
We are pleased to announce the 2025 Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study annual FORUM Conference. To be held at Bastyr University in Kenmore on April 12th, 2025. Our theme this year is Sexual Dis/Orientation. We invite you to dream, think, and play with us around this most essential of topics. For a full list of day of presentations and keynote description, skip to the bottom.
Within the psychoanalytic tradition, sexuality has always been about both ‘sex’ as a lived experience, and ‘the sexual’ as reflective of all the forces that make up what being human is. Freud's original concept of the unconscious centered on sexuality, and the developmental, creative, and symbolic conflicts it creates.
These foundational ideas, then and now, entice and challenge us. As Adam Phillips states in introducing Freud's writing, “Sexuality was what there was to be disturbed about.” We acknowledge that in some areas of psychoanalysis, the ‘sex’ in sexuality has been neutered or forgotten. While in others, queer sexuality, trans experience, attention to sexual violence, and realities of embodiment have flourished.
Sex — sexuality and the sexual — enlivens, informs, terrifies, disorganizes, and arouses us. We invite you to reflect on the theme of Sexual Dis/Orientation this coming season. See what questions of your own come to mind, get inspired or provoked, and consider presenting to and discussing with the community.
Please see below for the presentation list and a full description of the Keynote presentation. We hope to see you on April 12th!
Caleb Dodson, Forum Committee Chair
Matthew Brooks
Katherine Joo
James Nole
MORNING SESSIONS:
A “Fool’s Errand”
Karol Marshall, PhD
I Need to Ask: A Lacanian Look at Consent
Paul Hoard, PhD, LMHC
Kathryn Richardson, MA, LMHCA
Franz Fanon the Revolutionary Psychiatrist
Scot Gibson, MD, FIPA
Is Perversion Still Us? The Teachers’ Pedagogical Perversities
Rachel Newcombe, LICSW
Matthew Brooks, LICSW, FIPA
Knowing You Better Than: The Praxis and Price of Winnicott’s Object of Use
Elisa Kristine, MA, LMHC
The Transgender Gaze: Understanding Desire in a Changing World With Changing Eyes
Anna White, MS Ed, CAS, LMHCA
“The Rub:” A Reconsideration of the Role of Friction within Sexual/Romantic Relationships
Margaret Crastnopol, PhD
Around The Sexual: On The (Clinician)’s Emotional Availability and Vulnerability
Caleb Dodson, PhD, ABD
From Sexual Fantasying to Sexual Dreaming; An Object Relations Perspective
Samantha Good, MSW, LICSW, FIPA
PLENARY SESSION:
This session, facilitated by Caron Harrang (Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society and Institute) in collaboration with John Cardinali (Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute), explores clinical material centered on erotic phenomena. John will serve as the “group voice” moderator, identifying themes that emerge during the discussion.
Caron begins by introducing the concept of eros as a “character” within the analytic field, emphasizing how a clinician’s theoretical framework shapes their perception and interpretation of erotic phenomena. The analytic field, as a metaphor, is defined as the intersubjective space of analytic discourse (Ferro & Basile, 2009; Ferro & Civitarese, 2015; Civitarese, 2021a, 2023a, 2023b). In this context, the field reflects the dynamic interaction between the subjectivities of analyst and patient, co-constituted through their intersubjective exchanges. Eros, conceptualized as a “character,” encompasses the diverse manifestations of sexuality within the analytic encounter.
After outlining the plenary program and defining key terms—including eros, analytic field, characters, and listening vertices—Caron will present clinical material from an analytic treatment to a panel of local psychoanalytic candidates, early-career psychoanalysts, and analytically oriented psychotherapists: Charlotte Malkmus, Becky McGuire, Sabina Neem, Leif Tellman, and Katharine Joo. Without prior exposure to the material, each panelist will share their spontaneous impressions of eros's role in the analytic encounter. This range of responses aims to foster a nuanced and evolving understanding of eros in the clinical context.
To deepen the interpretive process, audience members will be invited to contribute their perspectives on the role of eros in the clinical encounter, enriching the dialogue between the presenter and panelists. John will then synthesize the collective insights, summarizing key themes from the discussion. This concluding “listening vertex” seeks to integrate the ethical, theoretical, and practical implications of engaging with eros in the analytic relationship and in professional group dynamics.
References:
Civitarese, G. (2021a). Intersubjectivity and analytic field theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytical Association, 69(5):853-893.
Civitarese, G. (2023a). Psychoanalytic field theory: A contemporary introduction. Routledge.
Civitarese, G. (2023b) We-Ness As An Expansion of Bion's Psychoanalytic Function of Intuition. Fort Da (29):7-16.
Ferro, A. & Basile, R. (Eds.). (2009). The analytic field. A clinical concept. Karnac Books.
Ferro, A. & Civitarese, G. (2015). The analytic field and its transformations. Routledge.
Cost: $170 for Alliance members/$190 General Public/$105 Alliance Student Members/$115 General Student before February 1st. After February 1 $180 for Alliance members/$200 General Public/$105 Alliance Student Members/$115 General Student
Refund Policy: Refunds less a $35 handling fee will be given up until three weeks before the presentation.
If you’re in financial need and are interested in Volunteering, please contact Caleb Dodson at forum@nwaps.org. Be sure to get a response to confirm it’s been received.
This presentation has been approved for a total of 5.0 CE’s for licensed mental health counselors and associates, marriage and family therapists and social workers by the Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work.