This program, when participated in its entirety, is available for 2.5 continuing education credits.  Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This presentation also meets the requirements of WAC 246-809-620 (definition of recognized categories of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists and social workers).

In the manic world of social media, how does psychoanalysis find its footing? Put another way, how might psychoanalysis as a metapsychology and a clinical practice provide a framework for understanding the complex dynamics of “virtual objects” at play between the individual and the group?

As we now find ourselves interacting and identifying instantaneously -- often as intensely with anonymous worldwide communities as with our cherished neighbors and friends -- how has social media fundamentally changed psychic life, if at all?

And most importantly for our work, how does this phenomenon affect our patients’ mental health and physical well-being?

In this Alliance Master Class, Dr. Stephen Hartman will engage with participants in a close reading and discussion of his paper, "Hashtag mania or misadventures in the #ultrapsychic".  Dr. Hartman will elaborate upon his thinking since publication, facilitate discussion, and answer questions. All participants will receive a copy of the article upon registration. In order to provide an intimate, stimulating discussion, the group will be limited to 10 participants who can directly engage with the author. 

Hartman, S (2019). Hashtag mania or misadventures in the #ultrapsychic. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 20(2), 84-100. 

Taking the online symbol # (“hashtag”) as my guide, I conceptualize mania as a psychic space where collective and individual registers of meaning collide at warp speed, highlighting the uneasy but recursive intertwining of individual and collective object relations. 

I coin the term ultrapsychic to describe the transpersonal flow of objects between the individual and the collective brokered in an ultra-broadband society. 

Ultra-subjectivity highlights the affects, definitional problems, and crossed-temporalities that are in play when individuals negotiate in the collective to locate themselves among others in an intersectional matrix.  

By reviewing the philosophy that gave rise to the #hashtag as well as its transformation into an inherently subversive taxonomic symbol, I return to mania’s uncanny collectivist quality to explore what happens when people who perceive themselves at-risk (or traumatized) use a #cyberobject in a spontaneous gesture of solidarity with communities of protest such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter.

Learning Objectives: 

• Participants will be able to describe how a hashtag works and to explain how it correlates with a bid for relationality.
• Participants will be able to describe how digital objects are shared with others through the use of hashtags
• Participants will be able to trace the development of a capacity for mutual concern through the use of hashtags
• Participants will be able to evaluate a patient's internal sense of "risk" relative to shared or "groupal" objects in their use of social media

Stephen Hartman, PhD, is the new Editor in Chief of Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives and previously a co-editor of Studies in Gender and Sexuality. He practices in San Francisco and New York commuting via Zoom, and teaches at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) and on the Relational Track at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Stephen is the author of several articles and book chapters that address object relations theory from the standpoint of emerging technologies, the socio-politics of psychoanalytic encounter in an intersectional matrix, and the interface of digital culture and the practice of psychoanalysis. This presentation draws from his recent article, Hashtag mania or misadventures in the #ultrapsychic as well as essays and blog posts that explore working in a psychoanalytic frame mediated by Covid-19 and the politics of race.

Participants: This event is designed for graduate level students in mental health and all mental health professionals from introductory to advanced levels.  The presentation is geared for clinicians who wish to advance their knowledge and expand their skill base in psychodynamic clinical work.

Refund Policy: Refunds less a $15 handling fee will be given up until one week before the conference. 

This program, when participated in its entirety, is available for 2.5 continuing education credits.  Division 39 is committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in its continuing education activities.  Division 39 is also committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles for Psychologists.  Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program.  If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address questions, concerns and any complaints to John Allemand at 253-509-8302.  There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between the CE Sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest.  Participants will be informed of the utility/validity of the content/approach discussed (including the basis for the statements about validity/utility), as well as the limitations of the approach and most common (and severe) risks, if any, associated with the program's content.