Understanding Extreme Mistrust and Paranoia: Interview with Professor Daniel Freeman

Professor Daniel Freeman has dedicated his decades-long career to understanding paranoia and extreme mistrust. A lot of his clients and research participants are people with what we would generally consider to be more severe mental health challenges like schizophrenia, psychosis and mania. And yet, in his work I see that there's still relevance for many people, especially those with attachment injuries and who might struggle to build trust in their relationships.

While I meet clients who find it very hard to open up at all, I also meet many clients who have high levels of self-awareness and who might appear to feel quite comfortable talking about themselves and their lives. Eventually we seem to rub up against the same question – are these, really, just the parts of yourself that you're comfortable with sharing? What would it mean to talk about the parts of yourself that you've lost contact with? The ones that you conceal, perhaps even from yourself? These might not even be parts that we might associated with pain and darkness, they might be creativity, spontaneity, silliness and play. What would really challenge you and make you feel vulnerable?

Here's my interview with Professor Freeman: