I experience for jargon, I tried to base my work on careful research but to avoid the specialized vocabularies of psychoanalysis or other disciplines. I prefer a language close to the lives we live though this natural voice often eludes me. With my patients I listen carefully and use their words to talk about their experiences. The specialized language of psychoanalysis evolved to name new fractions of human experience, to explore further. This specialized language, however, also works all too well at letting some people in and keeping other people out.
Specialized language maintains a special privileged class.
This political use of language violates the spirit of psychoanalysis and of all psychotherapy which strives to honor all individuals, to transgress all boundaries of class or condition. That means the transmigration of souls. I read those words in the springtime of 1965, and the words seemed just right to me. They still do, and I try to present ideas and tell stories in plain words. Copyright 1995 Donald Williams.