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Home > Conference > Archives > 2006 Conference > Pre-Conference Workshops
2006 Pre-Conference Workshops
Twelve pre-conference workshops will be offered. Courses A-F will be offered simultaneously, commencing
at 9:00 AM on Thursday, October 26. Courses G-L will be offered simultaneously, commencing at 1:45 PM on
Thursday, October 26. Click on a workshop
title to learn more:
- Basic Course on Self Psychology (Part 1)
- Therapeutic Pilgrimage
- Space, Form and the Self: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Architecture
- Provision In Analysis: A Theoretical Framework For Clinical Considerations
- Writing
- Forward and Leading Edge Transference: Applications to Doing Psychotherapy
- Basic Course on Self Psychology (Part 2)
- Eloquence In The Non-Verbal Realm: A Comparison Of The Use Of Verbal And Non-Verbal Communication In Child And Adult Treatment
- The Application of Contemporary Psychoanalytic Concepts to Couples Psychotherapy
- Learning Disabilities and Psychoanalytic Treatment of Adults
- Master Class
- Loving and Leaving: A Re-Appraisal of Analytic Endings
A. Basic Course on Self Psychology
Pre-Conference Workshop Session (Part 1)
Leader:
Allen Siegel, MD
Description:
This pre-conference course will study the basic theoretical concepts and
clinical innovations developed by Heinz Kohut and reflected in his
psychology of the self as well as the theoretical and clinical ideas
found within intersubjectivity theory. The ideas contained within self
psychology are experience near and therefore readily understandable,
despite the difficulty Kohut had in writing clearly about them. The
course contends that because of its affective nearness, an understanding
of self psychology theory resides in an unarticulated form within most
sensitive people. This course is designed for those who have an interest
in, and a sense about the theory, but have not yet studied it
sufficiently to be able to articulate its elements with comfort. The
morning portion of this 2-session course will be devoted to viewing and
discussing the Australian film Muriel's Wedding. Our study of Muriel,
her yearnings, emotionally protective maneuvers, and eventual growth
will provide us a shared experience as we attempt to grasp her
psychology from our "common sense," experience near, perspective. The
afternoon session will assume a more formal perspective. Its goal will
be to help the participants learn and be able to comfortably articulate
the many elements of psychology of the self theory. Power Point will aid
in the realization of this goal.
At the end of this course, the participant will be able to understand
and articulate the basic ideas contained with self psychology.
B. Therapeutic Pilgrimage
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
Jeffery Stern, PhD; Marcia Dobson, PhD; Allen Kodish, MD; and Frank L. Summers, PhD
Description:
A question of boundary crossing is raised in the narrative of a case in
which a severely depressed and chronically suicidal patient and his
therapist cross the ocean together to see the dramatization of a
novel - actually a trilogy - at London's National Theater. The books had
become something of a shared dream between analyst and patient so the
journey that covered thousands of miles represented, paradoxically, a
sort of pilgrimage to an interior clinical space. Dr. Stern will lay
out the story of how he and his patient decided to make their trip, what
happened on it, and its effects on their work in the year and a half
since it took place. Drs. Dobson, Kodish and Summers will discuss the
case from a variety of perspectives among them the uses and abuses of
enactment in psychotherapy, the place of stories in treatments, the
importance and meaning of rules within treatment and the meaning
boundaries and boundary crossings may have for many of us whether or not
we make them the subjects of our papers.
Educational Objective:
To broaden and deepen our thinking about the meaning of actions we take
or decide not to take with our patients, and to see the way relational
experiences we have with our patients might be considered from different
theoretical viewpoints.
C. Space, Form and the Self: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Architecture
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
George Hagman, MSW and Carol M. Press, EdD
Guest Artists:
Leslie Hogan, DMA, Composer and David R. Shaddock, PhD, Poet
Description:
This workshop will introduce the participants
to a self-psychological understanding of the creative mind of the
architect and the function of architecture in the psychology of self.
Attendees will come to understand how the blending of self-experience
with form, space, color, line and sound, is elaborated throughout life
by means of our capacity and motivation to experience the world as
having ideal formal characteristics, most importantly beauty, but also
the sublime, and on the dark side, ugliness. The architect's role is to
create environments that are radically infused and structured by human
subjectivity. Carol M. Press has choreographed a dance (set to an
original score by Leslie Hogan with poetry by David Shaddock) that
embodies the changing relationship between a person and their surround.
