What is Normal?

‘This book is for therapists and those interested in working with the mind and social and cultural aspects of society. […] The book developed into an anthology of twenty chapters, all of which are written by different psychotherapists and all exploring a different concept in a contemporary setting. They cover a wide range of subjects including sexuality, lying and betrayal, technology, disability, racism, trauma, language, and culture. […] The aim of the book is to increase awareness of, and sensitivity and empathy towards, the individual in today’s contemporary society.’

– Alexandra Peet, Attachment, 2024

‘Solid and scholarly … with its life-affirming personal testimonies it could also help equip us with what Gramsci called ‘optimism of will’.’

– Therapy Today

‘This compilation of insightful, thoughtful, and highly original explorations gently subverts the concepts of normal as conventional and of what we often call ‘disease’ as abnormal. Written with sensitivity and compassion, it is a challenging and much needed contribution to the psychotherapeutic literature.’

– Gabor Maté, MD, author of When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress

‘What is Normal? is a really brilliant resource for therapists – or anyone – who has serious doubts about the set of ideas and ideals that passes itself off as ‘normality’. This book manages to be simultaneously comforting and challenging, presenting a stunning array of provocations to anyone who thinks there’s anything normal about normality.’

– Anouchka Grose, psychoanalyst and author of A Guide to Eco-Anxiety and Are You Considering Therapy?

‘A rich and at times moving compilation… forces the reader to reflect on some of the unconscious beliefs and attitudes they may hold about what it really means to be normal.’

– The Reading Cure Podcast

‘Roz Carroll and Jane Ryan have done an absolutely excellent job at bringing together some of the world’s most creative and intelligent psychotherapists to teach us about the complex concept of ‘normality’. This should be core reading for anyone interested in the idea that all people are unique individuals who cannot be categorised by conventions.’

– Professor Estela Welldon, author of Mother, Madonna, Whore and Playing with Dynamite

Roz Carroll is a relational body psychotherapist and supervisor. She teaches on the MA in Integrative Psychotherapy at The Minster Centre and has been a regular speaker for Confer for twenty years. She is committed to interdisciplinary dialogue. She is the author of numerous articles and chapters on subjects from working with the body in psychotherapy, to intersubjectivity, collective trauma, culture, and the mediating value of creative process.

Jane Ryan trained as a psychotherapist at the Centre for Attachment-based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (CAPP). After 8 years in private practice she founded Confer as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue and to bridge the gap between schools of thought and professional communities in the field of psychotherapy.