Why Psychoanalysis

Philip Lance interviews psychoanalyst Darian Leader about his new book, Autisms. What has psychoanalysis contributed to the field? Philip shares a clinical vignette.

Strikingly clear, humane and helpful, this is an essential book for anyone seeking to understand autism and the autistic spectrum. Drawing on many years of clinical experience and research, as well as the testimonies of autistic people, it is an up-to-the minute account of the many indicative features of autism and how they have been assessed and treated over almost a century.

As rates of autism diagnosis escalate in almost all high-income countries, researchers today mostly agree that there is no single cause or even single clinical picture of autism. Rather than a neat and well-defined entity, autism is described as a spectrum or constellation of traits, varying in intensity, distribution and severity, with practically everyone in the general population showing at least some autistic trait or feature.

At the same time, there has been a radical split between the ways in which autism is perceived. For many, it is a disorder, a pathology based on a deficit, whereas for others it is an identity, a natural variation in human cognitive and behavioural diversity.

For anyone facing the special challenges of autism, it can be hard to find clarity amid such complexity and contradiction, making Darian Leader’s illuminating guide to the field of autism research and treatment particularly welcome.

As clinicians, what do we do with the body? Philip Lance interviews Sarah Meehan O'Callahan about her Lacanian approach to the body--and we try to keep it simple!

Philip Lance interviews Mark Solms about his new book published August 4, 2026. Philip Lance, PhD, is the CEO of Hollywood Psychotherapy.com (https://hollywoodpsychotherapy.com).

Philip Lance interviews Michael Guy Thompson about his book Existential Psychoanalysis: A Contemporary Introduction. Philip is the CEO of Hollywood Psychotherapy (https://hollywoodpsychotherapy.com).

Barnaby Barratt is a psychoanalyst who has been seeing 8 patients per day for psychoanalysis for almost 50 years. This podcast is an interview with Barnaby about his latest book: Free Association: A Contemporary Introduction. This concise yet comprehensive book examines the historical roots, philosophical implications and transformative impact on the human psyche of free association, making it an essential resource for understanding the deep unconscious forces that shape our lives. Barratt demonstrates how free association uniquely reveals dimensions of the human condition that remain hidden in ordinary therapeutic approaches. Readers will gain insight into the distinctions between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, the significance of repression and psychic energy, and the profound shifts in being that free association facilitates. Barratt’s critical analysis of prevailing theories and alternative methods, such as somatic and shamanic practices, highlights the unparalleled ability of free association to reinvigorate psychic energies and existential freedom.

This book is a vital resource for psychoanalysts in training and practice, and anyone deeply curious about the human psyche. It is also a valuable tool for instructors and researchers in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and related fields.

Philip Lance, PhD, is the CEO of Hollywood Psychotherapy (https://hollywoodpsychotherapy.com).