Putting right the power balance in psychoanalysis

'Don't fall into the trap of being a strident, strong woman or you won't get on well.'  

This was a warning given by a senior male in a psychoanalytic organisation to Michaela Chamberlain. Perhaps in this breathtaking moment, she hatched the plan to write this book, with the creeping sense that deep in the recesses of his mind, she was lesser than him. He may not have realised that his thinking was skewed in this direction; he no doubt thought he was being helpful.

With the plethora of psychotherapy models over the last 70 years, nobody is afraid to criticise the Freudian roots of our profession. We have so much evidence to back up our arguments fed by neuroscience, neurobiology, developmental psychology, attachment theory, randomised controlled trials and the practitioner research perspective. 

But this book delves into the murky waters of the unspoken and unnamed and unidentified pools of unconscious misogyny that have remained powerfully rooted and unexplored in modern consciousness. Like the 'Me Too' movement: women in psychoanalysis now have stories to tell. The mind-on-mind nature of the therapeutic relationship cannot be ignored any longer. The impact of misogyny will be profound and harmful says Chamberlain. The power balance in psychoanalysis is being put right ….one book at a time. This book will encourage others to write about the subtle pervasive dynamics of this experience.

Chamberlain has stood firm in her lived experience of psychoanalysis and the harmful impact it has had on her, the profession, and other women. She cites several examples of blatant misogyny where the 'little ladies' have had to be kept in their place. She discusses the impact of the power imbalance in the model on women and how this affects the functioning of the brain bringing out the madness that is more likely part of joint attention of mind with a dominant male than lying with the pathology of 'the patient'.

This madness is then misunderstood and not contained or held in the misogynistic mind of the analyst. Who needs this sort of experience – it simply holds us back and gives us more to deal with? But this book isn't for those who some would consider a gaggle of annoying feminists complaining about history…it's an invitation to look to those who may still live in their blind spot; both men and women can be misogynistic through psychoanalytic training. We need to look at what Chamberlain is saying because it will apply to us whether in institutionalised misogyny, sexism or in the therapy room. The adherence to the Freudian model can support and deepen our consciousness, or it can render us blind to its failings.

What is of concern is the way that these behaviours, micro-aggressions and dismissals that she describes are taught and carried across generations. Humans love to mirror and copy each other and of course, these subtle patterns pervade and repeat through training schools. This book would be vital reading therefore for students of psychoanalysis so that they are not inducted into these old patterns of thinking and behaviour, as well as for tutors and seniors to encourage looking at those blind spots and biases. 

Training schools do not need to develop little mini-Freuds but instead more discerning students. It is possible to adopt a more fluid modern version with equality combined with a good healthy look at the origins of psychoanalytic thought, holding on to what is precious and casting aside that which is discriminatory. With this book you could promote the model with a health warning: 'This model contains elements of misogyny and a discriminatory view of women consistent with the era in which it was developed.'

Reviewed by Dr Joanna North, Director at Joanna North Associates Ltd.