I am an expressive arts therapy practitioner-in-training working with a psychoanalytic orientation.

Ongoing Formation

As part of my continued analytic formation, I plan to pursue a PhD in Psychoanalysis through GCAS Dublin. My doctoral work will further develop my interest in Lacanian psychoanalytic techniques and expressive arts therapy.

I attend P-HOLE, a year-long seminar series dedicated to critical and liberatory approaches to psychoanalysis. P-HOLE is not a formal analytic training institute, but a collective of clinicians, scholars, and artists committed to rigorous study and to developing a non-discriminatory, community-oriented psychoanalytic practice. This sustained engagement informs my theoretical grounding and therapeutic orientation.

Clinical and Pre-Clinical Training

I completed a Psychoanalytic Infant Observation and a Young Child Observation with the Psychoanalytic Therapy and Research Centre (PTRC), Mumbai. These observations were conducted in the Tavistock tradition, with a focus on close, sustained attention to early relational dynamics and the development of emotional life within the infant-caregiver and young child-caregiver relationship.

In addition, I completed PTRC’s Pre-Clinical Training Program in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, which deepened my understanding of developmental theory, unconscious processes in childhood and adolescence, and the foundations of psychoanalytic clinical work. This training forms an important part of my analytic formation.

Read more about my background.

Conference Presentation

I presented a paper as part of the Freudian Research Seminar Series 2025 at the Freud Museum London (online) exploring the psychoanalytic function of Instagram reels in women’s emotional lives.

Abstract: The Psychoanalytic Function of Instagram Reels

On most days, I stay in touch with my women friends through the exchange of Instagram reels, interspersed with brief messages noting our reactions to these comedic video clips. These ‘reels’ range from 2–60 seconds in length. They resemble sketch comedy but address subjects ranging from love, depression, and motherhood to animals and food. The creators of these reels often present themselves in states of tiredness or despair, dressed in pajamas, or engaged in mundane daily activities.

In this paper, I examine Instagram reels through the lens of Freud’s Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. I propose that reels perform a psychoanalytic function by making particular painful, anxiety-inducing aspects of women’s emotional lives more digestible. The private exchange of reels also serves a communicative purpose, allowing women to express feelings that would otherwise be censored in daily conversation. Through humor, everyday despair and ambivalence are rendered speakable.

I draw on personal observations and psychoanalytic theories about the social function of comedy. I also apply Bion’s concepts of reverie and alpha function to explore how certain reels may symbolically contain and process everyday emotional experience. While social media is often framed primarily in terms of its detrimental effects, this paper explores a more nuanced and potentially generative dimension of digital life.

Invitations and Contact

I welcome invitations to present this paper, deliver lectures, or engage in discussions related to my research. If you would like to read more about my work or invite me to speak, please feel free to contact me by email at:

anushkajasraj @ gmail.com