision (BAPPS). He is the author and editor of numerous scholarly publications including 5 books.

Jon Mills, PsyD, PhD, ABPP is a philosopher, psychoanalyst, and retired clinical psychologist. He is on Faculty in the Postgraduate Programs in Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, USA; Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK; and is Emeritus Professor of Psychology & Psychoanalysis at Adler Graduate Professional School in Toronto, Canada. Recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship including 4 Gradiva Awards, he is the author and/or editor of 30 books in philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology, and cultural studies. In 2015 he was given the Otto Weininger Memorial Award for lifetime achievement by the Canadian Psychological Association.