From Attachment to Authorship: Attachment Trauma, the Internalised Other, Ressentiment, and the Aim of Trauma Therapy
One of the enduring questions in psychotherapy is why people continue to organise their lives around relationships that ended years, or even decades, ago. An abusive parent dies, yet their criticism continues to shape the person’s decisions. A neglectful caregiver is no longer present, yet the individual still expends enormous energy trying to earn approval, […]
When Anger Turns Inward: Nietzsche’s Psychology of Resentment
Most philosophers before Friedrich Nietzsche concerned themselves with questions such as: What is truth? What is justice? What is the good life? What is morality? Nietzsche increasingly approached these questions from a radically different angle. Rather than asking whether a belief was true or morally justified, he asked: What psychological need makes a person want […]
Bringing Contemporary Attachment Theory into Dialogue with Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Complementarity not Contradiction.
Contemporary attachment theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis are often presented as fundamentally different approaches to understanding human development. Attachment theory emerges from developmental psychology, neuroscience, and empirical observation. It seeks to explain how early caregiving relationships shape emotional regulation, relational security, and psychological well-being. Lacanian psychoanalysis, by contrast, is concerned with language, subjectivity, desire, and the […]
Yoga Nidra 360: Rest That Respects Your Nervous System
Yoga Nidra 360: Rest That Respects Your Nervous System Some people like to understand why something may help, not just what it feels like. Yoga Nidra 360 is designed with your nervous system in mind — especially if calm has never felt simple or safe. If you’re on the Gold Coast and looking for a […]
When the Self Disappears to Preserve Attachment: Desire, Shame, and the Big Other I. Desire, the Big Other, and Attachment Trauma Understanding why certain individuals do not know what they want, or why wanting can feel dangerous — a Lacanian perspective At the core of Jacques Lacan’s thought is a quietly unsettling idea: We do […]
Nietzsche’s Critique of Causality and Attachment Trauma
From Survival Explanations to Nervous System Liberation Nietzsche does not deny causality outright. He denies that cause-and-effect reflect the deep structure of reality. Instead, he argues that causality is a psychological strategy humans use to make overwhelming experience feel ordered. We impose sequences like: “A caused B.” “I did X because of Y.” “They acted […]
Lacan and the Divided Self
When the Mirror Cracks: Lacan, Attachment Trauma, and the Journey Back to the Self Most of us grow up believing that the “self” is something found deep inside us — a kind of inner core that exists prior to relationship. But psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan offers a more relational, surprisingly compassionate understanding: We become who we […]
Cultivating Integration: the essential groundwork before EMDR
A Structural Dissociation Framework for EMDR By Cobus Kleynhans, Clinical Psychologist Introduction Complex trauma is not stored as a single memory, nor does it resolve through simple exposure or cognitive insight. Instead, it is encoded in a fragmented internal architecture — a system of parts, defences, and internal divisions created to survive overwhelming experiences. EMDR […]
Understanding Suicide in Men: The Structure of Vulnerability
Understanding Suicide in Men: The Structure of Vulnerability By Cobus Kleynhans In what follows, I will endeavour to give an account of suicide in men — the prevalence of men ending their lives prematurely, the causal factors that increase risk, and the treatment approaches that offer hope. 1. The Scope of the Problem In 2022, […]
Understanding the Psychology of Aggression
Understanding the Psychology of Aggression By Cobus Kleynhans Everyone, almost without exception, recognises the vicissitudes of anger — both in others and within themselves. And everyone too recognises that excessive aggression is harmful, while moderate anger, as in the case of self-defence, is necessary and justified. However, despite how recognisable and familiar aggression is, it […]