The dance reveals the crisis and creative restoration of a self,
aesthetically engaged with the architecture around her. George Hagman
will introduce the participants to the person and architecture of Frank
Lloyd Wright. Wright sought through his work to create ideal domestic
worlds that would function psychologically to promote self-cohesion and
vitality by means of particular aesthetic elements. Attendees will not
only acquire knowledge of a great artist, but also develop a better
understanding of the broad psychological impact of modern architecture.
Participants will then engage in an experiential exercise to explore the
space and forms that are immediately around them.
The goal is to increase awareness and self-reflection to the
ubiquitous impact of architecture on self-experience. Participants will
also examine and discuss the clinical relevance of these processes.
Finally, a "field trip" will be conducted to the "Robie House", perhaps
the most important of Frank Lloyd Wright's influential Prairie Style
homes.
D. Provision In Analysis: A Theoretical Framework For Clinical Considerations
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
Lucyann Carlton, JD, PsyD and Estelle Shane, PhD
Description:
This workshop is divided into two parts. In part one, we argue that
psychoanalytic theories may either conceptualize human development,
illness, and cure as predominantly dynamic process, or as
predominantly reified structure. This distinction has profound
impact on understanding and practice, as we will address in Part one.
Briefly, a structure theory conceptualizes mind as a
self-contained, tangible object developing in predetermined linear
stages, according to universally applicable principles, and change
occurs through prescribed techniques. A process theories, on the
other hand, conceive of mind as dynamic, non-linear process in which
thoughts and feelings emerge and organize in unpredictable ways as a
product of ongoing complex interactions among the brain, body and
environment (human and nonhuman). Mind forms and functions in
relationship with others, and is envisioned as "quintessentially
relational." Development, illness, and therapeutic action are phenomena
with neither predetermined universal stages nor predictable end states.
Application and Case Presentation:
We have chosen to
explore the traditional concept of provision within a
psychoanalytic relationship in order to understand and demonstrate the
impact of a process or structure theory in clinical practice. To this
end, Dr. Carlton and Dr. Shane will each present a case where provision
of something more than verbal interpretations is featured, but the
notions and types of provision in each case are significantly different.
Participants will also be encouraged to share a current clinical dilemma
with which he or she may currently be struggling. The group will be
asked to consider all of these cases from both process and structure
perspectives, as well as to reflect on how each type of theory
conceptualizes provision and how each contributes differently to
thoughtful deliberation of possible therapeutic responses.
At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able
to differentiate structure theory from process theory, using the concept
of Provision as a central feature.
E. Writing
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
Judith Pickles, PhD and Joye Weisel-Barth, PhD, PsyD
Description:
This workshop is intended to help writers expand their capacities to
bring clinical and theoretical material to life on the page, evoking the
implicit and stating the explicit, making use of both experiential and
explanatory levels of discourse. Participants will work on their own
idea for a writing project during the entire workshop, moving toward
finding their own distinctive voice.
In this structured, yet free-flowing workshop, we will encourage
playing with ideas. Through a combination of short lectures, discussion,
and guided tasks, at the conclusion of this workshop, the participant
will be able to:
- Describe more vividly central aspects of their writing project: the
patient, the therapist-patient dyad, a clinical moment, a theoretical
idea, clash, or resonance
- Distinguish and identify various modes of clinical writing: the
narrative, evocative, enactive, and theoretical
- Find the center or core motive for your paper - the problem or dilemma
for which your paper is the solution
- Identify key Ideas, concepts, and perspectives that would contribute
to understanding your dilemma or core problem
- Write your central idea or thesis in a few sentences
- Identify the gap you are addressing, placing your thesis within the
contemporary psychoanalytic landscape
- Address the literature review, the introduction, the abstract, and
aspects of preparing your paper for submission to a psychoanalytic
journal
F. Forward and Leading Edge Transference: Applications to Doing Psychotherapy
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
Marian D. Tolpin, MD and Frank Lachmann, PhD
Description:
The clinical utility and applicability of "leading edge" and "forward
edge" formulations will be illustrated and discussed among the
presenters and the participants. Leading edge formulations are offered
by the analyst when appropriate as a way of casting what the patient may
experience as shameful or guilt ridden, in terms of the patient's
regulation of affect, arousal, self cohesion and self continuity. The
accent here falls on the analyst. In forward edge formulations the
analyst is attuned to what the patient may be presenting that indicates
a tendril of psychological growth. The accent here falls on the
patient. The two are compatible but not identical.
