Introducing… Pop Psychology

Have you ever heard a song that seemed to put words to something you could barely explain yourself? Sometimes music captures our emotional truths with a kind of instant recognition; reminding us that even our most private experiences are rarely ours alone, and that someone, somewhere has felt this too. I never feel as isolated or lonely with my thoughts after I have found “the right” piece of music to fit my feelings; it’s very comforting to feel as though the artist has captured the essence of my emotions and is somehow holding my hand through it.

Anyone who knows me knows I love exploring thoughts, feelings and recurring themes through music. I am forever building oddly specific Spotify playlists and using songs as a way to get curious about how our experiences feel to us. I often ask clients about the music they love or keep returning to, and sometimes I will suggest using music as a way of exploring a feeling more deeply. When words feel a bit out of reach, a song can sometimes say something important for us.

This is the idea behind Pop Psychology; a new series where I take meaningful songs and explore them through different therapeutic ideas and frameworks. The title is slightly tongue-in-cheek; while I am wary of the rise of ‘Insta therapy’ and psychological soundbites online, social media means working with the tools available, and I rather like the irony of using ‘Pop Psychology’ as a way into something more thoughtful. Hopefully my version of pop psychology is a little more useful than yet another meme on narcissism.

My first few posts focus on Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions; a song I connected with instantly many years ago, and one that opens up really nuanced themes around hypervigilance and adaptation, self-protection, vulnerability, and attachment.

I hope the series offers something thoughtful, familiar, and maybe even a little surprising along the way. It’s already led me down some slightly twisty rabbit holes as I’ve been exploring.

More soon,

Ella