This paper includes impressive clinical material and takes a positive and symbolic stance towards self-assigned labels such as “neurodiverse”, “genderfluid”, “sex-positive”, “ADHD”, and “highly-sensitive”. By using scaffolding as a metaphor for allowing growth or development to take place (or compensate for its absence), Leigh shows the phenomenon of self-labelling as fulfilling different functions.  Read the paper now on Free Access.

The Michael Fordham Prize is awarded annually to the author demonstrating the most creative and original approach to clinical analytic thinking in a paper published in the Journal of Analytical Psychology in the preceding year.