Evolution of Psychoanalytic Technique Part I

Course Meeting: Saturdays 9am -10:30am

Dates: Jan. 25, Feb. 1, 8, 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 12, 26

Instructor: Wally Fletcher, D.Min.

Cost: $500

Course Description: Although Freud was a prolific writer his specific writings on technique were limited to a few “technical papers” that opened the way for elaboration, debate, and innovation. This course will focus on the evolution of psychoanalytic technique from Sandor Ferenczi to the beginnings of modern psychoanalysis. Particular attention placed upon the following key issues:

  1. Key figures and their contexts and writings
  2. The basic ‘set up’ and ground rules for effective psychoanalytic treatment
  3. Approaches to dealing with transference, countertransference, resistance, and cultural factors.
  4. The uses of interpretive, educative, and interactional techniques in psychotherapy
  5. Attempts to broaden the range of human problems for which psychoanalysis can offer effective help; and the ways these attempts influenced psychoanalytic technique.

Objectives:

  1. To become familiar with the historical evolution of psychoanalytic technique and how this evolution lays the ground work for modern psychoanalytic treatment.
  2. To provide a critical framework for comparing and contrasting approaches to psychoanalytic treatment.
  3. To provide an environment for dialogue in which students are encouraged to make connections between reading assignments and their own clinical and life experiences.
  4. To familiarize students with the “literature” of psychoanalysis and how its reading can enrich their work.

Dreams and Psychoanalytic Treatment

Course Meeting: Saturdays 10:30-12:00pm

Dates: Jan. 25, Feb. 1, 8, 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 12, 26

Instructor: Ray Gourley, MALA, NCPsyA

Cost: $500

In The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), Freud boldly proclaimed, “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.” He gave their understanding and interpretation a privileged place in psychoanalytic practice. Influenced by early advances in neuroscience, and responding to applications of psychoanalysis to broader treatment situations, later psychoanalytic theory and technique may be seen to place less emphasis on dream work. While some controversy exists regarding the role psychoanalysis may play in the understanding of dreams, most analysts agree that the exploration of dreams can play an important role in treatment. This course will consider the role of dreams and primary process thinking in the emotional lives of human beings as well as its implications for modern psychoanalytic treatment and theory.

Objectives:

  1. To increase participants’ curiosity and understanding of the role dreams and primary process thinking plays in the psychological lives of human beings; including their own and of their clients.
  2. Consider and discuss the clinical uses of dream exploration in psychoanalytic practice from a variety of theoretical and clinical perspectives.
  3. Recognize and explore the clinical implications of the use of dreams for Modern Analytic treatment, and develop relevant approaches to using dreams in the treatment setting.
  4. Utilizing class discussions, present connections between reading assignments and students’ clinical and life experiences. Participants are encouraged to share their own dreams as well as bring dreams from cases to foster deeper understanding of dreams in the emotional lives
    of human beings.
  5. To acquire greater facility with the history and literature of dreams in psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalytic Approaches to Organizations, Leadership and Organizational Consultancy

Course Meeting: Saturdays 10:45-12:15pm

Class dates: January 25, February 1, 8, 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 12, 26

 Instructor: Wallace Fletcher, D Min, NCPsyA

Cost: $500

Course description: Beginning with Freud and Bion, psychoanalysis has made rich contributions to the study and treatment of organizational and leadership dynamics and dilemmas. Building on an overview of the psychodynamics of organizations and leadership, this course will focus on helping organizations, leaders, and consultants face some of the big challenges of our times like: dealing with momentous change, agile strategic planning, conflict management, addressing unconscious racism and creating adaptive collaborative leadership culture. The classical and contemporary perspectives surveyed in this course will provide participants with a sound psychoanalytic foundation while working in a variety of organizational roles and environments.

