Psychoanalysis +

Psychoanalysis + is an international, interdisciplinary initiative founded, developed and directed by Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and psychosocial theorist Dr Noreen Giffney, who is also a lecturer and a researcher at Ulster University in Belfast in Northern Ireland. Founded in 2013, Psychoanalysis foregrounds psychoanalysis as a clinical practice and a theoretical tool for tracing the unconscious dynamics underpinning occurrences in cultural, societal and political contexts. It also takes psychoanalysis itself as an object to be wondered about and questioned. It has a commitment to psychosocial and psychocultural work, and seeks to serve a bridging function between the clinic, the academic institution, and the arts and cultural sphere. Psychoanalysis + brings together individuals interested in clinical, theoretical and artistic approaches to, and applications of, psychoanalysis.
Psychoanalysis + points to the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of projects, publications and events forming part of the initiative. Psychoanalysis exists in an interdependent and mutually enriching relationship with the cultures and societies. The ‘+’ in the title gestures towards the fact that psychoanalysis is always more than itself. In other words, psychoanalytic practitioners have always drawn on and incorporated insights from other clinical and non-clinical fields into the work, for example, literature, psychiatry, music, neuroscience, art, psychology, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, nursing, classics, social work, film, theatre and so on. Psychoanalysis is thus always, can only be, interdisciplinary. The space between ‘psychoanalysis’ and ‘+’ also recognises the gap needed for productive things to happen which cannot be known in advance. The ‘+’ also symbolises an openness to new possibilities and collaborations. The aim is to create a space where clinicians, artists and curators, academics and anyone interested in psychoanalysis can come together to have an experience together and to talk and reflect on that experience.