I'm Jo (the story of my names), a psychoanalyst in training, researcher, creator, and Buddhist. I identify as queer, and my journey with gender, identity, and fluidity informs my work and interactions.
Currently pursuing a doctorate in psychoanalysis, culture, and society at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. You can find my CV and academic profile.
Practicing Psychoanalysis — Beyond the Consulting Room
Psychoanalysis doesn't only happen in the consulting room. It can be a way of understanding yourself, others, and the world you live in. My work — across research, writing, and creative making — is built around this idea.
Research
My dissertation, The Drifting Subject: From Translation Failure to Creative Refusal in Chinese Culture, investigates what happens when translation is demanded but impossible — drawing on Laplanche, Ferenczi, Buddhist philosophy, and queer theory.
Creative Work
QPHU (Queer Poetic Healing Universe) — a cross-media narrative universe. A YA fantasy novel built on a psychoanalytic framework.
- Book 1: Being Without Belonging — serializing on Substack
- Book 2: Belonging Without Innocence — in progress
Games · Art · Music on Apple Music & Spotify (Tender Bruise / Tides & Poems)
Gentle System Lab
Software designed from psychoanalytic principles — containment over productivity, emotional architecture over efficiency.
- Palimpsest — A writing app for slow thinking
Manifesto: What is A Psychoanalytic Vibe Coder? →
Writing
Published Work
- The Inner Negotiator: AI as Transitional Object and Echo in the Treatment of Complex Trauma — APsaA
- The Seen and the Unseen: AI's Disquieting Impact — ROOM
- Between Two Names — Tap Magazine
- AI-Assisted Creation and the Narcissistic Predicament — APsaA
- What School Are You? — Tap Magazine
- The Shadow of the Dead Mother — Tap Magazine
Podcast
Newsletters
- Negotiating with My Ghosts — Fiction exploring identity, haunting, and transformation.
- Chinese Psychoanalytic Scene — Research and commentary on psychoanalysis in Chinese contexts.
- A Psychoanalytic Vibe Coder — Psychoanalytic design philosophy and AI-assisted development.
Feel free to reach out at xiaomeng.qiao.ayame9joe@gmail.com with any questions or to connect.