Objectives:

  1. To introduce participants to the psychoanalytic study of organizations and its efficacious applications in organizational leadership, consulting, and clinical practice.
  2. To consider case studies and interventions related to particular types of challenges organizations, leaders and consultants face in volatile times.
  3. To explore the particular utility of key Modern Psychoanalytic techniques in organizational leadership and consultancy.
  4. To create a safe learning environment for participants to share and learn collaboratively.
  5. To provide an opportunity for participants to consider ways they might pursue this field further as a part of their psychoanalytic training, practice and/or professional development.

Essential Papers on Countertransference

Course Meeting: Mondays: 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Class dates: January 27, February 3, 10, 24, March 3, 17, 24, 31, April 7, 14, 21

Instructor: Cristiane M. Irey, Psy.D., NCPsyA

Cost: $500

Course Description: This course provides an in-depth exploration of the complex phenomenon of countertransference, drawing on essential theoretical and clinical papers that have shaped our understanding of the analyst’s emotional responses to clients. Participants will examine historical perspectives, evolving definitions, and contemporary applications of countertransference across psychoanalytic and psychodynamic frameworks. Through readings, discussions, and case studies, the course highlights key thinkers ranging from Freud and Winnicott to contemporary authors, who have expanded countertransference from a barrier to neutrality into a powerful therapeutic tool. The course covers concordant and complementary countertransference, projective identification, empathy, and countertransference enactments. Students will learn how to recognize, understand, and constructively use their own emotional reactions to support client insight and healing. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of cultural, ethical, and personal boundaries in managing countertransference effectively. It is recommended for clinicians and students interested in psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy, seeking to deepen the understanding of the therapist-client relationship and refine the ability to work with intense, unconscious emotional material in a thoughtful and ethical manner.

Learning Objectives:

  • Develop an understanding of countertransference theories and historical evolution.
  • Identify and differentiate types of countertransference and their implications for clinical practice.
  • Enhance skills in using countertransference as a therapeutic tool, turning emotional responses into insights.
  • Examine ethical considerations and boundary management when dealing with intense countertransference reactions.
  • Apply countertransference concepts to case discussions and supervised practice with complex client dynamics.

Training and Preparation of the Modern Analyst – Beginning Practice

Course Meeting: Tuesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET

Class dates: January 21,28, 2025 February 4, 11, 18, 25, 2025, March 4, 11, 18, 25, 2025, April 1, 8, 15, 2025

Instructor: Priscilla Bright, NCPsyA

Cost: $500

Course Description: This course exams the process of beginning to work with a client utilizing a modern psychoanalytic frame. Areas that will be studied include: basic analytic processes; the analyst’s preparation and the first session including the therapy contract and money issues; the analyst-patient relationship including issues related to self-disclosure; developing and deviating from the frame; quandaries and other treatment-destructive resistances and the structure of the practice.

Objectives:

At the end of this course, the student will be able to:

    1. Discuss utilization of supervision and the training analysis as part of the process of providing psychoanalytic therapy. [4.g]
    2. Understand the requirements and recommendations of the physical environment of the practice setting.
    3. Discuss the therapist-patient relationship including the working alliance, studying and resolving the transference, analyzing the resistances and recognizing countertransference. [3.h, 3.i, 3.k]
    4. Learn to develop the psychoanalytic frame and insure boundaries. [3.d]
    5. Understand non-psychoanalytic models of technique and procedures. [1.h]

Psychopharmacology

Course Meeting: Tuesdays 7:00 -8:30 pm

Class dates: January 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 4, 11, 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15

