Many years ago when this author was at college he had a wonderful director for his master’s thesis, one Rev Dr. Brian McNamara, S.J .  Brian was an inspiration as he taught me how to read with an extra edge, or, if you prefer with purpose and focus.  He was a wonderful scholar to whom I ...

Nothing is ever really chemically pure, is it?  All elements seem to exist in combinations - in mixtures or in compounds or in stronger alloys etc.  Likewise in the human world, especially with our emotions, there is no pure love on the hand or pure hate on the other.  They always see...

Chapter 14: Enough Women: Freud's Ego Again One aspect of Freud's personality that jumps out at one from this book is the extent to which he believed in his own theories at the level of a fundamentalist believer in a new and all-embracing religion.  His language about psychoanalysis is, in shor...

William Blake (1757-1827) has long been for me a favourite  maker of poems. Blake was essentially a craftsmen in all senses of that word. He was a poet, a painter, a fine engraver and an excellent printer.  I have referred to him many times in my posts over the years.  See the followi...

,br I suppose if I were asked who are my two favourite Irish psychiatrists my answer would have to be Professor Anthony Clare, RIP and Professor Ivor Browne who is only 79 years young.  Both were brilliant psychiatrists and great communicators during their professional lives.  Ivor continu...

Certainty Versus Uncertainty As I grow older I get progressively less certain about things. The certitudes I once embraced as a young man have receded far into the background of my consciousness. The ground underneath my feet is not as solid as I once thought. When I look out into the horizon across...