Vast stores of Holocaust survivor testimony are now available for viewing in museums,memorials, film and a variety of other settings—collections spanning both decades and continents. Through viewing a selection of these testimonies produced for purposes as diverse as archival holdings to box office success, we will explore the effects of these often deeply confronting accounts. Why have so many survivors deemed it so important to share their painful memories and how do they affect those who choose to listen?

In this talk Maurice Whelan novelist, poet, and psychoanalyst, examines the creative mind. He is interested in the mind of the writer and in the creativity that is necessary to live a life. He explains how a creative mind is nourished and protected. He explores the importance of silence. He argues for a full engagement with everyday emotional experience. He poses questions: How does a writer take ordinary events and from them make an extraordinary story? Where is transformational energy to be found?.

The rise in body based problems, from eating disorders to cutting, questions conventional theory on the relationship of Body and Mind.

This is an excerpt from a six part lecture series presented by Neville Symington. The full lecture series is available from www.sydneypsychoanalysis.asn.au.