“Tell me about your mother…”

Mythology surrounding the phrase ‘tell me about your mother’ holds that it was central to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and practice. He believed the notion that the root of our ability to adjust to the world around us is ultimately tied to the relationship we have, or have had, with our mother. So, is this true? I don’t think anyone can be sure, but as a counsellor I do love to ask that question because I know it can, not always but so very often, be the beginning of the unravelling of a multitude of subconscious beliefs that have caused so much of the pain in the person sat in front of me.