Research
Since 2021 I’m researching the parallels between Trust, Skin, Money, Identity, and Boundaries.
My MSc dissertation in Trinity College Dublin was dedicated to the topic and titled “From Foetus to Adult: How Early Experiences of Trust Shape the Adult’s Sense of Self”.
Psychiatry: Shadowing psychiatrist Dr Kotova in her private psychiatric practice Zdrave 33 as well as Dr Slaveikov in his psychiatric practice in the University Hospital for Neurology and Psychiatry "Sveti Naum" in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Dermatology: I’m also interested in working closely with dermatologists to further my research.
On Podcasts:
“On Trust, Skin, Money, Boundaries and Therapy”
A psychoanalytic take to trusting others and trusting oneself, inspired by my MSc Dissertation for Trinity College Dublin
Joined Rick Kahler on his podcast for 3 episodes. Tune in below.
The STAR illustrates the connection between Self and Others and the key points of interaction - through identity, money, boundaries, skin, and trust.
How could Skin, Identity, Boundaries, Money and Trust be possibly connected?
In workshops and keynotes, I use the following illustrations to visualise the connection and make the psychoanalytic concepts accessible to any audience.
I publicly introduced the STAR for the first time on April 21st, 2026 at Emprove’s event in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The concept of Containment introduced by Wilfred Bion (1962) extended further to show the additional layers of containment beyond the family unit.
UPCOMING: Workshop at the 2026 Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Association of Psychotherapists on June 14th in Sofia, Bulgaria.
“Object Relations: Money as Skin”
This workshop explores money as a psychic object and as a potential carrier of functions traditionally associated with the skin and the early caregiving environment: containment, protection, boundary formation, connection, and trust. Drawing on Object Relations Theory and psychoanalytic concepts of the skin-ego, we will examine how early experiences of reliability and unreliability become embedded in the ways individuals experience value, deprivation, dependency, autonomy, and money in adult life.
Building on Vessy’s MSc TCD research From Foetus to Adult: How Early Experiences of Trust Shape the Adult's Sense of Self, the workshop offers a psychoanalytic exploration of the unconscious meanings of money and its role in the development and maintenance of psychic boundaries. Particular attention will be given to the theoretical and clinical links between trust, identity, containment, skin, and financial experience, as well as their manifestations within the therapeutic relationship.
The workshop is intended for psychotherapists and mental health professionals with an interest in psychoanalytic theory, object relations, and the clinical dimensions of money, value, and early relational experience.
