Jon Mills (psychologist) explained

Jon Mills is a Canadian philosopher, psychoanalyst, and clinical psychologist. His principle theoretical contributions have been in the philosophy of the unconscious, a critique of psychoanalysis, philosophical psychology, value inquiry, and the philosophy of culture. His clinical contributions are in the areas of attachment pathology, trauma, psychosis, and psychic structure.

Academia and Clinical Credentials

Mills is Honorary Professor and an international member of the Comparative Psychoanalysis Research Group, Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK,[1] is on Faculty in the Postgraduate Programs in Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, USA,[2] Faculty and Supervising Analyst at the New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, USA; and is Emeritus Professor of Psychology & Psychoanalysis at Adler Graduate Professional School in Toronto.[3] He was the founding senior partner and chief psychologist of a mental health corporation[4] in Ontario, Canada before he retired from clinical practice. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Vanderbilt University, his PsyD in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology-Chicago,[5] [6] and was a Fulbright scholar in the Departments of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and York University.[7] He is a Diplomate, Fellow, and is board certified in Psychoanalysis and Clinical Psychology with the American Board of Professional Psychology,[8] and is a retired psychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario.[9]

Awards

Mills has been referred to as “an independent and serious thinker,” "a focused and iconoclastic scholar," and "one of the most scholarly psychoanalytic thinkers of our time."[10] In 2008 he received a Significant Contribution to Canadian Psychology Award, won a Goethe Award[11] [12] in 2013 for best book, and was the 2015 recipient of the Otto Weininger Memorial Award[13] [14] [15] for lifetime achievement from the Section on Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychology of the Canadian Psychological Association. In 2006, 2011, 2013, 2018, and 2022, Mills also won a Gradiva Award[16] for his scholarship given by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis in New York City,[17] which has been the most times and in more categories than any other recipient in the history of the prize[18] including best article twice, book, edited book, and TV series, The Talking Cure.[19]

Philosophy of the Unconscious

In his books, The Unconscious Abyss and Origins, Mills develops a psychoanalytic metaphysics called “dialectical psychoanalysis” or “process psychology” based on neo-Hegelian principles, which places the unconscious at the heart of all psychic activity. He argues that the mind is ontologically constituted through unconscious genesis, and that subjectivity is conditioned a priori by unconscious agency, which is responsible for all forms of mental life to transpire, including higher modes of consciousness, contrary to contemporary views in the philosophy of mind that place causal primacy on consciousness.[20] Rather than demote the mind to biological reductionism, unconscious processes are conceived as a series of psychic spacings that instantiate themselves through a multitude of schemata, which are the building blocks of psychic reality. He makes the controversial claim that unconscious semiotics condition and underlie the structure and function of language, subjectivity, and social dynamics.

Critique of Contemporary Psychoanalysis

Mills is one of the first psychoanalysts who is also a philosopher and critic of various theoretical schools in the history of the psychoanalytic movement, which is exemplified in his book, Underworlds.[21] Mills also offered the first sustained philosophical critique of contemporary psychoanalysis in his book, Conundrums, which examines and scrutinizes relational, intersubjective, and postmodern perspectives in the field.[22] He has been referred to as “the most important and profound spokesman to critique the relational psychoanalytic movement.”[23] In 2015, an international conference was held in Israel on his work titled, The Relational Approach and its Critics: A Conference with Dr. Jon Mills, which was sponsored by the Israeli Forum of the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and the Department of Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies at Bar-Ilan University.[24] The conference proceedings were published in the journal, Psychoanalytic Perspectives,[25] which later appeared in his book, Debating Relational Psychoanalysis: Jon Mills and his Critics.

