Year 1: 30 didactic classes; 6 process groups; 2 workshops
Intro Series (4-5 classes)
09.16.25 Personal descriptions of analytic sensibility All faculty encouraged to come
09.23.25 The framing of psychoanalytic therapy Sharon Bernstein
Ethics and Sensibilities : and so we begin
Syllabus
Readings:
1. Mc Williams, Nancy. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: A Practitioner’s Guide, The Guilford Press , New York 2004 Chapters 1 and 2
2. Smith, Kevin R, Therapeutic Aims and Human Flourishing
09.30.25 The Framing of Psychoanalytic Therapy George Herrity
Syllabus
Readings:
Required:
McWilliams, N. (2004). Psychoanalytic psychotherapy: A practitioner's guide. Guilford Press.
- Chapters 3: The Therapist’s Preparation pp. 46 – 72.
-Chapter 4: Preparing the Client pp. 73 – 98.
Optional:
Briggs, S., Netuveli, G., Gould, N., Gkaravella, A., Gluckman, N. S., Kangogyere, P., & Lindner, R. (2019). The effectiveness of psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychotherapy for reducing suicide attempts and self-harm: systematic review and meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 214(6), 320-328.
Shedler, J. (2020). Where is the evidence for “evidence-based” therapy? 1. Outcome research and the future of psychoanalysis, 44-56.
Tarzian, M., Ndrio, M., & Fakoya, A. O. (2023). An introduction and brief overview of psychoanalysis. Cureus, 15(9).
10.07.25 The framing of psychoanalytic therapy Kevin Smith
Syllabus
Readings:
Required Readings:
McWilliams, N. (2004). Psychoanalytic therapy: A practitioner’s guide. Chapters 5 & 6. Guilford Press.
Smith, Kevin R. (2025). Three aspects of therapeutic practice. (Handout for this class.)
Kepple, Alyson & Smith, Kevin R. (2025). Psychoanalytic theories answer four fundamental questions. (Handout for this class.)
Supplemental readings (not required):
Aron, L. & Atlas, G. (2019). Dramatic dialogue: Dreaming and drama in contemporary clinical practice. Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 16, 249-271.
Bekes, V. & Hoffman, L. (2020). The “something more” than working alliance: Authentic relational moments. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 68, 1051-1064.
Geist, R. A. (2020). Interpretation as carrier of selfobject functions: Catalyzing inborn potential. Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, 15, 338-347.
10.14.25 Introduction to Situatedness Patricia Donohue
Syllabus
Required Readings (3):
Crane, L. S. (2020). Invisible: A mixt Asian woman’s efforts to see and be seen in psychoanalysis. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 21(2), 127-135.
Jones, A. L. (2020). A Black woman as an American analyst: Some observations from one woman’s life over four decades. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 21(2), 77-84.
Burch, B. (2021). Engaging the whitewashed countertransference: Race unexpectedly appears for therapy. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 31(1), 28-37.
Supplemental Materials (3):
Dajani, K. G. (2022). The social unconscious: Then and now. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 19(2), 179-186.
Layton, L. (2006). Attacks on linking: The unconscious pull to dissociate individuals from their social context. In Psychoanalysis, class and politics (pp. 107-117). Routledge.
Aron, L. (2000). Self-reflexivity and the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic psychology, 17(4), 667.
Q1. Blending of How is the Human Mind Structured with What Motivates us and how do these motivations contribute to development
10.21.25 Process Group Landaiche
10.28.25 Freud Bill Cornell
Freud’s Theory of Mind: The Centrality of Repression and the Development of Unconscious and Conscious Mental Processes
Syllabus
References/Readings:
1. Shulman, M.E. (2021), What Use is Freud? Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69: 1108-1113. For the purposes of this class, pages 1108-1110 are essential reading.
2. Ogden, T.H. (2020). Toward a revised form of analytic thinking and practice: The evolution of analytic theory of mind. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 86, 219-243. For the purposes of this class, please read pages 219-225. The remainder of this paper will be relevant over the course of subsequent classes.
3. Freud, S. (1915). Repression. The Standard Edition, Vol. 14, 141-158.
4. Freud, S. (1911). Formulations on the two principles of mental functioning. The Standard Edition, Vol. 12, 213-226.
Supplemental articles:
Alford, C. (2015). The obsolescence of psychoanalysis in the age of neuroscience. Free Associations, 16, 1-19.
