Jon Mills Popular Books

Jon Mills Biography & Facts

Jon Mills is a Canadian philosopher, psychoanalyst, and clinical psychologist. His principle theoretical contributions have been in the philosophy of the unconscious, a critique of psychoanalysis, philosophical psychology, value inquiry, and the philosophy of culture. His clinical contributions are in the areas of attachment pathology, trauma, psychosis, and psychic structure. Academia and Clinical Credentials Mills is Honorary Professor and an international member of the Comparative Psychoanalysis Research Group, Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK, is on Faculty in the Postgraduate Programs in Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, USA, Faculty and Supervising Analyst at the New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, USA; and is Emeritus Professor of Psychology & Psychoanalysis at Adler Graduate Professional School in Toronto. He was the founding senior partner and chief psychologist of a mental health corporation in Ontario, Canada before he retired from clinical practice. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Vanderbilt University, his PsyD in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology-Chicago, and was a Fulbright scholar in the Departments of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and York University. He is a Diplomate, Fellow, and is board certified in Psychoanalysis and Clinical Psychology with the American Board of Professional Psychology, and is a retired psychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. Awards Mills has been referred to as “an independent and serious thinker,” "a focused and iconoclastic scholar," and "one of the most scholarly psychoanalytic thinkers of our time." In 2008 he received a Significant Contribution to Canadian Psychology Award, won a Goethe Award in 2013 for best book, and was the 2015 recipient of the Otto Weininger Memorial Award for lifetime achievement from the Section on Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychology of the Canadian Psychological Association. In 2006, 2011, 2013, 2018, and 2022, Mills also won a Gradiva Award for his scholarship given by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis in New York City, which has been the most times and in more categories than any other recipient in the history of the prize including best article twice, book, edited book, and TV series, The Talking Cure. Philosophy of the Unconscious In his books, The Unconscious Abyss and Origins, Mills develops a psychoanalytic metaphysics called “dialectical psychoanalysis” or “process psychology” based on neo-Hegelian principles, which places the unconscious at the heart of all psychic activity. He argues that the mind is ontologically constituted through unconscious genesis, and that subjectivity is conditioned a priori by unconscious agency, which is responsible for all forms of mental life to transpire, including higher modes of consciousness, contrary to contemporary views in the philosophy of mind that place causal primacy on consciousness. Rather than demote the mind to biological reductionism, unconscious processes are conceived as a series of psychic spacings that instantiate themselves through a multitude of schemata, which are the building blocks of psychic reality. He makes the controversial claim that unconscious semiotics condition and underlie the structure and function of language, subjectivity, and social dynamics. Critique of Contemporary Psychoanalysis Mills is one of the first psychoanalysts who is also a philosopher and critic of various theoretical schools in the history of the psychoanalytic movement, which is exemplified in his book, Underworlds. Mills also offered the first sustained philosophical critique of contemporary psychoanalysis in his book, Conundrums, which examines and scrutinizes relational, intersubjective, and postmodern perspectives in the field. He has been referred to as “the most important and profound spokesman to critique the relational psychoanalytic movement.” In 2015, an international conference was held in Israel on his work titled, The Relational Approach and its Critics: A Conference with Dr. Jon Mills, which was sponsored by the Israeli Forum of the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and the Department of Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies at Bar-Ilan University. The conference proceedings were published in the journal, Psychoanalytic Perspectives, which later appeared in his book, Debating Relational Psychoanalysis: Jon Mills and his Critics. Books and Reviews Mills, Jon & Goodwyn, Erik (2023). Archetypal Ontology: New Directions in Analytical Psychology. London: Routledge. Mills, Jon & Burston, Daniel (Eds.) (2023). Critical Theory and Psychoanalysis: From the Frankfurt School to Contemporary Critique. London: Routledge. Mills, Jon (2022). Psyche, Culture, World: Excursions in Existentialism and Psychoanalytic Philosophy. London: Routledge. Mills, Jon (2022). Inventando a Dios: Psicología de la creencia y el auge de la espiritualidad secular. Manuel Abraham Paz y Miño Conde (Trans.). Lima, Peru: Humanistas Racionalistas del Perú (HURA-PERÚ) y Ediciones de Filosofía Aplicada. Mills, Jon (Ed.) (2022). Psychoanalysis and the Mind-Body Problem. London: Routledge. Govrin, Aner, Mills, Jon, & Naso, Ronald C. (Eds.) (2022). The Emerging Role of Interdisciplinarity in Clinical Psychoanalysis. Lausanne: Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/978-2-88974-215-8 Mills, Jon (Ed.) (2021). Analytical Psychology and the Human Sciences. London: Routledge. Naso, Ronald C. & Jon Mills (Eds.) (2021). Object and Desire: Psychoanalytic Explorations. London: Routledge. Mills, Jon (2020). Debating Relational Psychoanalysis: Jon Mills and his Critics. London: Routledge. Govrin, Aner & Jon Mills (Eds.) (2020). Innovations in Psychoanalysis: Originality, Development, Progress. London: Routledge. Naso, Ronald C. & Jon Mills (Eds.) (2020). Psychoanalysis Among Competing Schools: Identity in Difference. London: Routledge. Mills, Jon (2019). Jung and Philosophy. London: Routledge. Naso, Ronald C. & Jon Mills (Eds). (2019). Psychoanalytic Plurality in Theory and Praxis: Clinical Horizons. London: Routledge. Mills, Jon & David L. Downing (Eds.) (2018). Lacan on Psychosis: From Theory to Praxis. London: Routledge. Naso, Ronald C. & Jon Mills (Eds.) (2018). Comparative Psychoanalysis: Reshaping the Psychoanalytic Domain. London: Routledge. Downing, David L., & Jon Mills (Eds.) (2017). Outpatient Treatment of Psychosis: A Psychodynamic Approach to Evidence-Based Practice. London: Karnac. Merkur, Dan & Jon Mills (2017). Jung’s Ethics: Moral Psychology and his Cure of Souls. London: Routledge. Mills, Jon (2017). Inventing God: Psychology of Belief and the Rise of Secular Spirituality. London: Routledge. Naso, Ronald C. & Jon Mills (Eds.) (2016). Ethics of Evil: Psychoanalytic Investigati.... Discover the Jon Mills popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jon Mills books.

