Community Events (non-Alliance)

Negative therapeutic reaction, a term coined by Freud (1923) to describe the patient’s abrupt and reflexive turning away from the analytic relationship immediately following recognition of the analyst’s understanding and interpretive helpfulness, has evolved in how it is understood theoretically and applied clinically over the past century. Notably, identifying the determinative role of envy and destructive narcissism has obviated pessimism about the analyzability of individuals demonstrating these reactions.

Intuition or the ability to understand something without need of conscious reasoning is an accepted, yet elusive, analytic tool. Bion attempted to describe the process of intuitive understanding through his concept of at-one-ment or becoming O of the session. At-one-ment or moments of complete unity with the analysand’s psychic reality is an extremely complex concept to define much less to operationalize in analytic practice.

This Special Scientific Meeting is being planned in anticipation of the 13th International Evolving British Relations Conference (EBOR), tentatively scheduled for October, 2022 in Seattle with Nicola Abel-Hirsch, of London and Avner Bergstein, of Tel Aviv.

This presentation will consider the toxic nature of nostalgia by locating it in an intermediate position between mourning and melancholy. Thus, rather than trauma being remembered and worked through, nostalgia maintains repetition and unbearable emotional existence, even across generations. This is particularly true for the trauma related to the painful history of racism in the United States.

“Two-eyed seeing” is a concept that was originated by Elder Albert Marshall of Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton University to give indigenous epistemology and knowledge equal status with mainstream scientific perspectives and knowledge. In M’iqmaq, the word is Etuaptmunk. In English, it means the idea of explanatory pluralism. Within most indigenous cultures, the mind is not considered separately from body, community, and spirituality, unlike the silos created in the dominant culture. Healing must involve the body, the community, and the spirits.

How do we define trauma in psychoanalytic terms i.e. what do we
mean by “psychic trauma”? In which way is the psyche traumatized? Is
trauma a subjective experience, an objective fact, or is it possible to
think of trauma in relation to the specific reality addressed by
psychoanalysis: psychic reality? What kind of result can be expected
from analytic treatment? What ethical stance is required of the analyst
with regard to the traumatized subject?

Drawing on Jung’s writings and the work of contemporary astrologers, we will look first at how an astrological birth chart shows the next steps an individual is ready to take in their healing and growth. Case studies will illustrate how astrology can shed light on a client’s core wounds, and suggest pathways that support the client’s individuation.

For pre-conference workshops on Thursday, March 11th, click here.

For the conference schedule and conference information, click here.

For CE information, click here.

Going through psychoanalytic training and learning to think psychoanalytically not only enhances the clinician’s capacity to understand the deepest layers of human experience but can also facilitate richer and more deeply satisfying cultural experiences, whether through literature, drama, opera, or cinema.