Books and Reviews

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, Colchester, UK. .
  2. Web site: Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University.
  3. Web site: Adler Graduate Professional School, Toronto, Ontario. Adler.ca.
  4. Web site: Mills Gosse Psychology. Dr. Jon Mills.
  5. Web site: Illinois School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Chicago.
  6. Web site: PsyD in Clinical Psychology, ISPP, National Louis University, Illinois. .
  7. Web site: Curriculum Vitae JON MILLS, Psy.D., Ph.D., ABPP.
  8. Web site: ABPP Directory.
  9. Web site: Search for Member, College of Psychologists of Ontario.
  10. Web site: M. Guy Thompson, Review of Conundrums. Thompson. M. Guy. Taylor & Francis.
  11. Web site: Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Scholarship. Canadian Psychological Association. https://web.archive.org/web/20140811052156/http://www.cpa.ca/aboutcpa/cpasections/psychoanalyticandpsychodynamicpsychology/GoetheAward/. 2014-08-11. dead.
  12. Web site: Goethe Award for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Scholarship (for the 2012 publication year). 2013-10-15. Canadian Psychological Association Section on Psychoanalytic & Psychodynamic Psychology.
  13. Dr. Jon Mills Receives Weininger Award. Psynopsis: Canada's Psychology Magazine. 37(3), 2015. 57.
  14. Web site: Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology / Psychoanalytique et psychodynamique. June 4, 2015. CPA Section Related Programs. Canadian Psychological Association. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  15. Web site: Jon Mills receives Weininger Award. International Psychoanalysis.
  16. Web site: 2018 Gradiva Award Winners. 2018. National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis.
  17. Web site: GRADIVA® AWARD WINNERS. National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140305081846/http://www.naap.org/downloads/Gradiva%20Winners.pdf. 2014-03-05.
  18. Web site: Jon Mills Receives the Goethe and Gradiva Awards. International Psychoanalysis.
  19. Web site: Rogers TV Series, The Talking Cure.
  20. Book: Mijuskovic, Ben. Consciousness and Loneliness: Theoria and Praxis (Brill). 2018. 9789004385979. Brill Rodopi.
  21. Kimmel. Kenneth. Jon Mills's Underworlds: An Essay and Review. Jung Journal, Culture and Psyche. 13. 125–135. 10.1080/19342039.2019.1560826. 2019. 171955408.
  22. Rozmarin. Eyal. Relational conundrums: A critique of Contemporary Psychoanalysis by Jon Mills. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. 100. 166–169. 10.1080/00207578.2018.1519362. 2019. 150434932.
  23. Introduction to The Relational Approach and its Critics: A Conference with Dr. Jon Mills. Psychoanalytic Perspectives. 14. 3. 309–312. Govrin. Aner. 2017. 10.1080/1551806x.2017.1342311. 148847516.
  24. Web site: A Critique of the Postmodern Turn in Relational Psychonalysis - Dr. Jon Mills. YouTube.
  25. 2017. Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Psychoanalytic Perspectives. 14.
  26. D'Agostino . Brian . 2024 . Book Review: End of the World . Political Psychology.
  27. Philipson . Ilene . 2024 . Critical Theory and Psychoanalysis: From the Frankfurt School to Contemporary Critique. . Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. 10.1057/s41282-023-00416-2 .
  28. Fuchsman . Ken . 2023 . JON MILLS: PSYCHE, CULTURE, WORLD A BOOK REVIEW . Newsletter of the International Psychohistorical Association . 42 . 3 . 1–7.
  29. Gantt . Edward E . 2023 . Books briefly noted. . Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. . 43 . 4 . 252–255. 10.1037/teo0000254 .
  30. Macdonald . Molly . 2022 . Book Review: Jon Mills, Debating Relational Psychoanalysis: Jon Mills and His Critics . Psychoanalysis and History . 24 . 2. 10.3366/pah.2022.0427 . 250963519 .
  31. Perman. Gerald P.. February 11, 2020. Lacan on Psychosis. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 67. 6. 1072–1076. 10.1177/0003065119898189. 213848938.
  32. Garrett. Michael D.. February 11, 2020. Psychoanalytic Approaches to the Treatment of Psychosis. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 67. 7. 1065–1071. 10.1177/0003065119897626. 213067860.
  33. Web site: Book Review, Contemporary Psychotherapy, 2018, Vol. 10 (1).. Bruton. Lisa.
  34. Jung's Compensatory Ethical Theory. Beebe. John. 10.1080/19409052.2018.1446504. 10. 2018. International Journal of Jungian Studies. 2. 143–146.
  35. Merkur on Jung on ethics, mysticism, and religion. Segal. Robert A.. 10.1080/19409052.2018.1446505. 10. 2018. International Journal of Jungian Studies. 2. 147–154.
  36. Book Review . Welter. Brian. 10.1177/1542305017737768. 71. 2017. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling. 295–296. 46417274.
