Western Branch Canadian Psychoanalytic Society
Extension Program VICTORIA | Catherine Young, Coordinator
November 15, 2014
The Western Branch Canadian Psychoanalytic Society Extension Committee is pleased to offer a four part series on ethics in the clinical setting. Each workshop is three hours and will consist of a theoretical discussion, followed by the opportunity to review case vignettes that apply to the theme of the workshop. Participants may register for each workshop separately or for all four. The workshops have been spread out over the span of two years so that registrants wishing to fulfill annual ethics requirements may do so for two consecutive years (2013 and 2014). Participants are encouraged to bring their own case vignettes.
Victoria: November 15, 2014
Facilitator: Janet Oakes, M.A., BC-A.T.P., F.I.P.A.
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Victoria Medical Health Centre, Room TBA
Cost: Members and WB Guests: $30 per workshop
Non-Members: $45 per workshop
Organizing Committee: Endre Koritar (Chair), James Fabian, Janet Oakes, Rivian Weinerman, Judith Setton-Markus (coordinator Vancouver) and Catherine Young (coordinator Victoria). “This event is an accredited group learning activity (section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, approved by the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA). The specific opinions and content of this event are not necessarily those of the CPA, and are the responsibility of the organizer(s) alone.” CME Units: 3
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Most of us would agree with Freud that our task in psychoanalysis is to help the patient “to liberate and fulfill his own nature” but his recommended stance of ethical neutrality can be in conflict with our efforts to establish a therapeutic atmosphere of trust, honesty, and concern. We need to become aware of our own countertransference as it emerges. But beyond the considerations of transference/countertransference, we face the problem of respecting our own integrity and limits as well as those of the patient.
This workshop will provide a space to explore ways of thinking about and managing clinical situations where deeply personal ethical conflicts arise as we struggle to find our balance between neutrality and authenticity. The HIV+ patient who reports unprotected sex with multiple partners, or patients involved in illegal activities, addictions, or with suicidal intentions – are among those who can challenge our personal morality. Do we differ in our capacity for neutrality around these issues? Are we able to work with individuals who hold religious, sexual, or political views radically opposed to our own? When do we seek supervision? How do we recognize and deal with our personal limits?
Janet Oakes is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Vancouver. She is on the executive of the Western Branch of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society and serves on the Extension Committee organizing and teaching seminars on Psychoanalytic theory and technique. Janet is an artist and has an ongoing interest in applied psychoanalysis relating to social conditions, literature, arts, and culture.
Objectives:
1. Participants will understand the ethical significance Atterton ascribes to the four ways in which ‘saying’ occurs in a clinical setting.
2. Participants learn how psychoanalysis as the project of self-knowledge and character transformation has important antecedents in the major ethical traditions of Emmanuel Kant, Adam Smith and David Hume.
3. Participants will understand the differences between abstinence and neutrality on the one hand and authenticity and honesty on the other, as they impact the analyst’s ethical approach.
Required Readings:
1. Allphin, C. (2005). An ethical attitude in the analytic relationship. J. Anal. Psychol., 50:451-468.
2. Atterton, P. (2007). “The Talking Cure”: The Ethics of Psychoanalysis. Psychoanal. Rev., 94:553-576.
3. Gedo, J.E. (1983). Saints or Scoundrels and the Objectivity of the Analyst. Psychoanal. Inq., 3:609-622.
4. Sherman, N. (1995). The Moral Perspective and the Psychoanalytic Quest. J. Amer. Acad. Psychoana l., 23:223-241.