talks and publications
publications
Black mirroring and the paranoid-schizoid simulacrum: scrolling as a defense against the depressive position.
In this research article, I propose a model to understand the psychodynamics underlying scrolling as a defense mechanism - as a means of avoiding distressing ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Specifically, I propose that the editorialising algorithmic systems that curate our content feeds when we scroll select content that stimulates our attention, which has the implicit effect of soothing us, what I term black mirroring. The soothing is achieved by simulating an infantile experiential world that I term the paranoid-schizoid simulacrum. I argue that the guilt and demoralisation we experience after scrolling is a consequence of coming back to the adult, reality-based experiential world, the depressive position. Finally, I argue that scrolling simulates an experiential world that is antithetical to that fostered by counselling and psychotherapy.
The final Version of Record is available here, although it is behind a paywall.
You can access a free version - the Author’s Accepted Manuscript - here.
talks
Black Mirroring: Why We Scroll, Why We Struggle to Stop, and Why We Feel Worse Afterwards
In this presentation for the IACP Research Conference 2025, I unpack the above research article in jargon-free language for a primarily Humanistic psychotherapy and counselling audience.
IACP members can access the full conference on the IACP portal and receive CPD points for completing it.
Therapists Talk Therapy Ep. 37: Contracting with Clients as a Therapeutic Frame
I recently had the opportunity to join Margaret O’Connor on her podcast, Therapists Talk Therapy, alongside Colm Early. It was a real pleasure to speak with two leading figures in the Irish counselling and psychotherapy education space about one of my favourite – though oft underrated – topics: contracting.
We explored how a therapist’s understanding of, and comfort with, contracting tends to evolve over the course of their career; how something that can feel like a hurdle at the beginning gradually becomes part of the therapeutic frame itself rather than something to “get out of the way” before the real work can begin.
In this episode, I discuss how my perspective on contracting has evolved from viewing it as a logistical piece to viewing it as a clinical piece. Drawing on my experience as the PCI Counselling Service Co-Ordinator and as a clinician, I talk about how the contract establishes the therapeutic frame - the preconditions necessary for psychotherapy and counselling to take place - and how this often becomes a core pain point for trainee therapists. We also discuss the importance of endings and closure in psychotherapy and how this can be worked into the contract.
