Editorial, January 2022

German Psycholanalyst Karen Horney once wrote: 'The neurotic sets to work to mold himself into a supreme being of his own making. He holds before his soul his image of perfection and unconsciously tells himself: "Forget about the disgraceful creature you actually are; this is how you should be; and to be this idealized self is all that matters. You should be able to endure everything, to understand everything, to like everybody, to be always productive".' 

It's what Horney called 'the tyranny of the should'. I would wager many of us feel the weight of that tyranny more around New Year. So a theme I see in this issue is that while there are plenty of goals you could set yourself for 2022, maybe don't lose too much sleep feeling you should. How we view a 'psychologically rich', meaningful life, and the expectations we have around targets, are crucial elements of change in our personal and work lives.

Here's to another year of being disgraceful creatures, liberated from the tyranny of the shoulds. 

Dr Jon Sutton

Managing Editor @psychmag