Time, Language, and Embodiment by Mary Lynne Ellis
In my talk I shall explore the significance of time in the therapeutic relationship and how an attentiveness to this is a vital catalyst for change. I shall reflect on the limitations of spatial metaphors, binaries of ‘inner’/ ‘outer’ in addressing the socio-political and historical specificity of individuals’ conscious and unconscious experiences. The impact of the Corona virus, the escalation of climate change, current political crises in the U.K. and globally, including the outbreak of wars, have highlighted for many psychotherapists that interpretations focusing primarily on the past do not suffice. From a relational perspective, the question of how we live our lives within intersubjective networks lived in the present in anticipation of the future and affected also by the past is crucial. Through case material (composite) and references to literature, autobiography, and contemporary philosophy, I shall explore how an attention to time and creativity in the therapeutic relationship can open out previously unimagined possibilities of being and speaking as embodied individuals.
Mary Lynne Ellis is a relational analytical/phenomenological psychotheapist in private practice in London. With nearly forty years' experience, she has also worked as an art therapist in the NHS and the voluntary sector. She has taught and lectured widely in the UK, Ireland, and Chile on the questions of time, language, embodiment, and indentities in psychotherapy, particularly in relation to experiences of marginalization and discrimination. Her publications include a wide range of articles and two books: Questioning Identities; Philosophy in Psychoanalytic Practice (co-authored with Noreen O'Connor, 2010) and Time in Practice: Analytical Perspectives on the Times of our Lives (2008). An updated edition entitled Time in Practice; Temporality, Intersubjectivity, and Listening Differently (Routledge, 2024) has recently been published. She is also a practising visual artist.
