NPSI May Scientific Meeting
"How Do We Know What We Didn't Know? Recognizing Secrets in the Body"
Kathryn Zerbe, MD, FIPA

The impact of secrets on body and mind has received relatively little attention in psychoanalysis, despite their ubiquity in clinical practice. Growing evidence suggests that secrets are often sensed in the bodies of both clinician and patient. In this presentation, Kathryn Zerbe explores how secrets can be and often have been “hidden, but in plain sight” for decades, such that they may be “known and yet not known” by both patient and clinician. This information can exert subtle, unconscious effects on the treatment process and may manifest through somatic countertransference responses. Zerbe examines how secrets can be effectively recognized and addressed in the treatment, particularly when they are manifested within the body. By linking psychodynamic principles with evolving knowledge from neuroscience and cognitive science, she shows how clinicians can more effectively attune to these secrets within the dyad and take preventive steps to maintain their own wellbeing.

Learning Objectives:

After attending this scientific meeting, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize the unanticipated impact that a warded off secret (e.g., "what we know but may not know") has on the patient's and therapist's body.

2. Demonstrate and use somatic/embodied countertransference as an additional source of recognition of warded off secrets.

3. Use three concepts emerging from contemporary psychoanalysis, cognitive science, and neuroscience research that can assist the well-being of both patient and clinician.