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On June 15th in New York City and October 7, 2018 in Los Angeles I had the pleasure of having front-row seats to Bradley Jones’ one-man show, Dr. Bradley’s Fabulous Functional Narcissism. My reaction after each of these performances was one of amazement at what a talented entertainer my psychoanalytic colleague was. He could sing, tap dance, charm an audience with his wit and humor, and reveal a troubled autobiography without shame. He even could explicate Heinz Kohut’s theory of narcissism while wearing a top hat and singing Sondheim! I loved it, but honestly did not think much more about it for the next few years.
That changed when Bradley asked me to discuss his paper, Revitalization, Growth, and Fabulous Functional Narcissism, for a presentation at the Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity in the Fall of 2021. As it turned out the context for my reading this paper had changed since I saw his performances in 2018.
First, the world of psychoanalysis in the US now was gripped by the question of how to make psychoanalytic institutes and training appealing to a greater and more diverse audience. There was little question that many institutes were struggling to mount incoming classes, and within institutes themselves, candidates and members were seeking to expand their reach, speak to a wider audience, provide more relevant and welcoming spaces.
Second, was the death of Stephen Sondheim at the end of November. While a fan of his throughout my life, I was startled at the grief I experienced at his passing. Through that grief, I began to reflect on the role American musicals, and particularly his, had played in my life, had been my background sound track over the course of decades. And it was within that nostalgic reflection that I began to think more seriously about Dr. Bradley’s. Was it mere entertainment or did it hold greater meaning—for me, for his audience, for the field of psychoanalysis in general?
I have concluded that the answer is yes to all thre