This class has filled.  Please contact the instructor at dschimmel@comcast.net to be added to the wait list.  

What does it mean to be empathically attuned to the psychological needs of your client? How do you work through a therapeutic impasse? How do you repair and recover from an “empathic failure”? How do you make an interpretation without inducing shame in your client? What do you do when you feel chronically bored with a client? What does it mean to function as a "selfobject" and how do you recognize when you are functioning in the transference as a "mirror" versus an object of "idealization"? What is a vertical and horizontal split in Self Psychology? In this three-part seminar, the instructor will explain the tenets of Self Psychology and discuss how therapists can respond to a multitude of challenging therapeutic situations, as outlined above.

You will become familiar with the tenets of Kohut’s Self Psychology. You will also learn how Self Psychology has evolved since Kohut's original contributions. Prior to each seminar, participants will be emailed a reading of approximately 20 pages. Participants will hear how the instructor applies self psychological and Intersubjective concepts to his work with patients in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. They will also have time to discuss case vignettes from their own practices.  

Click HERE for class outline.  

Instructor: Don Schimmel is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst based in Mountlake Terrace. He is a senior faculty member at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute where he teaches seminars in Relational and Intersubjectivity theory, Self-Psychology, child and adolescent development, Ego Psychology, the history and legacy of Sigmund Freud and several others seminars on psychoanalytic theory and technique with adults, children and adolescents.

Learning objectives:

• Participants will be able to list the central tenets of Self Psychology, as originally conceived by Kohut.
• Participants will be able to describe and distinguish Kohut’s views on the “bipolar self,” the “vertical and horizontal split” and three narcissistic or “selfobject” transferences.
• Participants will be able to characterize Kohut’s view’s on: a) empathy; b) disruption and repair; c) optimal frustration and responsiveness; d) transmuting internalization; and vicarious introspection.

Fees: $120 for Members and $150 for non-members.

Class Size: Class is limited to a maximum of 9 participants.

Refund Policy: Refunds less a $10 handling fee will be given up until one week before the first class.