Best Seller Jon Mills Books of 2024

  • Book 3 synopsis, comments

    Book 3

    Jon Mills

    Grumpy Mr.Watt lives in a metal world, making metal ‘things’ that go wrong. These eBooks are packed with stories, animations, facts and movies showing the processes involved in mak...

  • The Promise synopsis, comments

    The Promise

    Jon Mills

    Romantically challenged and still reeling from her mother's death. Hailey Welland, an addiction counselor in a small town in New York, struggles to keep her parents' once flourishi...

  • Go Dig Doug synopsis, comments

    Go Dig Doug

    Jon Mills

    A tale of greener grass with a hint of tillage. Can Mr.Watt’s never ending search for an easier life end happily?

  • Battling Jack Turpin synopsis, comments

    Battling Jack Turpin

    Jackie Turpin

    Now in his 80th year, 'Battling' Jack Turpin is the last surviving member of his generation of Britain's bestknown and bestloved boxing family.Jack's father, Lionel Turpin, came fr...

  • Book 1 synopsis, comments

    Book 1

    Jon Mills

    Grumpy Mr.Watt lives in a metal world, making metal ‘things’ that go wrong. These eBooks are packed with stories, animations, facts and movies showing the processes involved in mak...

  • Mr. Watt and the Abyss... synopsis, comments

    Mr. Watt and the Abyss...

    Jon Mills

    Mr. Watt had had enough, but a little bird lifts his spirits.  A tale of fedupness with a happy ending!

  • Posh Dog and his light relief synopsis, comments

    Posh Dog and his light relief

    Jon Mills

    Mr.Watt gets a lesson in manners, in this wee tale of courtesy and satisfaction.

  • The Leaf Lady Cometh synopsis, comments

    The Leaf Lady Cometh

    Jon Mills

    Mr.Watt has made a right old mess everywhere. The animals have asked The Leaf Lady to tell him off, and get him to fix the old bridge, so they can get back to the greener grass. Wi...

  • Book 4 synopsis, comments

    Book 4

    Jon Mills

    Grumpy Mr.Watt lives in a metal world, making metal ‘things’ that go wrong. These eBooks are packed with stories, animations, facts and movies showing the processes involved in mak...

  • Debating Relational Psychoanalysis synopsis, comments

    Debating Relational Psychoanalysis

    Jon Mills

    In Debating Relational Psychoanalysis, Jon Mills provides an historical record of the debates that had taken place for nearly two decades on his critique of the relational school, ...

  • Mrs. Choir and her Concerted Effort synopsis, comments

    Mrs. Choir and her Concerted Effort

    Jon Mills

    Mr.Watt likes Mrs. Choir, although she is VERY bossy! Read how she gets her own way against all the odds!

  • Kanbun synopsis, comments

    Kanbun

    Jon Mills

    Kanbun Uechi lives during a turbulent era in East Asia from the late 19th into the middle of the 20th centuries, an era in which the Edo Period of Japan, the Sho Kingdom of Ryukyu,...

  • The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary synopsis, comments

    The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary

    Charlie Eccleshare

    Roma have risen from their ruins!Manolas, the Greek God in Rome!The unthinkable unfolds before our eyes.This was not meant to happen, this could not happen . . . this is happening!...

  • Lionel, the very cross dresser synopsis, comments

    Lionel, the very cross dresser

    Jon Mills

    Everyone has their own style (and Lionel certainly has his), but thank goodness there’s always somebody around the corner who will appreciate it!