蜜桃传媒

When Nature: Molecular Psychiatry published Joanna Moncrieff鈥檚 2022 paper The Serotonin Theory of Depression: A Systematic Umbrella Review of the Evidence, it sparked headlines around the world and became one of the most widely read and debated scientific articles in recent memory. The paper found no convincing evidence for the serotonin imbalance hypothesis of depression, signaling the end of听the 鈥渃hemical imbalance鈥� story that had long shaped how we spoke about mental health, medication, and selfhood, and opening up space for different ways of thinking about the nature of emotional suffering itself.

A Professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College London and co-founder of the Critical Psychiatry Network, Dr. Moncrieff鈥檚 philosophical and historical work exposes the social and political assumptions embedded in psychiatric practice. She led UK government-funded research on reducing and discontinuing antipsychotic drug treatment (the RADAR study), and collaborated on research to support antidepressant discontinuation. She is author of numerous papers and her books include A Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs Second edition (PCCS Books, 2020), The Bitterest Pills: The Troubling Story of Antipsychotic Drugs (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), The Myth of the Chemical Cure (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), and most recently, Chemically Imbalanced: The Making and Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth (Flint Books, 2025).

Her visit to Boston College invites a dialogue on the opportunities present in developing the psychological humanities as a foundation for clinical education and public discourse on mental and emotional suffering and healing.

Obsessional neurotic analysands are notoriously good at neutralizing听a听psychoanalytic treatment. They annul the role of the analyst, avoid the dimension of the Other鈥檚 desire (or lack), deny the relevance of parapraxes, and use free association as听a听means of defense. Given then that the obsessional, for Lacan, is never where they say they are, that their intellectual engagement with听a听treatment often occurs at the expense of their participation at the level of听being, then what is it that makes change possible? This paper responds to this question with听a听vignette drawn from听a听lengthy piece of clinical work with an analysand who suffered from听a听series of urinary symptoms.听A听turning-point in the work came when the analysand, started speaking, free associatively, about听a听fictional scene in听a听novel (a听scene of an illicit sexual encounter). This (mis-remembered) scene suddenly jarred听a听repressed sexual memory, which in turn posed for them听a听question of desire they did not听know听they听had. Three Freudian and Lacan conceptualizations help illuminate the vignette: Freud鈥檚 account of beating fantasies; 鈥榓phanisis鈥� (or, the fading of the subject); and the idea of urinary flow as object听a.

How might the process of听creative听non-fiction unlock facets of clinical experience that may have initially eluded us? Even as we hone skills of clinical sensitivity over years of practice 鈥� be it via forms of 鈥榚ven hovering attention鈥�, the comments of supervisors, or forms of countertransference 鈥� a professional clinical stance invariably requires that we bracket multiple sources of information and engagement.

This course begins with a piece of clinical non-fiction drawn from the presenter鈥檚 time as a trainee in a prison context. In the sessions following, participants will be introduced to a rudimentary series of techniques of creative non-fiction and will then take up a series of writing exercises in which they return to one or more salient clinical experiences.

Loss can be seen as an aspect of all human experience. Confining our focus to concrete losses limits our understanding of its place in our lives. Loss is everywhere. It is in the moments we first intuit the limits of another's empathy. It is in the recognition of what is unrealistic about our dreams, hopes, ideals, and ambitions. How does grasping loss's ubiquity affect life experience? This course compares psychoanalytic and literary perspectives on bearing loss. A central premise is that cross disciplinary study can enhance our understanding of what the poet, Elizabeth Bishop, has called "the art of losing."Loss can be seen as an aspect of all human experience. Confining our focus to concrete losses limits our understanding of its place in our lives. Loss is everywhere. It is in the moments we first intuit the limits of another's empathy. It is in the recognition of what is unrealistic about our dreams, hopes, ideals, and ambitions. How does grasping loss's ubiquity affect life experience? This course compares psychoanalytic and literary perspectives on bearing loss. A central premise is that cross disciplinary study can enhance our understanding of what the poet, Elizabeth Bishop, has called "the art of losing."

The discipline of psychology studies the human mind and how psychological, biological, and societal influences contribute to individuals' well-being. Literature is how we make sense of the world and each other. By combining these two fields, we hope to bring about a new analysis of empathy, emotions, and psychological expression. Exploring work from authors such as Flannery O'Connor, George Saunders, Shirley Jackson, Tobias Wolff, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sheila Heti, and Weike Wang, we will employ psychological theories to analyze how writers craft compelling and realistic imitations of emotional expression that challenge our understanding of the world. We will look into research topics like Theory of Mind and the Gossip Theory of Fiction, and how they relate to craft elements such as character, structure, and plot.

Narrative identity refers to the stories people construct to explain how听they have come to be the unique persons they are becoming. In this听talk, I will provide a broad overview of the empirical study of narrative听identity in the fields of personality and life-span developmental听psychology, with an emphasis on how people narrate experiences of听suffering and adversity. Two decades of research on highly generative听(caring and productive) midlife American adults highlights features of a听broad redemptive narrative that many Americans hold up as an ideal听story for how to live a good life. Research shows that redemptive stories听are positively associated with generativity and psychological well-being听in midlife. But stories of acceptance 鈥� which feature the virtues of听flexibility and grace 鈥� may prove to be more psychologically meaningful听and efficacious as people move beyond midlife and into their later years.听Whereas redemptive stories highlight overcoming adversity, narratives of听acceptance foreground a coming-to-terms with adversity and life鈥檚听implacable limitations.

In this introductory workshop, Professor Boesky (English and Medical听Humanities) will introduce key tenets of Narrative Medicine in a hands-on听workshop exploring principles of close reading, narrative competencies,听and reflective writing. Prior to our meeting, participants will read a short听story (Jhumpa Lahiri, 鈥淎 Temporary Matter鈥�). In the first part of the听workshop, we鈥檒l talk together about the story and use our analysis as a听springboard to theorize about both the importance and challenges of听being open to the stories of others. That shared work will culminate in听some central tenets of narrative competency and its importance for听people working in health care and related fields.听After a short break, we鈥檒l work in small groups, responding to prompts听and writing about ideas central to Lahiri鈥檚 story (loss; inability to listen;听the consequences of grief; what support can look like). The second part听of the workshop will distill out central tenets about reflective writing and听its centrality to building compassion and deepening our capacity to listen听effectively.

Join New Yorker writer and author Rachel Aviv for a 90-minute conversation on how the stories we tell about mental illness, trauma, and diagnosis shape what becomes possible in a life. Drawing from her acclaimed book Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us, Aviv reflects on people whose distress resists standard psychiatric categories, and how language, diagnosis, and narrative influence identity and care.

In conversation with current critiques of over-pathologizing distress, this event considers both the clarity and the constraint of diagnostic and trauma-based narratives. The program gives attention to how Aviv鈥檚 work might inform more ethically attuned interviewing, case formulation, and trauma-informed clinical or social work practice.