Seminars

Pathological Accommodation and Trauma: How patients with trauma histories will pathologically accommodate in the treatment room and in their other relationships

We will be reading the book, Toward an Emancipatory Psychoanalysis: Brandchaft's Intersubjective Vision. Exploring and interpreting patterns of pathological accommodation is considered an important component of any successful trauma treatment in order to move the patient from a pattern of acquiescence and accommodation to assertiveness and individuality. We will integrate pathological accommodation patterns with projective identification and learn how to intervene accordingly in order to move the treatment.

Three Fridays: January 15, 22, 29

Symbol Formation and Therapeutic Action: Discovering the symbols in your patient's material

Our goal as depth psychotherapy practitioners is to help clients bring unconscious material into conscious awareness. Because unconscious material is always in symbolic form, it is essential that we are able to perceive what seems to be concrete in our client's narrative as symbolic. It's not always an easy task! This study group is an opportunity for us to not only expand our theoretical understanding of symbolic formation, but also practice interpreting the concrete into the symbolic. We will be reading Winnicott, Segal, and Lacan.