At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants will be more
alert to the subtle signals given by patients that some shift toward
psychological growth is emerging. Furthermore, they will be able to
promote this developmental advance through their attention to aspects of
the patient's communication that can be seen as striving toward self
cohesion, self stability and self regulation of affect and arousal while
the patient may simultaneously still be in the gripe of pathological
patterns.
G. Basic Course on Self Psychology
Pre-Conference Workshop Session (Part 2)
Leader:
Allen Siegel, MD
Description:
Please see description for Part 1.
H. Eloquence In The Non-Verbal Realm: A Comparison Of The Use Of Verbal And Non-Verbal Communication In Child And Adult Treatment
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Leaders:
Iris Hilke, MA; Rosalind Chaplin Kindler, MFA; Mark Smaller,PhD;
Dorienne Sorter, PhD; and Jacqueline Gotthold, PsyD
Description:
This pre-conference panel will focus on the contributions of child
analytic treatment to the development of self psychological theory and
adult treatment. Contemporary clinical theory now includes a
consideration of the dyadic, interactively regulated, bi-directional
nature of the therapeutic encounter, as well as an acceptance of both
implicit and explicit modes of communication. These ideas enhance the
valuable traditional self psychological theories which inform treatment.
The clinical experience with children with its emphasis on metaphor,
non-verbal expression, as well as development, relational and
transference/counter-transference perspectives, highlights self
psychology concepts in the most experience-near way.
This workshop will utilize clinical material from the case of an
eleven year old boy with selective mutism. Central theoretical concepts
from contemporary and traditional self psychological perspectives will
be addressed. How the principles utilized in this child case inform
adult treatment will also be addressed.
This workshop will enable participants to:
- Identify theoretical dimensions of a child treatment from
self-psychological/relational perspective along the dimensions of
interactive regulation, bi-directionality implicit and explicit
dimensions of communication in the treatment process and a
neuron-psychoanalytic approach.
- Workshop participants will be able to apply those theoretical
dimensions from a child treatment to work with adults.
I. The Application of Contemporary Psychoanalytic Concepts to Couples Psychotherapy
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
Carla Leone, PhD and David Shaddock, PhD, MFT
Description:
Even the most experienced couples therapists struggle with the many
challenges and difficulties inherent in work with couples, but a solid
theoretical framework for understanding and responding to these can
render the task less daunting and more effective. Recent developments
in psychoanalytic theory, including nonlinear dynamic systems theory,
infant research, and the work of the Boston Process of Change Group,
have much to contribute to the understanding and treatment of couples.
This workshop will attempt to incorporate some of these recent
contributions into an overall self psychological, intersubjective
approach to couples treatment. It is thus designed to be useful to both
experienced couples therapists interested in discussing new ideas and
particularly difficult couples, as well as to self psychologically
trained individual therapists interested in expanding their clinical
range.
Dr. Leone will begin by presenting a summary of the basic tenets of a
self psychological, intersubjective approach to couples work. She will
briefly highlight relevant concepts from the work of the Boston Process
of Change group, including moments of meeting and implicit relational
knowing, and discuss their application to couples therapy. She will
then distribute a detailed transcript of a couples session she conducted
and facilitate a "line-by-line" discussion of the material and the
concepts it illustrates.
Mr. Shaddock's presentation will focus on treating "the self in the
system" - addressing the developmental needs of each partner in a conjoint
context. He will begin with a brief overview of infant research and
psychoanalytic systems theories, focusing on the work of Beebe &
Lachmann and Stolorow, Atwood & Orange. He will discuss the application
of these findings and theories to couples in which one partner has a
history of childhood trauma or developmental arrest. He will then
consider the implications of these concepts for the "problem of
alterity" - the difficulty partners have in staying with their own
thoughts and feelings while recognizing the other partner's differently
organized subjective world. Mr. Shaddock will present a videotape case
presentation that highlights the importance of understanding a couple's
implicit non-verbal communication.
