Fourth Year Adult Psychoanalytic Training (APT)
2020-21, 3rd Trimester — Fridays, 3:30-5:00pm
Karen Weisbard, PsyD
Denise C.K. Fort, PhD
Table of Contents
April 30, 2021 — Creating a Frame of Mind
Creating a Frame of Mind: A Position from which, as analysts, and professionals serving the public good (Do No Harm), we want to consider issues of ethics and morality.
Introductions to and of each other: I know this is likely redundant for you with every new instructor. I do appreciate getting to know you, and you me.
Code of Ethics | APsaA: Familiarize yourself with these, as well as the Code of Ethics for Your Profession; Let’s think about whether there are any contradictory Principles and/or Standards
APsaA Calls for Moral Leadership | APsaA: What is the difference between morals and ethics?
Ethics:noun
(used with a singular or plural verb) a system of moral principles:the ethics of a culture.
(used with a plural verb) the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.:medical ethics;Christian ethics.
(used with a plural verb) moral principles, as of an individual:His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
(used with a singular verb) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.
Moral:adjective
of, relating to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical:moral attitudes.
expressing or conveying truths or counsel as to right conduct, as a speaker or a literary work.
founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom:moral obligations.
capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct:a moral being.
The Holmes Commission on Racial Equality Established | APsaA: Is ending structural racism both a moral and ethical issue? How are we doing this in our practices, in our institutes, in other organizations we may belong to, and in our own personal choices, practices? Do you feel that activism is now a part of ethical action/moral leadership?
American Psychoanalytic Association Affirms That Black Trans Lives Matter | APsaA: Does taking a stand go far enough? What else is needed for ethical standards to be upheld? If you have time, listen to the interview of Dr. Susan Liautaud, author of The Power of Ethics, and professor of ethics at Stamford University, on the podcast, Experts on Experts, March 25, 2021
News: APsaA Issues Overdue Apology to LGBTQ Community | APsaA: How do we think about truth and reconciliation, reparation and restitution, as we try to change our ethical standards and increase our awareness of what moral leadership means?
If interested, read the PDF of a book review that I wrote, which was published in Division/Review, 2012: Plea for a Measure of Humanity
May 7, 2021 — The Challenges of Balancing Our and the Patient’s Needs
[56 pages]These two papers will help us examine the challenges of working with difficult clients that can lead us to extend ourselves, and thus tamper with the frame. Issues such as in-between session contact, texting/email, fee adjustments, not charging for missed sessions, etc. will be discussed in the context of these two papers.
Coen, S.J. (2000). The Wish to Regress in Patient and Analyst. JAPA, 48, 785-810.
Grand, S. (2003). Lies and Body Cruelties in the Analytic Hour. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 13, 471-500.
May 14, 2021 — Grounding
[7 pages]This paper will ground our discussion on what it means to have a moral and ethical stance in psychoanalysis. It will help us discuss our biases, and how we may impose or assume that we share the same beliefs as our clients. This is fruitful discussion for when or how to talk about current cultural and political issues with our clients. It will allow us to think about the concepts of self-disclosure and neutrality.
Layton, L. (2016). On Moralism and Ethics: Associations to Henry Abelove’s “Freud, Male Homosexuality, and the Americans”. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 17, 95-101.
May 21, 2021 — Sexual Boundary Violations
[59 pages]Dimen, M. (2011). Lapsus Linguae, or a Slip of the Tongue? A Sexual Violation in an Analytic Treatment and Its Personal and Theoretical Aftermath. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 47, 35-79.
Wallace, E. (2007). Losing a Training Analyst for Ethical Violations: A Candidate’s Perspective. IJPA, 88, 1275-1288.
May 28, 2021 — Telehealth and Working in the Political, Pandemic Climate
[47 pages]Analytic Life Amidst the Coronavirus (2020). Psychoanalytic Dialogues, V. 30 4 and 6.
Short essays by a variety of analysts reflecting on what it has been like working this last year. Issues of moving to telehealth allow us to reflect on more issues of fee, frame and boundaries. I will share PDF’s from the two journals, and you can choose to read some or all.
While the link below is broad, it touches upon how hard we are working during this time, and the many shared realities between us and our clients. I hope this article can help frame the discussion on maintaining boundaries and self-care—both slippery slopes to ethical violations.
Lena Theodorou Ehrlich, L. (2019) Teleanalysis: Slippery Slope or Rich Opportunity? JAPA, 67, 249-279.
González, F.J. (2020). Trump Cards and Klein Bottles: On the Collective of the Individual. Psychoanal. Dial., 30(4):383-398.