Instructor: William J. Lorman, JD, PhD, MSN, PMHNP-BC, CARN-AP, NCPsyA

Cost: $500

Course Description: Most practicing mental health professionals, including psychoanalysts in training, have minimal background and training in psychopharmacology. From the mid-1960s (and even currently), polarization occurred between those advocating psychological theories (such as psychoanalytic and behavioral models) and those on the other side of the fence using biological and medical models. Each school attracted followers who had strong emotional investments in their perspective. Fortunately, during the past decade, we are witnessing a shift in thinking, as increasing numbers of practitioners and training institutions move away from egocentric and dogmatic positions and begin to embrace a more integrated approach with regard to both theories of etiology and methods of treatment. New discoveries in the neurosciences, refined scientific and practical advances in psychotherapy and a large number of outcome studies in both pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy have made it clear that people are complex and mental health problems spring from many sources, and reductionist, one-dimensional models are inadequate to explain the wide array of mental and emotional problems people experience and no single approach to treatment works for all problems. Certain disorders clearly respond better to certain interventions, whereas others require alternative approaches. Although the primary focus of this course is on psychopharmacology, there is a strong respect for integrative approaches to treatment: recognition of the primary importance of psychoanalysis and the collaboration among professionals from different disciplines.

Group Process: Developing the Resilience to Do Our Work

Course Meeting: Wednesdays 12:30- 2:00 pm EST

Course Dates: February 12, 19, 26;  March 12, 19, 26;  April 2, 9, 16, 23 and May 14, 21 2025

Instructor: Ellen L. Wright, Ph.D., PsyA

Working as a modern analyst calls upon the therapist to be able to experience, understand, and harness their emotional reactions so that they can be used therapeutically. This ability relies upon the capacity of the therapist to be open to and accept having all their feelings. While individual analysis provides trainees with foundational skills and insights, the here and now technique of immediacy utilized in Modern Group offers trainees a different avenue to understand themselves and develop the emotional resilience need to work effectively with their clients. In group members can observe and explore their resistances to emotional connection and gain access to important dynamics related to their first group, their family group. This additional access to one’s emotional history can increase trainees’ ability to understand and work with challenging countertransference reactions.

In Modern Group, the leader is not the only source of emotional nourishment or wisdom, however. Using the technique of bridging, the leader creates bonds between members multiplying the effect of interventions used by the group leader and ultimately making the group itself an agent of change. These dual agents of change offer group members the opportunity to engage and explore their relationships not only with the group leader but also group members opening avenues to study sibling dynamics as well as issues around power and privilege.

Course Objectives:

  • Develop additional avenues to observe and experience emotions evoked by the therapeutic
  • Observe and explore common resistances to
  • Examine transferences towards the leader and group
  • Increase awareness of issues of power and privilege inherent in group leadership and group

Introduction to Modern Psychoanalytic Theory & Technique

Course Meeting: Thursdays 5:00 -6:30 pm

Class dates: January 23, 30, February 6, 13, 20, 27, March 13, 20, 27, April 3, 10, 24

Instructor: Khary M. Atif, MSS, MLSP, LCSW, NCPsyA

Course Description: This course will provide an overview of psychoanalytic theory and practice. We will explore the realm of the therapeutic relationship with special attention being given to how the diversity of analytic theories can affect treatment choices. The focus will be on developing a treatment contract, defining the analytic framework, resolving treatment destructive resistances, and understanding and working with the transference and countertransference that develops in the analytic space. Students will have an opportunity to participate in discussions about the
assigned readings and lectures. There will also be opportunities to discuss cases for the purpose of exploring therapeutic dynamics and interventions.

Objectives:

  1. Participants will be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of core theoretical perspectives that provide the foundation for the development of effective therapeutic interventions.
  2. Participants will be able to identify and resolve transference and countertransference issues as they arise.
  3. Participants will be able to list the differences between classical and modern psychoanalytic theoretical technique and practice.

Register for one or all of the classes below. A $1 Membership area fee will be added to registration. This will give you access to all the student resources and is required for registration. Please contact us with any questions.

Cancellations and Refunds Policy
Withdrawal prior to first class: 80% refund
Withdrawal after first class: 75% refund
Withdrawal after second class: 50% refund
Withdrawal after third class: No Refund

PSP has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP no. 6637. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. PSP is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. Participants are eligible to earn CE hours based on the number of classes attended and completion of a brief course evaluation.