The Use of Stories in Teaching Psychoanalytic Ideas
How narrative deepens learning, connection, and change
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“The first story of analytic training is the candidate’s own analysis.” — Nancy Kulish*
Psychoanalysis is more than a theory or a technique—it’s a way of learning how to live with greater honesty, depth, and emotional truth. It teaches us to face suffering without amplifying it, to live with fear without collapsing into panic, and to hold on to hope—even when things feel uncertain or lost.
Teaching psychoanalysis to others—whether professionals in training or interested laypeople— comes with a challenge: the language can be dense, the concepts emotionally charged, and the ideas often disruptive. That’s where stories come in.
From childhood, we use stories to make sense of the world. As adults, we still turn to novels, films, theatre, and even music to understand ourselves more deeply. In teaching psychoanalysis, stories have the same power. They can introduce complex ideas—transference, projection, unconscious conflict, even suicidal despair—in ways that feel meaningful before they are fully understood.
Stories help us connect before we explain. They bypass our defenses and speak directly to the emotional core. This is vital, because psychoanalytic insight is not just intellectual. As Karin Stephen once wrote, “Symptoms disappear when we realize the reason for them, not only when we know the reason.” Story bridges that gap between knowing and realizing.
The tradition is long-standing. Freud turned to literature—Oedipus, Hamlet—and his own case histories read like psychological novellas. Today, narrative remains an essential tool in the consulting room and the classroom. When I teach, I often use crafted stories (like The Expectations of Transference, The Provocations of Projections, or The Audacity of Suicide) not as case studies but as emotional landscapes—designed to resonate, unsettle, and invite reflection.
Good storytelling doesn’t simplify complex ideas; it makes them human. It reminds us that both psychoanalysis and narrative are about listening, meaning-making, and the possibility of change. If we’re not sometimes disturbed, surprised, or moved, then perhaps we’re not yet in touch with what psychoanalysis can truly teach.
*Kulish, N. (2022). The Power of Stories, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 70(5), 829–844.