Process II and Ethics

Second Year Adult Psychoanalytic Training (APT)
2022-23, 2nd Trimester — Fridays, 1:45-3:15pm
Diane Wolman, MSW

View Whole Syllabus

Introduction

“The Process of Practicing Psychoanalysis” and “Ethics Related to Psychoanalysis” are not separate subjects.  They are intricately connected. In this course we will continue the discussion of what psychoanalysis is (and is not), how psychoanalysis begins and how the opening phase of psychoanalysis continues to develop. While traditional courses on Ethics focus on cautioning against boundary violations and what not to do, we will look at how the origins of ethical responsibility are linked to the initial helplessness of human beings and the pull of that helplessness on the parent and on the infant.  The psychoanalytic situation recreates a situation analogous to that of the mother-infant dyad, with powerful pulls on both the analyst and analysand. We will take a deep dive into how those pulls can play out in intense transference and countertransference feelings, and why we need to analyze those pulls so that we can harness their power for growth rather than recreating past traumas for analysand and analyst.

Intense feelings can feel scary for both patient and analyst…akin to being out in a stormy sea in a flimsy life raft with no clear understanding of how (or if) there will be a way to get to shore, or even what and where shore(safety) is. Being emotionally present with our patients can feel very unsettling. However, the lack of this type of authentic emotional engagement is exactly what most of our patients did not experience early in life, and from which they can now benefit in psychoanalytic treatment.  We will discuss Enactments and how they can be used to form a more solid and secure connection between patient and analyst and lead to more in depth work resulting in more freedom for our patients. They also make the work more meaningful and enjoyable for us.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email me at dmwolman@gmail.com and my mobile number is (206) 387-1908 if you need to call or text.

Learning Objectives

1. Our ethical responsibility is linked to understanding what our responsibility to our patients actually is in providing psychoanalytic treatment. By learning how to identify and work within and with elements of the analytic field, including the frame, enactments, and dreams, candidates will be better able to successfully use these elements to engage their patients and help facilitate their growth.
2. By learning to navigate various features of the analytic relationship, including differences between the members of the dyad and factors external to the relationship, candidates will be better able to respond to the dynamics enacted in these features in ways that move the treatment forward and allow patients greater freedom in their lives.
3. By writing about the analytic process, candidates will develop a better understanding of how to formulate and communicate what is going on in the treatment, and thus will gain confidence in their work, which will lead to better outcomes for patients.

December 2, 2022 — The Seduction of Offering Psychoanalytic Treatment

[28 pages]

During this class we will consider the intersection of ethics and psychoanalysis as it relates to the ethical seduction of the analytic situation and the importance of maintaining the frame/limits in providing the safety necessary to accomplish the tasks of psychoanalysis.

Levine, H.B. (2017). Book Review: The Ethical Seduction of the Analytic Situation: The Feminine-Maternal Origins of Responsibility for the Other by Viviane Chetrit-Vatine. Psychoanal. Quart. (86) 501-505.

Myers, K. (2008). Show Me the Money: (the “Problem” of) the Therapist’s Desire, Subjectivity, and Relationship to the Fee. Contemp. Psychoanal., 44(1):118-140.

Wolman, Case Report (part one)  In-class handout