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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO461

Brief Oral Poster PresentationEducation and EthicsReview

Psychic soundtrack: using Bruce Springsteen's music to teach psychoanalytic concepts

THE PSYCHIC SOUNDTRACK: UTILIZING BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S MUSIC TO TEACH PSYCHOANALYTIC CONCEPTS

Presenter: Adam Flynn

Country: United Kingdom

Session: 4550 - PARALLEL SHORT ORAL POSTER SESSIONS: MISCELLANEOUS - Part IV

Date: Sat, 26.09.2026

A psychoanalytic close reading of popular music offers a model for making the concepts of identity, affect, and relational breakdown more accessible in psychiatric training.

The aim is to develop an approach to teaching psychoanalytic principles through close listening and the interpretation of popular music. The method consists of interpretive psychoanalytic close readings of selected Springsteen songs; lyrics, musical restraint, vocal performance, and atmosphere are considered together, within a theoretical framework drawing on Winnicott (environmental failure, the False Self, transitional space), Benjamin (mutual recognition and its breakdown), Bollas (the unthought known), and Lacan (méconnaissance, or misrecognition in identity formation). The poster presents three illustrative readings: "Mansion on the Hill" exemplifies an environment that the child can observe but cannot enter, and that fails to recognize the spontaneous self; "Darkness on the Edge of Town" illustrates the transition from containment to communication through a comparison of the studio recording with the live performance at Nassau Coliseum; and "Brilliant Disguise" illustrates how a protective persona becomes indistinguishable from the person it protects. The findings suggest that these readings form a coherent teaching sequence linking the early emotional environment, endurance in adulthood, and relational uncertainty. The central clinical theme is "accompaniment," meaning remaining emotionally present when pain cannot yet be articulated or resolved. In conclusion, the educational value of this approach has not yet been tested; the next step identified in the poster is to evaluate whether structured listening and discussion improve residents' conceptual understanding and capacity for clinical thinking. Although the conference abstract states that 12 songs were analyzed, the poster presents three illustrative readings.

View the original poster

How to cite this study

APA 7: Flynn, A., et al. (2026, September 26). The psychic soundtrack: utilizing bruce springsteen's music to teach psychoanalytic concepts [Poster presentation]. 26th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP 2026), Stockholm, Sweden. https://cslide.ctimeetingtech.com/wcp26/attendee/eposter/file/2188

Vancouver: Flynn A, et al. The psychic soundtrack: utilizing bruce springsteen's music to teach psychoanalytic concepts [poster]. 26th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP 2026); 2026 Sep 23-26; Stockholm, Sweden. Available from: https://cslide.ctimeetingtech.com/wcp26/attendee/eposter/file/2188

Author names and title formatting were generated automatically from the congress system; please check them against the original poster before use.

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Sitenin son güncellemesi: 8 Kasım 2026 · Site editörü: Doç. Dr. Alişan Burak Yaşar, info@alisanburak.com