11.04.25 Freud Bill Cornell
Evolution of American Ego Psychology from Freud’s Original Concepts
Syllabus
References/Readings :
1. Loewald, H.W. (1950). Ego and reality. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 32: 10-18.
2. Poland, W. S. (2002). The interpretive attitude. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 50: 807-826.
3. Novac, A. & Blinder, B.J. (2021). Free association in psychoanalysis and its links to neuroscience contributions. Neuropsychoanalysis, 23: 55-81.
Supplemental articles:
Boag, S. (2020). Commentary on Solms: On the mechanisms of repression and defense, Neuropsychoanalysis, 22, 43-46.
Arlow, J.A. (2018). Fantasy, memory and reality testing. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 87, 12-148.
11.11.25 Freud Bill Cornell
Contemporary revisions of the nature of the unconscious and the functions of repression
Syllabus
Required Readings:
1. Bollas, C. (1992). Psychic Genera, chapter 4 in Being a Character: Psychoanalysis & Self experience.New York: Hill and Wang, pp.66-100.
2. Panksepp, J., Clarici, A., Vandekerckhove, M., and Yovell, Y. (2019). Neuro-Evolutionary Foundations of Infant Minds: From Psychoanalytic Visions of How Primal Emotions Guide Constructions of Human Minds toward Affective Neuroscientific Understanding of Emotions and Their Disorders, Neuropsychoanalysis, 39,1: 36-51.
3. Seligman, S. (2021). Winnicott, in Topeka: Ego psychology, American culture, and object relations. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69: 469-489.
Supplemental articles:
Seligman, S. (2025). Tradition and change in psychoanalytic theory: Querying the infantile. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 106: 588-596.
11.18.25 Kleinian model of the mind Loren Sobel
Klein’s Becoming: The Kleinian World. Part 1
Syllabus
Video:
Klein, Melanie, and West Lodge. “Melanie Klein’s Technique Then and Now,” Melanie Klein Trust. 2016
You can watch this video at the following link, the pdf of the recording is provided: https://vimeo.com/174515650
Required Reading:
Klein, M. (1935). A contribution to the psychogenesis of manic-depressive states.The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 16, 145–174.
Klein, M. (1940). Mourning and its relation to manic-depressive states.The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 21, 125–153.
Optional Readings:
Feldman, M. (2018). Lectures on technique by Melanie Klein: A commentary.The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 99(4), 990–992.
Seidman, S. (2019). The psychological origins of the self: A reading of Melanie Klein.IJP Open, 6(28), 1–31.
11.25.25 Kleinian model of the mind Loren Sobel
Klein’s Becoming: The Kleinian World. Part 2
Syllabus
Video:
Introduction to Melanie Klein: Paranoid-Schizoid and Depressive Position- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnT8o1DF0VE
Required Reading:
Klein, M. (1935). A contribution to the psychogenesis of manic-depressive states.The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 16, 145–174.
Klein, M. (1940). Mourning and its relation to manic-depressive states.The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 21, 125–153.
Optional Readings:
Feldman, M. (2018). Lectures on technique by Melanie Klein: A commentary.The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 99(4), 990–992.
Seidman, S. (2019). The psychological origins of the self: A reading of Melanie Klein.IJP Open, 6(28), 1–31.
12.02.25 Process Group Landaiche
12.09.25 Kleinian model of the mind Loren Sobel
Klein’s Becoming: The Kleinian World. Part 2
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Klein, “Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms.” Klein, Melanie. “A Contribution to the Psychogenesis of Manic-Depressive States.” The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 16 (1935): 145.
Optional Readings:
Soreanu, Raluca. “The Psychic Life of Fragments: Splitting from Ferenczi to Klein.” American Journal of Psychoanalysis 78, no. 4 (December 2018): 421–44.
Aguayo, J. (2018). D.W. Winnicott, Melanie Klein, and W.R. Bion: The controversy over the nature of the external object—Holding and container/contained (1941–1967). Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 87(4), 767–807.
12.16.25 Winnicott & Models of the Mind Miriam DeRiso
Mind and its Relation to the Psycho-Soma
Syllabus
Required Readings:
Winnicott, D. (1975) Chapter XIX. Mind and its Relation to the Psyche-Soma [1949], International Psychoanalytic Library (100): 243-254.
