AN BULKENS
Lacanian
Psychoanalysis
&
Psychoanalytic
Psychotherapy
Psychoanalysis offers a space to speak freely - to find words that resonate and ring true for you.
In a world where speaking is often dismissed as mere ‘talk,’ this experience gives speech and words a new value and weight. The analyst listens in a way that allows you to hear yourself differently. This may produce effects that can open up to new possibilities.
This experience offers the opportunity for a new footing, and a fresh breath, when ‘common sense’ no longer provides solid ground.
Why Psychoanalysis?
Who I Help
The psychoanalytic experience can be helpful in times of crisis, loss, or when you suffer from something hard to name. It can also be a way forward when you find yourself caught in repeating patterns that resist change - even when you understand them.
Analysis aims to create openings where you feel stuck, allowing something new to emerge.
I work with people who reside in California, in person in Chico, CA and online.
My orientation is psychoanalysis in the Lacanian Orientation. Lacanian psychoanalysts in this orientation commit to lifelong formation to refine a distinctive a way of listening and intervening.
Children and Families
Psychoanalysis is not only for adults. It offers also a special kind of conversation for children and teens—a space where they can find their own words and move beyond labels such as ADHD, autism, OCD, or gender dysphoria.
These conversations can help a child who feels stuck begin to move forward again. Even when other therapies have not helped, this way of listening and speaking can open new paths.
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With more than twenty years of experience, I accompany families through challenges such as anxiety, depression, attention and learning differences, and conflict at home. Even when other therapies have not helped, this way of listening and speaking can open new paths.
I also take part in ongoing research with colleagues and leaders in the field, to better understand and respond to the difficulties children and families face today
I also take part in ongoing research with colleagues and leaders in the field, to better understand and respond to the difficulties children and families face today.
Fellow Practitioners
Clinical presentations change along with the world we live in. How do we orient ourselves in our work, and direct treatment in this shifting landscape?
A first step is speaking together - sharing our work, our questions, and the difficulties that shape our practice. It is not only good practice, but often a real pleasure, to think with other clinicians.
The Case Workshop is for practitioners interested in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy who wish to approach each case with fresh eyes - setting aside preconceptions and staying as close as possible to the material, to the patient’s speech.
ABOUT AN
I am a clinical psychologist (University of Ghent) from Belgium and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. Since 2002, I have lived in Northern California. I hold a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley.
I have more than twenty years of experience working with children, adults, and families. I continue to engage in ongoing formation within the Lacanian orientation. I am an active member of Lacanian Compass, affiliated with the New Lacanian School and the World Association of Psychoanalysis.
My work is grounded in a psychoanalytic practice that values careful listening, singularity, and the transformative power of speech.
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My background also includes studies in Philosophy and Social Sciences, which continue to inform my work. Since 1999, I have worked in a range of clinical settings with children, adolescents and adults in both Europe and the U.S. While preparing for licensure in California I also directed The Mulberry School, an early childhood program in Chico.
I am an active member of the Lacanian Compass, a group associated with the New Lacanian School, One of the Schools of the World Association of Psychoanalysis. Within this community, I work with colleagues in the U.S. and abroad on questions of contemporary clinical practice, present my work at national and international conferences, and I help contribute to the translation of texts within the Lacanian Orientation, to make this work accessible to the English-speaking world.
My current interest are autism, and psychoanalytic work with children, teens, and families.