  37. Colacicchi. Giovanni. 2019. A Freudian's Journey into Jung's World. Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche. 13. 4. 92–97. 10.1080/19342039.2019.1676147. 213790535.
  38. Guido. Joseph J. 2017. Freud's illusion redivivus. PsycCRITIQUES. 62. 12.
  39. Masson. Robert. Book Review of Inventing God. Reading Religion.
  40. Fuller. Robert C. Book review of Inventing God. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 53. 4. 383–384. 10.1002/jhbs.21852. 2017.
  41. Cohen. Mariam. Book Review of Inventing God: Psychology of Belief and the Rise of Secular Spirituality. American Journal of Psychoanalysis. 78. 92–96. 10.1057/s11231-017-9121-6. 2018. 3926497.
  42. Crawford. Stephen. Book Review. British Journal of Psychotherapy. 34. 2. 322–324. 10.1111/bjp.12366. 2018.
  43. Crispin. Jessa. 2017-05-22. Amnesiac Nation. The Baffler.
  44. Crispin. Jessa. Earthly Intervention. Bookslut. 19 April 2017 .
  45. Turner. Donald L.. Spring 2018. Book Review of Inventing God. International Journal of Applied Philosophy. 32. 1. 127–130. 10.5840/ijap20184211.
  46. Web site: The Best Book Defending Atheism Isn't Great. Godblog, August 21, 2019.. Alford. C. Fred. 21 August 2019 .
  47. Alford. CF. Review of Inventing God. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. 2020. 122–127. 10.1057/s41282-019-00160-6. 2020. 210844363.
  48. Abramovitch. Henry. September 2016. Book review of Humanizing Evil. Journal of Analytical Psychology. 61. 4. 515–517. 10.1111/1468-5922.12244_1.
  49. Web site: Toward a Psychoanalytic Theory of Truth. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141217142233/http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/articles/toward_a_psychoanalytic_theory_of_truth/. 2014-12-17.
  50. Web site: Reviews: Underworlds. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141217142245/http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9780415660525/. 2014-12-17.
  51. Web site: Division/Review Issue 11 Winter 2015. 2015-04-25. Naso. Ronald C.. Division of Psychoanalysis (39) of the American Psychological Association. 6–8.
  52. The never ending fascination: Philosophies and the unconscious.. Stam. Henderikus J.. 2015. PsycCRITIQUES. 60 . 16.
  53. Book Reviews. Journal of Analytical Psychology. 2015-11-01. 1468-5922. 721–725. 60. 5. 10.1111/1468-5922.12189_2. John. White.
  54. Books. The Psychoanalytic Review. 2015-06-16. 423–433. 102. 3. 10.1521/prev.2015.102.3.423. en. Gargiulo. Gerald.
  55. Jon Mills, L'inconscient et son lieu. Genèse de la réalité psychique. 2014-08-30 . Lectures . Boisseuil. Anne. 10.4000/lectures.15303.
  56. Web site: Inconscient et son lieu (L'). 2013-08-26. Éditions Liber.
  57. Web site: "When God Wept": An Intriguing Fictional Hybrid. 2012-12-12. Evolution of the Self. Psychology Today. Seltzer. Leon F..
  58. Web site: Prominent Psychologist Jon Mills Pens First Novel, When God Wept. 2012-09-28. American Humanist Association.
  59. Web site: When God Wept. 2013-04-19. TheHumanist.com. Seltzer. Leon F..
  60. Web site: Conundrums: Approaches to Psychoanalysis Current Controversies in Psychoanalytic Psychology. 2012-03-13. 21st Century Aging. Psychology Today. Greenberg. Tamara McClintock.
  61. Web site: Conundrums: a critique of contemporary psychoanalysis Book REVIEW. Contemporary Psychotherapy. de Villiers. Vivian.
  62. Book Review. White. John R.. September 2013. Journal of Analytical Psychology. 58. 4. 554–556. 10.1111/1468-5922.12032_4.
  63. Returning to Modernity?. Rosenbaum. Philip J.. 2013. Contemporary Psychoanalysis. 49. 113–124. 10.1080/00107530.2013.10746536. 145505405.
  64. Web site: Review of: Conundrums: Approaches to psychoanalysis Current Controversies in Psychoanalytic Psychology by Jon Mills. International Psychoanalysis. Greenberg. Tamara McClintock.
  65. Conundrums: A Critique of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (Book Review). Ridenour. Jeremy. Summer 2012. DIVISION/Review: A Quarterly Psychoanalytic Forum (APA Div. 39 (Psychoanalysis).
  66. Book Reviews. The Psychoanalytic Review. 2013-04-01. 0033-2836. 373–388. 100. 2. 10.1521/prev.2013.100.2.373. Greenstadt. William M..
  67. Book Reviews. Psychodynamic Psychiatry. 2015-03-03. 137–178. 43. 1. 10.1521/pdps.2015.43.1.137. Cohen. Mariam C..
  68. Verbruggen. G. 2012. Een puzzel van hout?: Bespreking van: Jon Mills (2012). Conundrums — A critique of contemporary psychoanalysis. Tijdschrift voor Psychoanalyse. 18. 3. 230–231.
  69. Book Reviews. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly. 2012-01-01. 2167-4086. 221–232. LXXXI. 1. 10.1002/j.2167-4086.2012.tb00491.x. en. Wheeler Vega. Jason A.. 218543743.
  70. Book Review. Appelbaum. Jerome. December 2013. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis. 73. 4. 414–417. 10.1057/ajp.2013.32. 144480270.
