Pritha Ghosh

I committed to psychoanalytic therapy over other forms of support to understand my Self, because it is deeply respectful of individual experience. I stayed with it for 27 years because the discipline strictly avoids being prescriptive. And that it insisted on one simple outcome - that of supporting the capacity to stay curious and kind in a lifelong journey to accept a chequered inner world and embrace some form of love and peace.

I have a Bachelor’s Degree with Honors in Psychology, have done courses in TA, Counselling and Positive Psychology. I was lucky and privileged that most of the 27 years of psychoanalytic therapy were with one analyst. I knew that I wanted to be an analyst for more than half that time. The work took time and we both completed our commitment to it as recently as the last day of January this year.

The most significant outcome of therapy for me has been to allow for agency. Its been a gift, to be able to see hope while being anchored, stay resilient and somewhat kind to myself, while muddling through life’s challenges. It also allowed for me to take responsibility and to accept it, again, with some kindness. To my mind, it is worthwhile to contribute to a space others can find the same choice for themselves, even as I continue the work that it takes for me to stay rooted to the process on a day-on-day basis.

To see value in the ordinary, to recognise love in the mundane, to celebrate the ‘good enough’ and feel content some of the time; has been another worthwhile habit that therapy has taught me to strive for. The realisation that this happiness is a choice, an interpretation; is unlikely to occur for many reasons. I have gradually become aware of my reasons. I expect the training will teach me to help a few others to do so with the same kindness and patience that I received from my therapist.

Therapy has led to a profound appreciation for the ambiguous. Along with it, my accompanying fear of it, as well as wonderment at the utter poetry of uncertainty. The way this mirrors inside the Self as a kaleidoscope of emotions, much of it perhaps forever unconscious is beautiful to me. The fact that this almost completely unknowable construct moves all that is visible is a lack of control which remains as disturbing, as it nurtures leaps of faith and fantasy. I am looking forward to the wise shepherding of a time-tested journey of learning that will allow me to grapple with some of the historical and philosophical thinking about the mind as well as the mentoring that will tease me out of my head and render the knowledge useful.

In over 25 years of practice as an educationist and trained social worker, I have drawn from my experience of therapy, for content, process, method and assessment. Lasting social good at any other level is probably best founded in ongoing and deep individual insight. Clarity can inspire. Truth can humble. Acceptance can bring peace.

BA Hons in Psychology, Course in Counselling, In Training and Supervision in Transactional Analysis

Masters in Social Work, 30 years experience in education systems transformation and pedagogy