Anderson, J.W. (2014) How D. W. Winnicott Conducted Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Psychology, 31, 375-395.
Supplemental Readings:
Seligman, S. (2025) Holding and Containing: “The Metaphor of the Baby” in Winnicott, Bion and Klein. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, (35)(1), 46-54.
Ogden, T. (2013) Chapter 2 The Mother, the Infant and the Matrix: Interpretations of Aspects of the Work of Donald Winnicott. New Library of Psychoanalysis, (78): 46-72.
Ogden, T. (2018) The feeling of real: On Winnicott’s “Communicating and Not Communicating Leading to a Study of Certain Opposites”. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, (99)(6): 1288-1304.
Peltz, R. (2019) Tyler in the Labyrinth: A Young Child’s Journey from Chaos to Coherence. Psychoanalytic Dialogues,(29) (5): 627-631.
Little, M. (1985) Winnicott Working in Areas Where Psychotic Anxieties Predominate: A Personal Record. Free Associations: Psychoanalysis Groups Politics, Culture, 1D3: 9-42.
01.13.26 Winnicott & Models of the Mind Miriam DeRiso
Syllabus
Required Readings:
Winnicott, D.W. (1953) Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena--A Study of the First Not-Me Possession. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 34:89-87.
Corbett, K. (2022) Play Changes Us: Playing the Object, Becoming the Analyst. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 70:263-282.
Supplemental Readings:
Corbett, K. (2014) The Analyst’s Private Space: Spontaneity, Ritual, Psychotherapeutic Action, and Self-Care. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 24, 637-647.
Ogden, T. (2019) Ontological Psychoanalysis or "What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?", The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 88: 661-684.
Shedler, J. (2022) That Was Then, This is Now: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for the Rest of Us. Contemporary Psychoanalysis 58:405-437.
01.18.26 Workshop 1 - Immigrant Fears (WPA Community) Miriam DeRiso & Patricia Donohue 10am-4pm
Syllabus
Required Media/Readings:
Film: Green Border/Zielona granica (2023) directed by Agnieszka Holland (2 hours, 27 minutes, streaming on Apple TV, Amazon, Kanopy). Be advised that the film includes realistic depictions of violence, trauma and death.
As you watch the film, be attentive to the cultural/political situatedness of different social groups (refugees, townspeople and guards, activists) and the ways people in fear move towards recognition, relationship, care and reparation.
Tummala-Narra, P. (2020). The fear of immigrants. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 37(1), 50. [12 pages]
Dajani, K., Rao, J. M., & Tummala-Narra, L. P. (2024). Race and Culture in Psychoanalytic Therapy. Textbook of Psychoanalysis, 15. [18 pages]
Supplemental Readings:
Ahmed, S. (2004). The affective politics of fear. The cultural politics of emotion, 62-81.
Caflisch, J. (2020). “When reparation is felt to be impossible”: Persecutory guilt and breakdowns in thinking and dialogue about race. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 30(5), 578-594.
Eng, D. L. (2016). Colonial object relations. Social Text, 34(1), 1-19.
González, F. J. (2016). Only what is human can truly be foreign: The trope of immigration as a creative force in psychoanalysis. In Immigration in psychoanalysis (pp. 15-38). Routledge.
Hollander, N. C. (1998). Exile: paradoxes of loss and creativity. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 15(2), 201-215. [24 pages]
01.20.26 Winnicott & Models of the Mind Miriam DeRiso
Syllabus
Required Readings:
Winnicott, D. (1971) 6. The Use of an Object and Relating through Identifications, Playing and Reality, (17), 86-94.
Elkins, J. (2015) Motility, Aggression, and the Bodily I: An Interpretation of Winnicott, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 2015, 84:943-973.
Smith, K. Winnicott on Development (summary)
Supplemental Readings:
Elkins, J. (2017) Revisiting Destruction in “The Use of an Object”, Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 86: 109-148
Benjamin, J. (1990) An Outline of Intersubjectivity: The Development of Recognition, Psychoanalytic Psychology 7:33-46.
Ogden, T. H. (2016) Destruction Reconceived: On Winnicott’s ‘The Use of an Object and Relating through Identifications’, International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 97: 1243-1262
McKay, R. (2019) Bread and Roses: Empathy and Recognition, Psychoanalytic Dialogues, (29)(1): 75-91.
