Behind every conversation runs a second, invisible dialogue: the pauses, the swallowed words, the carefully chosen silence. This quiet side of our lives has just taken centre stage in France, where a major psychology award has gone to a book that treats silence not as absence, but as a powerful, complex presence.
The prize that listens between the lines
The Psychologies Essay Prize 2025, awarded by the French magazine Psychologies, has gone to psychoanalyst Laurence Joseph for her book “Nos silences” (“Our Silences”), published by Autrement. The award ceremony took place on 18 November at the Bourdelle Museum in Paris, surrounded by massive sculptures that echoed the themes of strength, fragility and human tension raised in her work.
The jury brought together specialist journalists from the magazine and a group of committed readers, under the presidency of Blanche Leridon, winner of the 2024 edition. Their discussions focused less on academic theory and more on the impact a book can have on everyday emotional life.
“Nos silences” looks at what happens when we stay quiet: the protection it offers, the damage it causes, and the turning points it can trigger.
The choice of Joseph’s essay signals a growing cultural focus in France on emotional literacy and the way ordinary people handle trauma, conflict and intimacy.
What “Nos silences” says about what we don’t say
Laurence Joseph is a practicing psychoanalyst, and her book draws on the consulting room, but also on literature, philosophy, psychology and history. Instead of treating silence as a simple lack of words, she looks at it as a psychological strategy, a language in its own right, and sometimes a symptom.
Four types of silence that shape a life
In the book, Joseph distinguishes between several forms of silence that many readers will recognise in their own lives:
- Protective silence – staying quiet to keep a boundary, to protect a memory, or to avoid re-opening a wound.
- Imprisoning silence – when the lack of words locks someone inside shame, fear, or family secrets.
- Resistant silence – saying nothing as an act of protest, survival or dignity, especially in unequal relationships.
- Shattered silence – the moment when what was unsaid finally erupts, sometimes freeing, sometimes devastating.
Each type appears through stories, clinical vignettes and cultural references, rather than abstract categories. The aim is not to label people, but to help readers recognise their own patterns.
“Silence is not the opposite of speech, but its condition,” Joseph writes, suggesting that what we withhold often determines what we can finally articulate.
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Why this resonates now
The book lands at a time when public conversations about mental health encourage people to speak out, share and “say everything”. Joseph’s work complicates this message. She does not romanticise silence, but she refuses to treat it only as a problem.
For some, staying quiet can be a step on the way to being able to speak later, more safely and more honestly. For others, silence hides generations of unspoken abuse, illness or grief. The book helps readers ask a simple question: Is my silence serving me, or is it slowly closing in on me?
A prize that highlights everyday psychology
The Psychologies Essay Prize does not target academic researchers first. It focuses on books capable of changing how people think about themselves, their families and their relationships. Joseph’s essay fits that ambition, offering theory woven into narrative and reflection rather than heavy jargon.
The setting of the Bourdelle Museum added a visual dimension to the evening. Colossal sculptures, frozen in motion, created a paradoxical backdrop: bodies made of stone, charged with energy yet mute. Many guests noted how this mirrored the book’s core question: how much intensity sits inside what never gets said?
How the jury framed its choice
During the deliberations, the jury looked at several criteria:
| Criterion | What mattered |
|---|---|
| Accessibility | Can a general reader follow and feel involved without prior training in psychology? |
| Depth | Does the book move beyond self-help slogans to offer real conceptual tools? |
| Relevance | Does it address questions people actually ask themselves today? |
| Literary quality | Is the writing engaging enough to carry complex ideas over several chapters? |
According to Psychologies, “Nos silences” stood out by ticking all these boxes while remaining a genuine pleasure to read, something that matters when the topic touches on pain, shame and emotional risk.
The special editors’ prize: living with and after cancer
During the same ceremony, a separate Editors’ Special Prize went to “Vivre avec, vivre après” (“Living With, Living After”) by Christophe André, Cloé Brami and Violaine Forissier, published by L’Iconoclaste. The magazine has only given this special distinction three times, which signals how closely the book aligns with its editorial mission.
The authors offer a guide for people affected by cancer – patients, relatives and caregivers. Psychologist Christophe André is known in the French-speaking world for bringing mindfulness and emotional skills to mainstream readers. Here, alongside physician Cloé Brami and journalist Violaine Forissier, he focuses on the storms created by serious illness.
The book is presented as a companion to provide markers, resources and a sense of hope to those navigating cancer.
Instead of focusing only on medical information, the authors place relationships at the centre of care: how to talk to loved ones, how to receive help without feeling reduced to a diagnosis, how to rebuild daily life when treatment ends.
Why this matters for patients and families
Research in psycho-oncology shows that emotional support, clear communication and stable relationships can influence quality of life and, in some cases, even adherence to treatment. A book that treats these aspects as central, not secondary, answers a real need.
The Editors’ Special Prize, tied to such a work, reflects a broader shift in health culture: patients seek both scientific clarity and practical tools for living through illness, not just surviving it medically.
Silence, speech and mental health: practical angles for readers
Both award-winning books raise a shared question: how do we handle the most difficult experiences without drowning in them or pretending they do not exist?
Psychologists often observe a tension between two risks:
- Saying nothing for too long can harden trauma, isolate people and maintain cycles of shame.
- Speaking without preparation can re-open wounds abruptly, or overload relationships that are not ready to hold such truths.
Joseph’s work suggests a middle path: giving silence a name, understanding what role it plays, then choosing when and where to break it. That might mean starting with a therapist, a trusted friend or even writing privately before speaking aloud.
For those dealing with illness, like the readers of “Vivre avec, vivre après”, the challenge looks slightly different. Many patients end up editing their own story to protect loved ones, hiding fear or exhaustion behind jokes or stoic comments. Structured guidance can help families create small rituals of conversation, short check-ins or shared notebooks where feelings can appear without turning every dinner into a therapy session.
Both books also open a door on a neglected skill: learning to listen without rushing to advice. When someone finally breaks a long silence – about cancer, trauma, depression or family secrets – the first response often sets the tone for everything that follows. A simple “I hear you, I’m staying with you in this” can do more than a long explanatory speech.
For readers outside France, these prizes signal a growing appetite for psychological essays that are not purely clinical, nor purely inspirational. They sit in the messy, real territory where theory meets daily life: the quiet pause before a confession, the word that catches in the throat, the text message not sent, the medical result that changes a whole future. Silence, here, is not emptiness. It is a starting point.