Framing psychotherapy as either Proustian or Kafkaesque is an insightful way to consider its purpose and direction. A Proustian approach aligns with traditional psychoanalysis, focusing on uncovering layers of the inner self, memory, and unconscious motivations—an exploration of the “infinite” interiority that Proust saw as endlessly revealing.
A Kafkaesque approach, however, would emphasize how individuals confront and make sense of a world where external systems and forces—social structures, technology, bureaucracy, environmental crises—impose limits and shape realities beyond personal control. This perspective aligns with your sense that therapy should engage with the “overpowering” influences of the external world rather than seeing the psyche as only an inward landscape.
A Kafkaesque psychotherapy would, therefore, focus on how people navigate their constraints, find agency, and seek meaning within larger, often indifferent structures. It would be less about decoding inner impulses in isolation and more about understanding how those impulses intersect with, respond to, or are restricted by external conditions. This approach could indeed offer a therapeutic framework more suited to contemporary realities, where the individual’s psyche is inevitably intertwined with and impacted by the external world.
