Freud in the Writing Center: The Psychoanalytics of Tutoring Well by Christina Murphy

Christina Murphy’s article ”Freud in the Writing Center: The Psychoanalytics of Tutoring Well” found on page 296 in The Longman Guide to Writing Center Theory and Practice by Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blumner discusses how tutoring is an intimate interaction between the tutor and student. She claims the role of the tutor is similar to that of a psychoanalyst. As opposed to a teacher who is informative and focused on instruction to the class as a whole, a tutor is concerned with the individual and supporting them so they can grow as a writer. The psychoanalyst’s patients seek out therapy for help with a problem, similar to the way students go to the writing center seeking help with an assignment. Just as a therapist tries to find a way to make patients comfortable with their problems, tutors try to make students comfortable with their writing while they work through issues such as writer's block and anxiety.

Tutors who communicate well, communicate honestly, and communicate on an intimate level are better suited to work with students in the writing center. Murphy discusses the commonality of human experience and how discussing the process of writing allows students to communicate their experience. She talks about the student and tutor’s quest for understanding and insight, and how they achieve it together through collaboration.