The Rules of Treatment and The Rules of Play: Ethical, Moral, and Technical Considerations in Psychoanalytic Practice

Presenter: Jennifer Kunst, Ph.D.
Chair: Judith Setton-Markus, M.Ed., R. Psych.

_{Art Credits: Artist: Richard Markus | Perspectives | August 1 2023 | Multiple exposures image}

Dr. Kunst will explore the importance of the psychoanalytic frame with an emphasis on boundary issues.

In the first part of the workshop, she will define and distinguish ethical, moral, and technical considerations, as well as compare and contrast narrow and broad understandings of the psychoanalytic frame. Freud first established “the rules of treatment” which became the foundation for establishing the analytic frame in an effort to guard against the incest taboo, protect the treatment from impingements, and orient clinicians to their professional responsibilities (moral and ethical considerations). He also set up these rules or “recommendations” to foster a setting in which a unconscious material could be conveyed by the patient and received and thought about by the analyst (considerations of technique). Recently, analytic writers have been exploring a broader view of the frame, emphasizing its protective function. These “rules of play” have the deeper purpose of consecrating the analytic space so as to create and maintain an inner room for the two vulnerable participants to be able to play and think together in safety.

In the second part of the workshop, Dr. Kunst will explore two specific ethical considerations in clinical practice: boundary crossings and boundary violations. In order to highlight the differences between these two phenomena, she will discuss (1) the inevitable boundary crossings that have been part of clinical work during the unusual circumstances of the pandemic and (2) the more serious boundary violations that can occur in a countertransference enactment. The theoretical approach will draw from Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott, Wilfred Bion, Willy and Madeleine Baranger, Glen Gabbard, and Arnold Goldberg. Previously published clinical case vignettes will be offered to illustrate these dynamics.

Overview:

Chair’s introduction of speaker
Part 1: The Rules of Treatment and The Rules of Play: Ethical, Moral, and Technical Considerations in Psychoanalytic Practice
- Break: 10-15 minutes
Part 2: Boundary Crossings vs. Boundary Violations: Clinical Case Studies

Jennifer Kunst, PhD is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Pasadena, CA where she works with adults, adolescents, couples, and families. She earned her PhD at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology and is licensed in the state of California. Dr. Kunst trained at the Psychoanalytic Center of California, where she now is a Training and Supervising Analyst and teaches courses on Kleinian theory and technique. She has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed professional psychology journals on the topics of psychoanalytic psychotherapy as well as the interface between religion and psychology. As an approved provider of continuing education by the California Psychological Association, she provides workshops and seminars to licensed mental health professionals through her Psychoanalytic Essentials program. Her outreach projects include her Psychology Today blog, “A Headshrinker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, and her book, “Wisdom from the Couch: Knowing and Growing Yourself from the Inside Out” (Central Recovery Press, 2014).

Learning Objectives:
After this presentation, participants can expect to:

Define and distinguish ethical, moral, and technical considerations regarding the psychoanalytic frame;
Differentiate the “rules of treatment” from the “rules of play” regarding the psychoanalytic frame;
Define the Baranger’s term “bastion” and describe the key difference between a bastion and other types of enactments;
Identify the protective steps clinicians can take when concerned about a potential boundary violation.

Recommended Readings (Optional)

Künstlicher, R. (1996). The Function of the Frame: To Protect the Psychoanalytic Room. Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review, 19(2), 150-164.
Seelig, B. (2017). Altruism and Boundary Violation. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 37(7), 474-486.

Registration is now closed.
For inquires contact: info@wcpsi.digitalswan.com