Lacan, trans-subjectivity, and structural racism — These days, public opinion seems to have captured our attention. We speak of its ‘court’ and debate the justness of its rulings. We question whether ‘being cancelled’ goes beyond being held accountable. We might explain this by saying that humans are social creatures. We evolved in the context of the…

Chemical extraction as a metaphor for psychotherapy — It took a creative genius on the level of Carl Jung to discover, in the ancient art of alchemy, an instructive metaphor for psychotherapy: to assert that the healing soul, like the basic starting materials of the alchemical technique, is transformed by a process no less noble and mystical than…

Reflections on fate and food — On my way to work last year, a careless driver took a sudden left turn into a gas station, forever committing our life-paths to an unavoidable collision course. The phrase “came out of nowhere” meant nothing to me until that exact moment, when I saw the side of the truck…

Sometimes, I wish they were — Freud is often criticized for having an overdeveloped sense of attribution: for finding meaning in every nook and cranny of experience, in ways that are seemingly obsessive, borderline paranoid, and not infrequently obscene. It’s no surprise, then, that he considers slips of the tongue — which now bear his name…

Why ‘Alice in Wonderland Syndrome’ is more complex than you think — You may have heard of a curious psychological condition known as ‘Alice in Wonderland Syndrome’ (AIWS). Like the literary character who inspired its name, it can involve staggering distortions in our perception of size. …

The errors and idiosyncrasies of an Arab-American tongue — Conversations with my parents are strange lingual chimeras. Take, for example, the following exchange with my mom, reproduced here almost verbatim: —Hi mama, keefek al-yawm? —Hi habibi, alhamdulillah, I feel great. Al-yawm ‘amilt nus sa’a ‘al treadmill. —Ya salam! …

Meet the scholars who think it is — Before it was united by Islam under a single religious polity, or umma, the Arabian Peninsula was inhabited by a large number of tribes, which vied against each other for power and prestige. …

The Islamic view of spiritual growth — Learning to trust ourselves — to have faith in our inherent capacity for truth and growth — is a profoundly rewarding, and healing, pursuit. …

Or; The hidden meaning of driving your car into a lake — The flaws, foibles, and fumblings of Michael Scott feature prominently in the TV show The Office. From bizarre malapropisms to cringe-worthy faux-pas, almost every episode involves some kind of mistake that the regional manager tries fruitlessly to correct, cope with, or cover up. But one of Michael’s mistakes is particularly…