Where Does I Stand ? Reflections on Home and Identity Ensnared in a Cultural Narrative.

In this talk Joanna de Waal explores and critiques an unconscious cultural narrative, or cultural complex, concerned with place and identity. She names two concepts, Home and Identity: Home being a hospitable and accommodating space with Identity denoting the one who inhabits the space. In the narrative these two are categorized as belonging to the ‘Feminine’ and the ‘Masculine’ respectively, resting on these as implicitly universal givens. Questioning the validity of this universality and acknowledging the slippery nature of her focus Joanna invites us to consider how our attitudes, no matter how radical they may appear, may be unwittingly still trapped in an old problem. Drawing from myths, poetry, and fairy tales, plus Jungian, Psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives, Joanna takes a fresh look at notions of space and identity and thus hopes to open a way through and beyond the limits of a still largely heteronormative, binary, and patriarchally determined view of the world. Clinical examples are given to illustrate how acknowledgment and awareness of this narrative might free the therapist to think more broadly around issues pertaining to space and identity. 

About the speaker 

Joanna de Waal is a Jungian Analyst and member of the BJAA, UK. She teaches on various UK Jungian analytic trainings and has spearheaded the development of the new BJAA Psychotherapy training. She is current chair of training for the BJAA. Joanna has given papers at various international conferences and the paper given today was published in the Journal of Analytical Psychology in 2023. A trained singer, Joanna has worked as a music practitioner in prisons and community programmes, as well as performing with various music ensembles. She currently lives and works in private practice in Oxford, UK.

About the chair 

Sally Arthur qualified as a Jungian Analyst with the BJAA.  She works as a Psychotherapist at the Cassel Hospital, a Tier 4 NHS therapeutic community in London for patients with complex emotional needs.  She also leads Balint groups for NHS staff and works in private practice in West London.  She has co-chaired the British Psychotherapy Foundation’s  Infant Observation Committee with Joanna for the last 3 years, and in 2019 the British Journal of Psychotherapy published her prize-winning Infant Observation paper ‘Orbiting Planet Gemma'.  

This is a Wessex BPF event.  It will be in person only.

Please arrive for registration and refreshments from 10.30am