Conspiracy of Hope Tread Talks #7 -- Karen Martin, LCSW on therapy, psychoanalysis & connection

Here is another non-walking Tread Talk from the past. I interviewed my stepmom Karen Martin about her wisdom on how talk therapy works through love and human connection. I'm not a therapist or clinical psychologist, but I've been learning from her on this topic since I was about 11 -- you can tell as you watch that we are mid-way through a lifelong conversation. Now 82, Karen remains a sought-after therapist and supervisor/discussant in the Chicago psychoanalytic community.

In her years of struggle against the idea that being gay is a pathology (which Sigmund Freud, the creator of psychoanalysis believed), she saw that a different, unconditionally loving way of of connecting with clients is what actually heals people. Not theories, or ideas, or words -- though these are important.

For years I nagged her to record one of her private talks with me, and I am so grateful that she finally allowed me to release this one, which was recorded in 2018. While I am critical of myself and how I appear in this video, Karen would encourage me to let that go -- I was undergoing my own stress and change, and these conversations helped me through that.

It is my hope and Karen's as well that other mental health workers can learn from this conversation. I showed this video to her and she is excited to get it out to the world, as Karen feels it's a very clear discussion (with the clarity on her side) about what's missing for most talk therapy clients in most psychoanalytic and therapeutic relationships.

Recorded Sept 6, 2018.