Loss of an object can wreak havoc on internal structure. Working with patients who have lost someone or something significant can quickly feel full of despair, hopeless, and unending. Some patients cannot seem to stop mourning, while others refuse to mourn at all. In this study group, we will read and discuss five essential papers on object loss, published in Rita V. Frankiel’s (ed.) Essential Papers on Object Loss. Included in our study will be “Mourning and Melancholia,” by Sigmund Freud; “Mourning and Its Relation to Manic-Depressive States,” by Melanie Klein; “Absence of Grief,” by Helene Deutsch; “The Treatment of Established Pathological Mourners,” by Vamik D. Volkan and Daniel Josephthal; and “Mourning Accomplished by Way of the Transference,” by Marie E. McCann. Students will need to purchase Frankiel’s book prior to our meetings.  

Four Wednesdays: October 4, 18, November 1, 15; 7:30—9 pm

No fee for Alliance members; $100 to nonmembers