What is Normal?

With an extraordinary diversity of perspectives, the authors use biographical accounts, political analyses and clinical vignettes to challenge the concept of normality. Through these stories and discussions, it emerges that our very uniqueness, oddness and differences as individuals are what make us fully human.

Many people strive to be normal, and deviation from accepted norms can feel likefailure. But why do we want to be normal? And what does that mean? Ordinary? Sane? Similar? When probed, the notion of normality starts to look fragile. It is not clear who decides what being normal means or who is entitled to say. Nonetheless, concerns about conforming and being accepted are deeply pervasive. With an extraordinary diversity of perspectives, the authors featured in this collection – all psychotherapists – use biographical accounts, political analyses and clinical vignettes to challenge the concept of normality. Through these stories and discussions, it emerges that our very uniqueness, oddness and differences as individuals are what make us fully human. At a time of rapid social change, the freedom to be oneself – whatever form that takes – is at the core of contemporary debate, and this volume makes a vital contribution to that project.

About the Authors Introduction Acknowledgements

1. The new normal Tania Glyde

2. Therapy and hope: are they really normal? Andrew Samuels

3. No escape from 'normal' Doris Brothers

4. The normal couple therapist Jane Haberlin

5. Your normal, my normal. Disruptions, accommodations and respect between therapist and patient Susie Orbach

6. Black paranormal: a playlist Foluke Taylor

7. Normal sex Meg-John Barker

8. Minding the gap: a couple psychotherapist's perspective Christopher Clulow

9. Born to love, driven to destroy Felicity de Zulueta

10. The myth of normality Chris Oakley

11. The shifting landscape of sexual normality Dany Nobus

12. Norms and normality: a socio-psychoanalytic approach Stephen Seligman

13. Why would I want to be normal? Lennox K. Thomas

14. The problem of words. It's why we are all mad! Phil Mollon

15. Negotiating the normal Ann Shearer

16. Flourishing: the 'normal' therapist versus the 'healthy' therapist Brett Kahr

17. Cultural schizophrenia and internalised racism are not normal Isha Mckenzie-Mavinga

18. In the therapy room: are all patients normal? Valerie Sinason

19. When simply being human is abnormal Stephen Setterberg

20. Future flat-packed or future fluid? Why normal is the problem Roz Carroll

References Index,

About the Authors
Introduction
Acknowledgements

1. The new normal
Tania Glyde

2. Therapy and hope: are they really normal?
Andrew Samuels

3. No escape from ‘normal’
Doris Brothers

4. The normal couple therapist
Jane Haberlin

5. Your normal, my normal. Disruptions, accommodations and respect between therapist and patient
Susie Orbach

6. Black paranormal: a playlist
Foluke Taylor

7. Normal sex
Meg-John Barker

8. Minding the gap: a couple psychotherapist’s perspective
Christopher Clulow

9. Born to love, driven to destroy
Felicity de Zulueta

10. The myth of normality
Chris Oakley

11. The shifting landscape of sexual normality
Dany Nobus

12. Norms and normality: a socio-psychoanalytic approach
Stephen Seligman

13. Why would I want to be normal?
Lennox K. Thomas

14. The problem of words. It’s why we are all mad!
Phil Mollon

15. Negotiating the normal
Ann Shearer

16. Flourishing: the ‘normal’ therapist versus the ‘healthy’ therapist
Brett Kahr

17. Cultural schizophrenia and internalised racism are not normal
Isha Mckenzie-Mavinga

18. In the therapy room: are all patients normal?
Valerie Sinason

19. When simply being human is abnormal
Stephen Setterberg

20. Future flat-packed or future fluid? Why normal is the problem
Roz Carroll

References
Index

• Edited by Roz Carroll
• Edited by Jane Ryan

'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