Professor William Sharp
@drwilliamsharp.bsky.social
Psychoanalyst and group psychotherapist
Professor of psychology, at Northeastern University & Supervising/Training Analyst-Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
Professor of psychology, at Northeastern University & Supervising/Training Analyst-Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
“…[antisemitism] had hardly been noticed by either learned or public opinion because [it] belonged to a subterranean stream of European history where, hidden from the light of the public & the attention of the enlightened, [it] had been able to gather an entirely unexpected violence.“p7 Arendt
November 11, 2025 at 1:30 PM
“…[antisemitism] had hardly been noticed by either learned or public opinion because [it] belonged to a subterranean stream of European history where, hidden from the light of the public & the attention of the enlightened, [it] had been able to gather an entirely unexpected violence.“p7 Arendt
Tips from this years conference I think Modern Psychoanalysts would agree with… from Bruce Fink #Lacan
Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies
What Not to Do with Psychotics
Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies
What Not to Do with Psychotics
November 10, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Tips from this years conference I think Modern Psychoanalysts would agree with… from Bruce Fink #Lacan
Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies
What Not to Do with Psychotics
Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies
What Not to Do with Psychotics
Had an amazing reunion with my former students @northeasternu.bsky.social while at a conference in New York. Keeps the importance of mentorship and the impact of teaching on future generations. @northeasterncos.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Had an amazing reunion with my former students @northeasternu.bsky.social while at a conference in New York. Keeps the importance of mentorship and the impact of teaching on future generations. @northeasterncos.bsky.social
Amazing discussions last night at BGSP on Netflix’s, devastating #Adolescence
Aidan McGowan presented a poster from @northeasterncos.bsky.social
And Sahlean and I presented ideas while the audience questioned if this would have been gun violence if set in the US
Aidan McGowan presented a poster from @northeasterncos.bsky.social
And Sahlean and I presented ideas while the audience questioned if this would have been gun violence if set in the US
October 31, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Amazing discussions last night at BGSP on Netflix’s, devastating #Adolescence
Aidan McGowan presented a poster from @northeasterncos.bsky.social
And Sahlean and I presented ideas while the audience questioned if this would have been gun violence if set in the US
Aidan McGowan presented a poster from @northeasterncos.bsky.social
And Sahlean and I presented ideas while the audience questioned if this would have been gun violence if set in the US
Reposted by Professor William Sharp
Update from the classroom: multiple class periods spent way too much time trying to explain how the phrase "lowkey" works today and despite all their patience with me I still lowkey don't get it.
October 28, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Update from the classroom: multiple class periods spent way too much time trying to explain how the phrase "lowkey" works today and despite all their patience with me I still lowkey don't get it.
To represent emotion is to expereince it, and once expereinced, it can be experienced again, with less need for distancing the self from it, as it becomes more tolerable and internalized. p112
from Barahona's book- Such a great summary of Learning from Expereince.
from Barahona's book- Such a great summary of Learning from Expereince.
October 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
To represent emotion is to expereince it, and once expereinced, it can be experienced again, with less need for distancing the self from it, as it becomes more tolerable and internalized. p112
from Barahona's book- Such a great summary of Learning from Expereince.
from Barahona's book- Such a great summary of Learning from Expereince.
"... I became aware of aware of murder enetering the analytic field in an important way. haunting the field between us like our own ghosts, underneath the disguise of my fantastic countertransference feelings and in the whispers [the patient] imagined..." p75 #Psychoanalysis
October 20, 2025 at 9:26 PM
"... I became aware of aware of murder enetering the analytic field in an important way. haunting the field between us like our own ghosts, underneath the disguise of my fantastic countertransference feelings and in the whispers [the patient] imagined..." p75 #Psychoanalysis
October 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
"I would like to emphasize here that what I am referring to as T(-H),which involves processses of disinvestment of the representational capacity, is not the passive process that turns of phrases like 'leaves a terrifying emptiness' suggest, but an active process of ...
October 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
"I would like to emphasize here that what I am referring to as T(-H),which involves processses of disinvestment of the representational capacity, is not the passive process that turns of phrases like 'leaves a terrifying emptiness' suggest, but an active process of ...
