The Psychonaut Show

Like “anal retentive,” “oral fixation,” and “penis envy,” Castration Anxiety has mostly become a joke today. This idea of Sigmund Freud’s has become a reason to dismiss psychoanalytic ideas as antiquated, irrelevant, and even sexist.  

But in this episode, we get a little help from our friend, the Good Witch, Dr. Clarice Kestenbaum, to reclaim and reframe the idea of Castration Anxiety. We see how awareness of this idea can give healing power to doctors, parents and teachers of boys and men. From Ninja Horses to “poison pee” to the little boy in Vienna who started it all, we explore the meaning of the body, and its importance in inner reality. 

We also learn that to work, the magic of psychoanalysis must be wielded with respect for outer reality; the society we live in and the prejudices it carries. We discover that this magic is not just for little boys, but for people of all genders who want to feel “more effective, more connected,” -- and definitely, “more attractive!”

In this episode, we go “back to basics,” and explore the original maps of the mind that psychoanalysis is based on. Where models and fashion burst into popular consciousness in the 1990s with Ru Paul, Right Said Fred, and “Absolutely Fabulous,” the 1890s were when Freud developed his models that portray the “Fabulous” landscape of our inner worlds; a landscape that includes lion tamers, a Steep Hill of Depression, and its own Border Wall. 

Like the ideas of another Jewish intellectual born in the outer reaches of an Empire, what Freud “really meant” has been the topic of debate and conflict for a long time. These ideas are also the basis of all the previous episodes here on The Psychonaut Show. So, we are going to strap in tight with our Egos – in direct opposition to psychedelics and the mindfulness gurus – and go for a long tour of the world he first mapped out. 

And it will all be worth it when we come back with a treasure trove of knowledge that will help us find balance and harmony within our own minds in the 21st century.

Every world, whether real or Sci-Fi or fantasy, has principles that tell us how things work in that world. Our inner worlds are no different. The Principle of Multiple Function tells us that each psychic act has not one or two, but exactly eight mental functions that it must perform. That may seem complicated, but understanding this Principle frees us to act more effectively in our daily lives. 

The Principle of Multiple Function was developed by Robert Waelder, a child protégé who quoted Faust at age 5 and engineered a better charcoal at fourteen. But when he became blocked in his scientific work as a young man, he sought help from none other than Sigmund Freud himself. But was he a “one-hit wonder?” We go searching from 1980s British punk to Australian comedy to American Horror to find an answer. 

In practical terms, Robert Waelder gave us a way free ourselves from indecision. But we also explore Waelder’s desire to solve social problems by using psychoanalytic ideas, an endeavor very much in line with The Psychonaut Show! His ideas about the “sins” of both liberals and conservatives are as relevant now as they were more than half a century ago.

Millennia ago, Hippocrates wrote, “Art is Long, Life is Short.” Well, this episode is long, but the concept of the Eight Stages of Man gives us insight into how the cycle of life unfolds, however long or short life may be. 

In this episode, we turn once again to the second generation of psychoanalytic theorists after Freud, his grandchildren, so to speak. Erik Erikson suffered an identity crisis that caused him to reinvent himself, and also invent some of the most important ideas about development in the history of psychoanalysis. He shows how we continue to develop past childhood, all the way to the end of life. 

The Eight Stages of Man teaches us that life is made up of a series of “tasks,” each stage presents us with a challenge to be met that brings us to the next stage and the next, all the way to the end. It is a map to The Circle of Life -- “Na Savenya!”

Q: What do President Trump and daffodils have in common?  

A: They've both been called the name of a Greek myth.  

It seems that we hear about Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder all the time these days, especially as an accusation, but what does being called "a Narcissist" really even mean? 

To investigate this idea, we go back to Freud – of course. But we also bring in our friend from Season 1, Heinz Kohut, and our first actual living psychoanalytic theorist, Otto Kernberg! We also take a tour through the ancient myths of the original self-centered chap, Narcissus, and on the way we encounter the Goddess of Vengeance, visit the Budapest School, wrestle the Pathologic Grandiose Self monster and come to rest at the Reservoir of Self-Esteem. 

Whether you are dealing with a difficult boss, an obstinate adolescent, or are being accused of narcissism yourself, the lessons of this episode will help us remember what our mothers (and Ru Paul!) always told us...

We've gotten a ton of feedback that last season's episode on The Transitional Space was very helpful, particularly for the painters, and poets, and composers among you. So we are going to travel back to the "in-between" with my psychoanalytic fairy godmother and senior stateswoman of magical realms, Dr. Clarice Kestenbaum.

With Dr. Clarice in the captain's chair, we see how the Transitional Space is a world that overlaps childhood, creativity, and psychoanalytic theory. She tells the story of a mute boy, an angry mother, and a happy ending, and shares some of her own discoveries of inner space that led to her career as a world class child psychiatrist.