  71. Web site: Origins: On the Genesis of Psychic Reality: Reviews. McGill-Queen's University Press. Lachs. John.
  72. Review of Origins: On the Genesis of Psychic Reality. Jackson. Jeffrey M.. July 2014. Psychoanalytic Psychology. 31. 3. 458–462. 10.1037/a0037216.
  73. Book Review. Raubolt. Richard. Winter 2009. Psychologist-Psychoanalyst.
  74. De ondraaglijke banaliteit van Klein. Rijdt. Lut De. Tijdschrift voor Psychoanalyse.
  75. Web site: Reviews: Other Banalities. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141217140927/http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9781583917510/. 2014-12-17.
  76. Book Review of Other Banalities: Melanie Klein Revisited. International Forum of Psychoanalysis. 18(1), 2009. 60–62.
  77. Waska. Robert. Book Review of Other Banalities: Melanie Klein Revisited. Psychodynamic Practice. November 2007. 13(4), 2007. 4. 429–432. 10.1080/14753630701609954. 145577733.
  78. Review of Other Banalities: Melanie Klein Revisited. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. 71(4), 2007. 340–341.
  79. Review of Treating Attachment Pathology. Olson. Trevor R.. May 2006. Canadian Psychology. 10.1037/cp2007_2_145. MacGregor. Michael Wm.. 47. 2. 145–148.
  80. Treating Attachment Pathology. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129060748/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/book-reviews/21092840/treating-attachment-pathology. dead. 2014-11-29. Daufenbach. Robert. June 2006. Counseling Today.
  81. Treating Attachment Pathology. By Jon Mills. Oxford, United Kingdom: Jason Aronson, 2005. 366 pp.. Friedman. Henry J.. April 2007. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly. 649–654.
  82. Book: Treating Attachment Pathology: Reviews. Jason Aronson, Inc.. Rowman & Littlefield.
  83. Book Reviews. The Psychoanalytic Review. 2008-12-01. 0033-2836. 1048–1050. 95. 6. 10.1521/prev.2008.95.6.1045. Haartman. Keith.
  84. Howe. David. Review of Treating Attachment Pathology. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2007. 12(3), 2007. 3. 150. 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2007.00465_3.x. 32811079.
  85. Meissner. W.W.. Review of Treating Attachment Pathology. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. 71(3), 2007. 255–256.
  86. Book Review. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129031928/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/book-reviews/22574260/relational-intersubjective-perspectives-psychoanalysis-critique. dead. 2014-11-29. Steinberg. Paul Ian. August 2006. Canadian Psychology.
  87. Book: Reviews. Jason Aronson. Rowman & Littlefield.
  88. Book Review. Tarozzi Goldsmith. Marcella. Winter 2005. Psychologist-Psychoanalyst.
  89. Web site: Summary: Psychoanalysis at the Limit Epistemology, Mind, and the Question of Science. SUNY Press.
  90. Book Review. Rothschild. Louis. Spring 2006. Psychologist-Psychoanalyst.
  91. Review. Nissim-Sabat. Marilyn. 2007. Psychoanalytic Quarterly. 1032–1040.
  92. Review. Chessick. Richard D.. 2006. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry. 383–385.
  93. Book: Summary: Rereading Freud Psychoanalysis through Philosophy. Excelsior Editions. SUNY Press.
  94. Book Review. Sabat. Marilyn Nissim. Winter 2005. Psychologist-Psychoanalyst.
  95. Beyond the Dialectic Recognition: A review of The Unconscious Abyss: Hegel's Anticipation of Psychoanalysis, by Jon Mills, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2003. Frie. Roger. October 2006. Contemporary Psychoanalysis.
  96. Review. Remley. William L.. June 2007. The Review of Metaphysics. Ver Eecke. Wilfried.
  97. Book Review. Letteri. Mark. Summer 2005. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 41. 3. 292–293. 10.1002/jhbs.20084.
  98. Book Review. Hewitt. Marsha Aileen. 2008. The Psychoanalytic Review. 673–678.
  99. Web site: Summary and Reviews of 'The Unconscious Abyss'. SUNY Press.
  100. Tolman. Charles W.. Psychoanalyzing Hegel. Theory & Psychology. April 2004. 14(2), 2004. 2. 273–276. 10.1177/0959354304042055. 220400255.
  101. Book: CHOICE Review: A Pedagogy of Becoming (Value Inquiry Book Series 116) (Value Inquiry Book, 116). Rodopi Bv Editions. 978-9042015074. 2002.
  102. Book: Mills, Jon. The Human Aspect: Selected Works in Psychoanalysis, Behaviorism, and Existential Phenomenology. Whittier. 1999. 9781576040935.
  103. Web site: The Ontology of Prejudice. Rodopi. Mills. Jon. Polanowksi. Janusz. Value Inquiry Book Series 58. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129060342/http://www.rodopi.nl/functions/search.asp?BookId=VIBS+58. 2014-11-29.
  104. Crable . Byran . 2000 . Book Review: The Thought of Prejudice and the Prejudice of Thought . Human Studies . 23 . 317–323 . 10.1023/a:1005601213439 . 144842832 .