Besides psychotherapy and psychoanalytic theories, Dr.
Terri Yu has been interested in philosophy, literature, and the
works of cinema, which she deems beneficial to her work as a
psychotherapist.
Among psychoanalytic theorists, the works of Wilfred Bion,
Ronald Fairbairn, Sandor Ferenczi, Michael Balint, Donald Winnicott,
Karl Abraham, Erik Erikson, Melanie Klein have helped form and
develop Terri’s therapeutic framework. However Neville
Symington’s thoughts and contemplation on psychoanalytic
matters have deepened and furthered her theoretical and clinical
understanding of our psychic sufferings like no other.
As an avid reader in philosophy
(including religious and moral philosophy), the works and thoughts
influenced her most are those of Socrates, Spinoza, Martin
Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Isaiah Berlin, Meister Eckhart,
John MacMurry, Iris Murdoch, Alfred North Whitehead, John Henry
Newman, Paul Tillich, Thomas Merton, Søren Kierkegaard
and the ancient texts of The Upanishads.
In literature, among others authors,
the works of Graham Greene, Hermann Hesse, Evelyn Waugh, Somerset
Maugham, Virginia Woolf, the Greek myths and Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales
reflected visibly on Terri’s psychotherapeutic work. The
fictional characters’ internal conflicts and struggles
served many a time as metaphors to illustrate the inner lives
of patients who sought self-understanding and discovery through
psychotherapy.
As with literature, films, plays and other works of the
audio/visual media have always fostered Terri’s interpretations
and understandings of the human soul. Recent works of TV-series
by Joss Whedon (Angel, Firefly, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) and
J. J. Abrams (Alias, Lost) would serve as good examples where
self-discovery, growth and the development of empathy could be
easily observed through the fictional figures.
