Born an only child in Glasgow in 1927, Ronald David Laing often claimed that his parents were psychologically ‘peculiar’. His father had a breakdown when Laing was in his teens. Laing studied medicine at the University of Glasgow but failed his exams in 1951 and had to re-sit these…
The Institute of Psychoanalysis has commissioned a short animated film that sets out to demonstrate the function and process of psychoanalysis. The patient, dressed in worried black, attempts to resolve a perceived issue with his boss. Using free association and dreams, the…
Sexual issues are common. Sex taps into many different parts of us: the emotional, the physical, the psychological and even the spiritual. The opportunity for something to go wrong in our sexual wiring is great. Most people will experience some kind of sexual dysfunction at some point in…
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was born one of triplets in Zurich in 1926. About her early life in Zurich, she said in an interview, ‘In Switzerland I was educated in line with the basic premise: work work work. You are only a valuable human being if you work. This is utterly wrong. Half working, half dancing…
Katharine Briggs (1875 – 1968) had a life-long interest in human development and a particular interest in why people were different from each other. She witnessed differences in personality among the people around her and began formulating her own theories around the causes of…
Schools around the UK have known for some time of cases where children text naked images of themselves from their mobile phones. The practice of ‘sexting’ is becoming more common as a generation of children grow up entirely comfortable recording the details of their personal lives…
If you have ever experienced a distinct but unfamiliar feeling that you couldn’t quite name, you might have encountered one of the many emotions for which there are no words in English. Though no language is sophisticated enough to name all human emotions, when it comes to describing…
Technology has changed the way people meet. Whether we’re looking for a life partner, friendship or something more casual, many relationships now start online. The number of people using social networking sites has steadily increased over the past 10 years. Online dating is now a socially…
The study examined 9,000 English people over one month and found that those aged 50-64 who slept more than eight hours a night had poor memory and decision-making abilities similar to those who slept less than six hours per night. The optimal range of sleep for adults in this age range…
In his paper, Professor Paul Gilbert sets out to explain the fundamental principles of his science-based model, Compassion-focused Therapy, now being used by many therapists in the treatment of shame, high levels of self-criticism and low self-worth. He explains the basis of his theory, often…
