Everybody’s Talking! Response to Discussants

Abstract

In this response to the two thoughtful reflections upon my paper, I begin with the idea that what is talked about will simultaneously get lived out (Levenson, 1983). This is seen in the way my responders initially labor to find their voices in order to write about that very topic. Their struggles usefully reflect my thesis about women’s difficulties with self-expression. Thereafter, I respond to Dr. Lyons’s thoughts about integrating formal exposure techniques directly into psychoanalysis, broadening the discourse on women’s thwarted expression, and locating the interface between female leadership and the maternal. I then share my reactions to Dr. Baker-Pitts’s poignant crusade to conquer public speaking fear after a once sturdier voice eluded her, and her rich discussion of the way objectification of the female body can crush a woman’s nascent subjectivity and self-expression. I end with a short clinical piece that demonstrates our ongoing challenge to welcome women’s full range of emotions, including aggression, desire, and anxiety, with open analytic arms.

Keywords:

• enactment
• exposure
• public speaking
• self-expression
• voice
• women

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janet Rivkin Zuckerman

Janet Rivkin Zuckerman, PhD, is Director, Faculty, and Supervisor at the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis; Clinical Consultant at the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis; Adjunct Clinical Supervisor at the Derner Institute, Adelphi University; and Ferkauf Graduate School, Yeshiva University.