Times & Dates: Fridays, 10:30-11:45 a.m.;

9/8/2023-11/17/2023, 12/1/2023-12/22/2023, 1/5/2024-2/2/24, 2/16/2024-4/19/2024, and 5/3/2024-5/10/2024

It goes without saying that Freud is the author most associated with the field of psychoanalysis, given his position as its founder and the author of the most extensive body of psychoanalytic writing of anyone.  That said, it remains a question:  do we need to study him to become psychoanalysts?  Isaac Newton founded modern physics, but does one need to read his work to pursue a doctorate in the field?  How many mathematicians study Euclid?

There is no question that Freud has been studied at times with the goal of teaching “classical” analytic technique, among other things.  He has been vilified as well as too rigid, sexist, conformist a thinker to be of value for psychoanalytic education today.

In fact, Freud’s work raises issues that are of significance for the student of psychoanalysis in a way that makes his work very worthwhile for the modern student of mind.  In the words of Adam Phillips, “Freud was discovering what, if anything, the new languages of science had to contribute to this project of finding adequate – that is, therapeutic – forms of narrative coherence; a way of telling and contributing to a patient’s telling of that person’s life story that would disclose a repressed repertoire of possibilities” (Becoming Freud, p. 133).

The major premise of this course is that working through Freud’s writings is a singularly valuable way of figuring out our own ways of thinking about mind, illness and therapeutics in psychoanalysis and the applications of psychoanalysis outside the clinic.

PREREQUISITES: None

Instructor: Nilufer Yalman, PhD and Ann Simmons, PhD

Instructor: Mary Nielsen, MD & Joe Wise, MD

Times & Dates: Fridays, 1:15-2:30 p.m.;

12/1/2023-12/22/2023, 1/5/2024-2/2/2024, 2/16/2024

This course will focus on theoretical and clinical aspects of trauma, beginning with a history of the concept of trauma and its definition relative to other psychic pathology. We will discuss implicit and explicit memory as it relates to traumatic experiences, and the problems of subjectivity and changeability of memory as they affect the practice of reconstruction of traumatic events.  We will also explore the effects of various traumas, including incest, neglect, and wartime experience, on development and symptom formation in children and adults.  Clinical examples will be of adults who have experienced traumas in childhood and adulthood.  Important aspects of work with victims will be reviewed, including common transference and counter-transference phenomena encountered in therapeutic work.

Times & Dates: Fridays, 1:15-2:30 p.m.;

2/23/2024-4/19/2024, 5/3/2024-5/10/2024

Narcissism is part of the human condition and arguably one of the most important contributions of psychoanalytic theory. Narcissism is one of our earliest experiences and is highly impactful to our relationships, work, play, love and solitude. Candidates will be able to appreciate various contributions to the theory of narcissism starting with Freud, progressing through the major psychoanalytic models (drive, ego, object-relations, self), and continue to present day perspectives including relational/interpersonal influences. This class is not just theoretical but also clinical and will include such vignettes along the way to help ground these concepts. Class involvement is expected.