During the last part of the workshop, the presenters will comment on
each other's presentations and clinical material, and facilitate an open
discussion with workshop participants. The many challenges and
difficulties of couples work will be highlighted, especially
counter-transference difficulties, and participants will be encouraged
to utilize the discussion time to share their experiences and ideas and
gain support from each other.
At the conclusion of this workshop, attendees will
- Understand the basic tenets of a self psychological, intersubjectve
systems approach to couples therapy.
- Understand the importance of implicit, non-verbal communication and
of "now moments" of heightened emotional intensity in the couples
therapy process.
- Be able to explain how the developmental needs of each partner can
be met in couples treatment.
J. Learning Disabilities and Psychoanalytic Treatment of Adults
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Leaders:
Margaret Amerongen, MSW, RSW; Margaret Baker, PhD;
Myrna Orenstein, PhD; and Joseph Palombo, MA
Description:
Many therapists are unable to recognize or address learning disabilities
(LD) in their patients. Moreover, they may not realize that LDs often
have profound effects on patients' lives and that an LD may adversely
affect treatment especially when unidentified. This workshop will
present a self psychological perspective on LDs and their effect on
adults and on therapy.
It will include the following:
- An overview of LD's, which will be illustrated through engaging
participants in brief exercises that mimic the experience of various
forms of LD
- Elaboration of clues from the patient's history throughout life that
indicate the possibility of LD
- When to refer for psychological assessment
- The impact of a diagnosis of LD in adulthood
Clinical material from 2 cases will be presented in which the
patients have ADHD and Executive Function Disorder. The material will
illustrate how signs of LD were evident in these patients' histories and
in the therapeutic process. Working with and accommodating the LD in
the therapeutic process with be discussed.
At the end of the workshop, participants will increase their
familiarity with the nature of LD, signs of LD in the histories and
treatments of their patients, and the impact of diagnosis of LD in
adulthood. Participants will learn how to work with the LD in the
therapeutic process.
K. Master Class
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
Shelley R. Doctors, PhD; Alan Kindler, MBBS, FRCPC;
and Sarai Batchelder, PhD
Description:
A senior psychoanalytic candidate will present extensive clinical
material to the group, pausing frequently for participants to raise
questions and offer observations. The clinical/theoretical discussion
aims to enhance understanding of contemporary Self Psychological
approaches to practice. This is suitable for all levels of clinical
experience.
At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able
to understand clinical events with a greater theoretical range and to
participant in them with a richer repertoire of effective
responsiveness.
L. Loving and Leaving: A Re-Appraisal of Analytic Endings
Pre-Conference Workshop Session
Co-Leaders:
James L. Fosshage, PhD; Kenneth A. Frank, PhD; Sandra
Hershberg, MD; and Estelle Shane, PhD
Description:
This panel will explore the ways in which developments in self
psychological, non-linear dynamic systems theory and relational
psychoanalysis, influenced by attachment theory and infant research,
have affected contemporary considerations in the way an analyst
conceptualizes and approaches the termination process. The
contemporary analyst breaks with classical tradition in emphasizing the
analyst/analysand relationship, constituting commitment between two
individuals engaged in an intimate, mutually caring relationship, as
well as the role of insight. A core aspect of the classical notion of
termination involves the analysand's renunciation and mourning the loss
of the analyst, privileging the analysand's ability to separate, that
requires the finality of ending as a demonstration of the analysand's
deepened capacity for insight, internalization of the analyst's
functions and a shift to self-analysis. In order to elucidate
contemporary conceptualizations, the panel will explore the following
questions with the use of clinical illustrations: Is psychoanalysis ever
fully completed, or is it a singularly, intimate, enduring "till death
do us part" relationship? In what way(s) does, or should, the
relationship change during the ending phase? Are there certain
essential tasks that are part of the process of termination? If we
conceptualize termination to be a part of the mutually constructed
experience of analysis with evolving personal meanings, based on the
specific analytic pair, how does this view influence our technique?
Should we regard post-termination contact as an indication of a failed
analysis or as proof of the natural, expectable situation when an
analysis has gone well?
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