Ann Shenfield works across a number of media. Her animated films have received various international honors including selection in the Berlin Film Festival. Her poetry has also received numerous awards including the Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Her poetry book A Treatment (Upswell Publishing) was listed in The Age Best Books of 2023. Last year, she completed a four-year program of clinical and theoretical studies at the Australian Centre for Psychoanalysis, where she is currently a member.

What is psychoanalysis?

Psychoanalysis is a process of attuning ourselves to our unconscious by addressing who we are, through the words we use. It can lead to a clearer sense of awareness around what it is we struggle with, as well as illuminating what we seek.

The only rule in the psychoanalytic space is to free associate, or to speak in an uncensored way. This process was initiated by Anna O, and then furthered by Freud as he developed psychoanalysis itself. It’s been said that the psychoanalytic space may be the only one where a person is encouraged to authentically speak their mind, because the focus is on unconscious thoughts as they arise without the usual repressions. This process can help with difficult or unresolved issues. When we ask ourselves questions like I don’t know why I did that? or if we act against our own interests, psychoanalysis looks to interrogate our psyche to work out what is really at play.

Analysis can be a challenging space, but one which leads to a more grounded sense of who we are, underneath our self-deceptions and impositions. By addressing the unconscious and looking to patterns of repeated actions, psychoanalysis can reveal how the past is connected to the present.

Analysis works to enable a person to perceive what is and isn’t their responsibility. It’s work is also to acknowledge what is unique a person, or what’s called their singularity. It can also offer a form of insight into how to deal with symptoms, not necessarily by curing them but by treating them so that they become more tolerable. Psychoanalysis directs the treatment toward what a person is really seeking, their desire. The process can be transformative.