Lacan and Education: Mental Health Seminar

'I do not think I will give my teaching in the form of a pill; I think that would be difficult. (Lacan, My Teaching)'

Speakers

Dr Carol Owens, APPI Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in Ireland and APCS Association for Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society and Anouchka Grose, The College of Psychoanalysts and The Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research.  

What has the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan got to do with education? More than you might think. Other than his one book Écrits, Lacan’s main mode of transmission was the teaching of seminars. Over the course of twenty-seven years whilst teaching analysts, Lacan displayed a certain pedagogical mode that is not only visible in his style but is also an under-examined preoccupation of his content. The concepts he provided to the world of philosophy, psychoanalysis and sociology are fecund ways of thinking that allow us to question much of what we do in education unthinkingly, whether that be as a teacher or a researcher. Lacan’s work as a clinical psychoanalyst also means that his work has a strong bearing on the psyche, allowing us to examine the youth mental health crisis in education.

In the second of three seminars on Teaching, Mental Health, and Research Methodology, Dr Nick Stock (author of forthcoming The Lacanian Teacher, Palgrave) will discuss Lacan’s contributions to thinking about education with world-leading experts on Lacan from both academia and the clinic. Join us in person or online to learn (or unlearn) about some of Lacan’s key concepts and what they have to do with different aspects of education.

Biographies

Carol Owens has been working as a therapist and analyst for 22 years and also as clinical supervisor. She has lectured at DCU, Trinity College Dublin, and Independent Colleges Dublin on their psychoanalytic psychotherapy modules and has published several papers and books, such as Lacanian Psychoanalysis with Babies, Children, and Adolescents: Further Notes on the Child (Karnac, 2017), Psychoanalysing Ambivalence with Freud and Lacan: On and Off the Couch (Routledge, 2018) and Precarities of 21st Century Childhoods (2024). Carol has a special interest in working with young people and adults in order to understand and work through persistent difficulties which arise as a result of experiences in childhood.

Anouchka Grose is a writer and psychoanalyst practising in South East London. She is a member of The College of Psychoanalysts and The Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research, where she regularly lectures. She has been working one-to-one since 2003. Before that she ran writing workshops for people experiencing mental health difficulties. Anouchka writes about psychoanalysis, current affairs, art and fashion, and has contributed to The Guardian, Radio 4 and Resonance FM. She is the author and editor of multiple books, including Hysteria Today (Karnac 2016), A Guide to Eco-anxiety: how to protect the planet and your mental health (Watkins 2020) and FASHION: A Manifesto (Notting Hill Editions, 2023).

The last seminar within the series will be held at 12:00-13:00 on Tuesday 4th March in Room 312 in the School of Education, University of Birmingham, UK and online via ZOOM. This will be advertised in due course.

• This event is free and open to the public, staff and students.
• Registration is essential to receive the link to ZOOM if you are attending online. 
• Please note, this seminar is not being recorded.