Misogyny in Psychoanalysis

In psychoanalysis, misogyny hides in plain sight, seemingly above and beyond the usual conventions of workplace etiquette or even a vague awareness of sexism. It is commonplace in psychoanalytic literature and in the presentation of case studies for a description of the female client’s attractiveness to be given as a diagnosis rather than an opinion, for the word ‘feminine’ to be used as a synonym for submission, for psychosexual development to still miss the glaringly important stage of menstruation, for women to still be described in terms of losing a penis but gaining a baby – not a vagina or clitoris – and for the fundamental experiences of pregnancy and birth to be overlooked. Ironically for a field that’s main currency is reflection, the different treatment of women is bypassed as misogyny is institutionalised in psychoanalysis.

The book reflects the author’s experience in the world of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy as a trainee, supervisee, student, teacher, psychotherapist and supervisor in various institutions, and as a former CEO of a psychotherapy training organisation. It is a collection of five essays inviting you to join an inclusive conversation about why psychoanalysis is the way it is and, through a case study, experience the impact this misogyny has on the treatment of women. Misogyny in Psychoanalysis highlights what’s at risk for the practice of psychoanalysis / psychotherapy and, most importantly, for those seeking help when institutionalised misogyny goes by unchallenged.

Michaela Chamberlain trained at the Bowlby Centre and also studied in the Psychoanalytic Unit at UCL. Shortly after qualifying at the Bowlby Centre in 2016, she started teaching Freud and attachment theory and became CEO of the Bowlby Centre. She worked as an honorary psychotherapist in two NHS Trusts for several years. She has presented clinical papers at public forums and has been published in the journal Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis. She is currently carrying out a doctoral research project on a psychoanalytic reading of gendered blood in live art and psychoanalytic writing at Roehampton University.

She is currently in private practice as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and is a supervisor and training therapist.