“Rivals and Keepers: Sibling Transference and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy” with Jim Basinski, MD (SPSI Scientific Session)

The subject of siblings and transferences related to siblings has received little representation in psychoanalytic education and literature. Yet we frequently encounter its impact in our clinical work, personal life, and in mainstream culture. Traditionally viewed as potential rivals for parental affection or targets for aggression, sibling relationships in contemporary psychoanalytic theory may also be recognized for their ‘lateral’ dimensions and their importance in influencing identity formation and structuring adult relationships. Examining the roles that sibling dynamics play in groups and in society aids our understanding of group and societal process. This is especially important in times of flattening hierarchies and changing systems of authority.

Click here to read an abbreviated version of Jim Basinski’s paper, with clinical material removed. 

Jim Basinski, MD is an advanced clinical associate at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. He works in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at Harborview Medical Center and at the Health Care for the Homeless Program at the Third Avenue Clinic. Dr. Basinski also has a private practice in Seattle.

Discussant: Ron Furedy, MD

Ronald L. Furedy, MD is an emeritus SPSI Faculty member and a fellow emeritus of the American Board of Psychoanalysis.  He is the author of Recovering from Emotional Suffering:  Current Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Told Through Eight Stories of Emotional Healing (Amazon, 2022).

Learning Objectives

After attending this presentation, participants should be able to:

1. demonstrate greater familiarity with the psychoanalytic and broader scientific literature of siblings
2. recognize clinical examples of sibling dynamics and related transferences in their own and others’ work
3. reflect on how their familial experience may influence their understanding of sibling relatedness in clinical care and life.

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