Interview with Agnieszka Holland
01.27.26 Waddel and the baby: tying Freud, Klein, Winnicott (Bion too but that will not yet have been covered) Sharon Bernstein & Adam Haglund
Inside the Lives of Others
Syllabus
Required Readings:
Inside Lives Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality; Revised edition, 2002 H. Karnac Ltd. London, pps xi-xix
Inside Lives Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality; Revised edition, 2002 H. Karnac Ltd. London, Introduction and Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 pps 1-27
Inside Lives Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality; Revised edition, 2002 H. Karnac Ltd. London, Chapters 3 and 4 pps 29-59
Supplemental Readings:
Director, Lisa. Revisiting the Psychoanalytic Object: Introduction. Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 28:1-11
Elkins, J. (2017) Revisiting Destruction in “ The Use of an Object”, Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 86: 109-148
Ogden, T. (2018) The feeling of real: On Winnicott’s “Communicating and Not Communicating Leading to a Study of Certain Opposites”. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, (99)(6) 1288-1304.
Ogden, T. (2016) Destruction Reconceived: On Winnicott’s “The Use of an Object and Relating through Identifications”. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, (97)(5): 1243-1262.
02.03.26 Process Group Landaiche
02.10.26 Waddel and the baby: tying Freud, Klein, Winnicott (Bion too but that will not yet have been covered) Sharon Bernstein & Adam Haglund
More on Getting Inside the Lives of Others: Projection and Learning
Syllabus
Media: (if you did not get to watch)
Everybody Rides the Carousel…1976—animated film of Erikson’s stages of psychological development. Directed John Hubley and written and produced by Faith Hubley….available on You Tube.
Required Readings:
Inside Lives Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality; Revised edition, 2002 H.Karnac Ltd. London, Appendix 253-257.
Inside Lives Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality; Revised edition, 2002 H Karnac Ltd, London, Chapters 5 and 6 and 7 pps 61-122.
Supplemental Readings:
Ogden, T. (2020) Toward a Revised Form of Analytic Thinking and Practice: The Evolution of Analytic Theory of Mind, Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 89, 219-243
Panskepp, J. Clarici, A., Vandekerckhove M, Yovell Y., (2019) Neuro-Evolutionary Foundations of Infant Minds: From Psychoanalytic Visions of How Primal Emotions Guide Constructions of Human Minds toward Affective Neuro-Understanding of Emotions and Their Disorders, Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 39: 36-51. (2018) The feeling of real: On Winnicott’s “Communicating and Not Communicating Leading to a Study of Certain Opposites”. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, (99)(6) 1288-1304.
Aguayo,J. (2018) D.W. Winnicott, Melanie Klein and W.R. Bion: The controversy over the nature of the external object-Holding and container-contained (1941-1967), Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 87(4), 767-807.
02.17.26 Waddel and the baby: tying Freud, Klein, Winnicott (Bion too but that will not yet have been covered) Sharon Bernstein & Adam Haglund
Inside the Lives of Others: Focus on Introjection
Syllabus
Media:
Media: (if you did not get to watch)
Everybody Rides the Carousel…1976—animated film of Erikson’s stages of psychological development. Directed John Hubley and written and produced by Faith Hubley….available on You Tube.
Required Readings:
Inside Lives: Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality, Chapter eight, The Family, pps 123-137; Chapter nine, Puberty and Early Adolescence pps 139-156; Chapter ten and eleven, Mid Adolescence and Late Adolescence, 157-179.
Director, Lisa. Revisiting the Psychoanalytic Object: Introduction; Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 28; 1-11, 2018.
Shaw Daniel, Shame and Self-Alienation: A Trauma-Informed Psychoanalytic Perspective: Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 2024. Vol.44, No. 3,254-265.
Goldin, Daniel & Posner, Daniel S, The Original of Shame in Early Life: Psychoanalytic Inquiry: (2024) 44:3 234-244.
02.24.26 Let Us Hold What We Have Learned: A Chance to Review Sharon Bernstein, George Herrity, and Kevin Smith
Syllabus
Readings:
Ogden, Thomas H. (2020) Toward a revised form of analytic thinking and practice: The evolution of analytic theory of mind. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 86, 219-243.
