Scientific Meeting – Deepening Receptivity to Neurodiversity

Scientific Meeting – Deepening Receptivity to Neurodiversity

A neuroscientifically informed integration of psychoanalytic thought, reciprocal prediction, and mindfulness, with Michelle van den Engh, MD, FRCPC, FIPA.

Receptivity to our patients’ experience has long been considered a vital aspect of the psychoanalytic endeavor. As early as 1912, Freud wrote of turning the unconscious “…like a receptive organ towards the transmitting unconscious of the patient.” As we receive incoming transmissions, we resonate with what is active in the patient. We hope to then jointly metabolize the experience. When we meet neurodiversity, realms of experience emerge that may elude us. Precipitously formulated ideas in the therapist, based on a neurotypical frame of reference, can impinge upon the discovery of our patients’ authentic world. How do we open ourselves to receive their true experience?

This presentation will track the psychoanalytic travels of an individual who now identifies as neurodivergent, who helped the therapist learn to deepen receptivity by dipping into a less differentiated place to follow the here-and-now experience from the bottom up. Throughout the journey, interweaving neuroscientific and psychoanalytic perspectives offered a powerful matrix from which an enriched understanding of our process could emerge. Psychoanalytic concepts including evenly suspended attention, unconscious-to-unconscious communication, Bion’s Container/Contained model, and negative capability will be examined alongside neuroscientific insights into the stress response, mirror neurons, memory systems and the default mode network. A predictive coding lens will introduce a view of the therapeutic exchange as a continuous reciprocal prediction, evoking the hypothesis that lessening the hold of prior predictions and opening awareness to incoming signals may deepen therapist receptivity. Mindfulness practice will be explored as a possible means for therapists to become more aware of subtle moment-to-moment signals during therapeutic interactions and to attenuate the influence of self-referential evaluation. At this juncture, seminar participants will be invited to engage in an optional experiential mindfulness exercise to tune into their here-and-now inner experience.

In lieu of a live discussant, the second section of the presentation will begin with an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated podcast featuring two AI-created discussants. We will then transition to a collaborative discussion segment, opening space for participants to share their experiences and insights.

Michelle van den Engh is of Dutch and Chinese heritage, grew up in Switzerland, and transited through Australia, the United States and back to Switzerland before landing as a settler in Canada. She is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC). As a graduate of the Western Canada Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (WCPSI), she became a Fellow of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) and is a faculty member at WCPSI. Additionally, Michelle is an avid Clinical Fellow of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society. She maintains a private practice with a focus on psychotherapy and also serves in the role of Vancouver Island Site Director for Psychotherapy Training in the UBC Department of Psychiatry Postgraduate Education Program.

Learning Objectives
After this presentation, participants can expect to:

• Describe how the integration of psychoanalytic and neuroscientific perspectives may offer an enriched understanding of the psychoanalytic process as it is unfolding.
• Explore the value of attending to subtle moment-to-moment exchanges during the clinical encounter to deepen receptivity to the patient experience.
• Recognize how precipitously formulated ideas in the clinician may impinge upon the patient’s process of self-discovery.
• Appraise the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for the synthesis and discussion of psychoanalytic material.

Optional Pre-Reading

• van den Engh, M. (2024). “I’m a fish!” Deepening receptivity to neurodiversity: a neuroscientifically informed integration of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, reciprocal prediction, and mindfulness. Neuropsychoanalysis, 26(1), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2024.2335655 Registrants will be provided with an EPUB link to the full article (read-only) prior to the webinar.