Reposted by Professor William Sharp
Thank you, Andy!
If you have an interest in psychology and how it relates to pop culture, I highly recommend reading any of the books by @drtravislangley.bsky.social and @rocketllama.bsky.social. There is a book about Batman, The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Spider-Man, among others. My fav is this: a.co/d/5D3zKAw
The Joker Psychology: Evil Clowns and the Women Who Love Them (Volume 12) (Popular Culture Psychology)
Amazon.com: The Joker Psychology: Evil Clowns and the Women Who Love Them (Volume 12) (Popular Culture Psychology): 9781454935421: Langley, Travis, Uslan, Michael: Books
a.co
October 17, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Thank you, Andy!
Wow! Honorable mentions on Journal 2! Some* are 2x honorees:
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
Russell Arellano
Darsh Bhalala
Marina Krumins-Beens*
Lola Laurent Josi VGood
Katherine Lazenby
Jackson Lemmond
Saimaa Malhorta
Maya Mollamustafaolu*
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
Russell Arellano
Darsh Bhalala
Marina Krumins-Beens*
Lola Laurent Josi VGood
Katherine Lazenby
Jackson Lemmond
Saimaa Malhorta
Maya Mollamustafaolu*
October 15, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Wow! Honorable mentions on Journal 2! Some* are 2x honorees:
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
Russell Arellano
Darsh Bhalala
Marina Krumins-Beens*
Lola Laurent Josi VGood
Katherine Lazenby
Jackson Lemmond
Saimaa Malhorta
Maya Mollamustafaolu*
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
Russell Arellano
Darsh Bhalala
Marina Krumins-Beens*
Lola Laurent Josi VGood
Katherine Lazenby
Jackson Lemmond
Saimaa Malhorta
Maya Mollamustafaolu*
Reposted by Professor William Sharp
Reposted by Professor William Sharp
Here you go. Use it on anything you want.
October 13, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Here you go. Use it on anything you want.
Hey. You get 50% off 1 Lyft ride in Boston if you sign up using my referral link. Terms apply, www.lyft.com/i/WILLIAM814...
Ride with Lyft
Let’s start with your number and we'll text you a link to download the Lyft app.
www.lyft.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Hey. You get 50% off 1 Lyft ride in Boston if you sign up using my referral link. Terms apply, www.lyft.com/i/WILLIAM814...
Thanks Aidan for helping out at the Gabriel Major Fair Tuesday! @northeasternu.bsky.social @nuglobalnews.bsky.social
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
October 8, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Thanks Aidan for helping out at the Gabriel Major Fair Tuesday! @northeasternu.bsky.social @nuglobalnews.bsky.social
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
@northeasterncos.bsky.social
First jounrals in #Psyc3400 ... honorable mentions go to:
Nicole Alocer
Caitlin Jennings
Maria Krumins-Beens
Maya Mollomusfafaoglu
Laura Moreno Manon
Tricia Narahari
Jordan Nguyen
William North
Shana Soyfer
Alvaro Antonio Tuason
Testing in progress! #Psychoanalytic theories to come Wednesday!
Nicole Alocer
Caitlin Jennings
Maria Krumins-Beens
Maya Mollomusfafaoglu
Laura Moreno Manon
Tricia Narahari
Jordan Nguyen
William North
Shana Soyfer
Alvaro Antonio Tuason
Testing in progress! #Psychoanalytic theories to come Wednesday!
September 29, 2025 at 8:33 PM
First jounrals in #Psyc3400 ... honorable mentions go to:
Nicole Alocer
Caitlin Jennings
Maria Krumins-Beens
Maya Mollomusfafaoglu
Laura Moreno Manon
Tricia Narahari
Jordan Nguyen
William North
Shana Soyfer
Alvaro Antonio Tuason
Testing in progress! #Psychoanalytic theories to come Wednesday!
