Ken Corbett, Ph.D.
Dr. Corbett, Professor New York University Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and Faculty, The Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California.
He has authored numerous articles and two bestselling books. In Boy Hoods: Rethinking Masculinities, Dr. Corbett advocates for a new psychology of masculinity that moves beyond normative expectations, emphasizing that “no two boys, no two boyhoods are the same.” His book A Murder Over a Girl – named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice – is a story about a murdered girl, a murdering boy, community, families, friends and teachers that unfolds into a wrenching drama about the human psyche.
He is a member of the New York Institute for the Humanities, and a consultant on the Showtime docu-series Couples Therapy.
Saturday, January 31, 2026
4:30 p.m.
Who’s Your Daddy? The Primal Father, Kinship, and the Ethics of Care
When it comes to daddies, psychoanalysts/psychotherapists have been unerringly faithful to Oedipus, the King who carries the Law. But any keen observer of families knows that it is the mother who most often represents and transfers the commandments. Mothers straddle the duality and antagonism of love and law. What if we expected the same from fathers?
In response to this question, the primal father is theorized and clinically animated. He is placed in relation with the primal mother/other and communal caregivers. A model of interdependence is offered, one that moves toward more expansive forms of kinship and community. Such thinking is contrasted with current concerns about men and fathers that traffic the manosphere.
Read a Q&A with Donnel and Ken to learn more about their perspectives on the evolving landscape of psychoanalytic thought ahead of the National Meeting.
