Amir Saeedi

Where Language Fails, Unconscious Begins

What happens when language fails in the therapy room? When a client reaches for words and finds only metaphors, silences, or tears? In psychoanalytic work, these moments are not signs of failure but indications of something deeper: the presence of the unconscious, of affective material that has not yet—or perhaps cannot ever—be fully symbolised. ThisContinueContinue reading “Where Language Fails, Unconscious Begins”

Recognition and Its Discontents: Rethinking Mutuality in Jessica Benjamin’s Intersubjective Ethics

Jessica Benjamin’s theory of mutual recognition and thirdness has been central to the development of relational psychoanalysis and feminist-informed clinical theory. Across works such as The Bonds of Love (1988), Like Subjects, Love Objects (1995), and Shadow of the Other (1998), Benjamin repositions subjectivity as a fundamental relational phenomenon, arising not in isolation but throughContinueContinue reading “Recognition and Its Discontents: Rethinking Mutuality in Jessica Benjamin’s Intersubjective Ethics”

Outlanders in Limbo: The Maze of Asylum in the UK and the Politics of Exclusion

By 2023, the UK Home Office reported over 175,000 pending asylum applications. This backlog reflects a complex process. It can delay integration through various mechanisms (Home Office, 2023). Housing and accommodation are central to this broader labyrinth. They serve as a key expression of “biopolitics”—the governance of populations as living bodies (Foucault, 1978). The BibbyContinueContinue reading “Outlanders in Limbo: The Maze of Asylum in the UK and the Politics of Exclusion”

Harnessing Silence in Therapy: A Tool for Empowerment

Silence in psychotherapy is often heralded as a cornerstone of depth-oriented practice, particularly within the psychodynamic tradition. Yet, its application is far from a simple pause or absence of speech. It is a dynamic and deliberate tool. This tool demands both timing and attunement to the relational field. As a psychodynamically trained mental health professional,ContinueContinue reading “Harnessing Silence in Therapy: A Tool for Empowerment”