Nicole Alocer
Caitlin Jennings
Maria Krumins-Beens
Maya Mollomusfafaoglu
Laura Moreno Manon
Tricia Narahari
Jordan Nguyen
William North
Shana Soyfer
Alvaro Antonio Tuason
Testing in progress! #Psychoanalytic theories to come Wednesday!
This story is eye opening… and helps us understand that with all the ways AI can help, it’s not a person- it’s a program telling you what will keep you engaged- “ sycophant mode”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/p...
Trapped in a ChatGPT Spiral
www.nytimes.com
September 16, 2025 at 11:36 AM
This story is eye opening… and helps us understand that with all the ways AI can help, it’s not a person- it’s a program telling you what will keep you engaged- “ sycophant mode”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/p...
Reposted by Professor William Sharp
Freud's brilliance on his insistence that "abnormal psychology" is not so distant from what we call "normal" at all but only a matter of degree. Better yet, "abnormal functioning" gives us the best window we could possibly have into what we call normal:
1/3
1/3
September 15, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Freud's brilliance on his insistence that "abnormal psychology" is not so distant from what we call "normal" at all but only a matter of degree. Better yet, "abnormal functioning" gives us the best window we could possibly have into what we call normal:
1/3
1/3
#Jung #CollectiveUnconscious
Great intro to Jung’s mystical side by @aaronbalick.bluesky
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Great intro to Jung’s mystical side by @aaronbalick.bluesky
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
The Hidden Mystical Life of Carl Jung:
Carl Jung wasn’t just a psychologist—he was a mystic. From séances and occult experiments to his fascination with Eastern spirituality, Jung’s hidden history reveals how psychology and mysticism inter...
open.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:51 PM
#Jung #CollectiveUnconscious
Great intro to Jung’s mystical side by @aaronbalick.bluesky
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Great intro to Jung’s mystical side by @aaronbalick.bluesky
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Great analysis- thanks @aaronbalick.com
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
#Winnicott
#TransitionalObject
#TooGoodToBeTrue
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
#Winnicott
#TransitionalObject
#TooGoodToBeTrue
AI and Mental Health, Part One: What We Know, What We Fear
We’ve seen the headlines and felt the winds of a moral panic – but what is the real state of play of AI therapy and mental health today? Make sense of this rapidly changing landscape in my new series.
open.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Great analysis- thanks @aaronbalick.com
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
#Winnicott
#TransitionalObject
#TooGoodToBeTrue
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
#Winnicott
#TransitionalObject
#TooGoodToBeTrue
The Trust in Science Thing
Here’s a hot issue I’m struggling with: Trust in Science.
open.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Professor William Sharp
The seduction of personality types in the West goes all the way back to the ancients. In the fifth century BCE the medical-minded Hippocrates introduced the four temperaments (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic)
It’s ironic that we embrace broad identity labels to express how unique we are.
Now we have a new one for people who don’t like groups, and share rare traits like authenticity and independent thinking.
Call me anal but I don't think we need it.
My GQ latest:
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/a-ne...
Now we have a new one for people who don’t like groups, and share rare traits like authenticity and independent thinking.
Call me anal but I don't think we need it.
My GQ latest:
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/a-ne...
A new personality type - ‘Otrovert’ - is here to make life even more confusing
Forget ‘extroverts’ and ‘introverts’, there's a new way to categorise ourselves in town
www.gq-magazine.co.uk
August 27, 2025 at 9:58 AM
The seduction of personality types in the West goes all the way back to the ancients. In the fifth century BCE the medical-minded Hippocrates introduced the four temperaments (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic)
Reposted by Professor William Sharp
The fact that “introvert” and “extravert” have become identity categories is the antithesis of what Jung intended. He encouraged us to develop our inferior functions, not identify with our superior ones.
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Why Your Strengths Are Holding You Back
Sticking to what you’re best at feels safe — but Carl Jung warned it can stunt your growth. The secret? Develop your “inferior function” and learn to love the parts of yourself you’ve been avoiding
open.substack.com
August 16, 2025 at 4:24 PM
The fact that “introvert” and “extravert” have become identity categories is the antithesis of what Jung intended. He encouraged us to develop our inferior functions, not identify with our superior ones.
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...