October 2106 to June 2017
As mental health clinicians, we at times face difficult clinical encounters that cause us to feel doubtful or even defeatist, about our capacities and efforts. We may despair of what is occurring between ourselves and our patient, including the discovery that we have interacted with a patient in an uncharacteristic or unhelpful way. We can feel hopeless about the possibility of extracting ourselves from an impasse, or cynical about reaching someone who feels unreachable. In these situations, we struggle to understand why and try to learn to suffer in a way that can invigorate us.
The overarching aim of this series of seminars is to demonstrate how psychoanalytic technique and theory can provide a means, not only to survive, but to develop a capacity to feel enlivened in the various complex clinical situations in which therapists frequently arrive with their patients.
Overall Course Learning Objectives:
- Participants will see clinical difficulties as presenting, not only threats to the work, but also potential opportunity and space for growth for both patient and therapist.
- The participants will be able to recognize clinical situations in which the therapist may be provoked to be overactive in an attempt to avoid feelings of helplessness and powerlessness.
- Participants will deepen their understanding of the experience and value of reverie in relation to difficult encounters.
- Participants will be able to distinguish between analytic interpretations based on theoretical and technical knowledge and reflective responses to patients’ material arising from the deeper unconscious flow of on-going emotional contact or it’s absence between the therapist and patient.
Schedule: The seminars will be held on Thursdays from 7:30 pm – 9:30 p.m. There will be a theoretical segment for 1 hour followed by a 1 hour clinical segment in which participants will present clinical material.
Dates: October 27, November 17, 2016 (note the different week for November)
January 26, February 23, March 30, April 27, May 25, June 29, 2017
Organizing Committee: Catherine Young, PhD; Elie Debbane, MD, FIPA, Joanne Hoffman, MD, FIPA
Location: Victoria – Room 135 Eric Martin Pavilion
Cost: $320 General registration | $200 Students, Residents and Candidates
Readings: All readings will be made available at registration
Faculty: Catherine Young, PhD, FIPA
Withdrawal Policy: The withdrawal policy of the Extension Program allows for a refund, minus a 10% administration cost, up to five business days before the first class. No refund will be granted as of the first meeting.