04/09/2026
Australian Psychoanalytical Society Open Days 2026 — Adelaide
It was a privilege to take part as a speaker at this year’s APAS Open Days, Minds Under Siege: Dehumanization & Reparation—and particularly meaningful to participate this time as a psychoanalyst.
One of the highlights was the opportunity to meet and listen to J. M. Coetzee, Nobel Laureate in Literature, in conversation with psychoanalyst Paul Williams. Two remarkable minds coming from different disciplines, yet meeting around questions that are deeply human: suffering, dehumanization, survival, and the possibilities of reparation.
I was also deeply interested in Paul Williams’ exploration of the concept of “soul murder”—a powerful psychoanalytic way of thinking about forms of psychic violence that attack a person’s sense of self, inner vitality, and capacity to feel fully alive.
There was something particularly moving about hearing psychoanalysis and literature speak to one another in this way. Both, through different languages, attempt to give form and meaning to experiences that can otherwise remain difficult to think, symbolize, or put into words.
A memorable Open Days, and a genuine pleasure to have been part of it.