Aguayo, J. (2018) D.W. Winnicott, Melanie Klein, and W. R. Bion: The controversy over the nature of the external object—Holding and container/contained (1941-1967) Psychoanalytic Quarterly
Winnicott, D. (1971) 6. The Use of an Object and Relating through Identifications, Playing and Reality, (17), 86-94
(Not required)Elkins, J. (2017) Revisiting Destruction in “The Use of the Object’, Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 86, 109-148
03.03.26 Neuropsychoanalysis (structure of mind, motivations and development) Noah Rahm
‘Drives’ in Human Development
Required Reading:
Solms, M. (2021). Revision of drive theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69:1033–1091.
Optional Readings:
Denis, P. (2016). The Drive revisited: mastery and satisfaction. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 97:759-784.
Koivikko, T. (2017) Drives and objects - notes on the change of drive theory. Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review, 40:19-28.
03.10.26 Neuropsychoanalysis (structure of mind, motivations and development) Noah Rahm
Repression as Isolation in Psychic Conflict
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Akhtar, S. (2020). Repression: A Critical Assessment and Update of Freud’s 1915 Paper. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 80, 241-258.
Optional Readings:
Boag, S. (2020) Reflective Awareness, Repression, and the Cognitive Unconscious. Psychoanalytic Psychology 37:18-27
Busch, F.N. (2017). A Model for Integrating Actual Neurotic or Unrepresented States and Symbolized Aspects of Intrapsychic Conflict. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 86, 75-108.
03.17.26 Process group Landaiche
03.24.26 Dissociative model (Interpersonalists and Relationalists: Ferenczi, Sullivan, Levenson, Stern, Bromber, Davies etc.) George Herrity and Michael Mervosh
The Dissociative Model in Psychoanalysis
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Stern, D. B. (2022). Dissociation and unformulated experience: A psychoanalytic model of mind. In Dissociation and the dissociative disorders (pp. 341-351). Routledge.
Optional Readings:
Kaplan, J. T., Gimbel, S. I., & Harris, S. (2016). Neural correlates of maintaining one’s political beliefs in the face of counterevidence. Scientific reports, 6(1), 39589.
Goldberg, Peter. (2020). Body-Mind Dissociation, Altered States, and Alter Worlds. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association., (68)(5):769-806
Aibel, Matt. (2021). The Sleepy Analyst Struggles to Awaken: Dissociation, Enactment, Regression, and Altered States with Trauma Patients. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, (57)(1):54-84
03.31.26 Dissociative model (Interpersonalists and Relationalists: Ferenczi, Sullivan, Levenson, Stern, Bromber, Davies etc.) Mike Mervosh and/or George Herrity
The Dissociative Model in Psychoanalysis Part 2
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Stern, D. B. (2022). Dissociation and unformulated experience: A psychoanalytic model of mind. In Dissociation and the dissociative disorders (pp. 341-351). Routledge.
Optional Readings:
Kaplan, J. T., Gimbel, S. I., & Harris, S. (2016). Neural correlates of maintaining one’s political beliefs in the face of counterevidence. Scientific reports, 6(1), 39589.
Goldberg, Peter. (2020). Body-Mind Dissociation, Altered States, and Alter Worlds. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association., (68)(5):769-806
Aibel, Matt. (2021). The Sleepy Analyst Struggles to Awaken: Dissociation, Enactment, Regression, and Altered States with Trauma Patients. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, (57)(1):54-84
04.07.26 Dissociative model (Interpersonalists and Relationalists: Ferenczi, Sullivan, Levenson, Stern, Bromber, Davies etc.) Mike Mervosh and/or George Herrity
The Dissociative Model in Psychoanalysis - Linking Dissociative States & Trauma
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Howell, Elizabeth and Itzkowitz, Sheldon. (2025). The Dissociative Mind: Understanding and Working with Trauma. Chapter 1 – Is Trauma-analysis Psychoanalysis? Routledge. (Book chapter provided.)
Bromberg, Philip. (1996) Standing In The Spaces: The Multiplicity Of the Self and The Psychoanalytic Relationship. Contemporary Psychoanalysis (32):509-535.
Optional Readings:
Ashtor, Gila. (2025). The Pseudo- Self: Dissociation And Feeling Disorders. Psychoanalytic Dialogues: 35:5, 548-571, DOI: 10.1080/10481885.2025.2550272.
Schimmenti, Adriano and Caretti, Vincent. (2016). Linking the Overwhelming with the Unbearable: Developmental Trauma, Dissociation, and the Disconnected Self. Psychoanalytic Psychology, (33)(1):106-128.
Aibel, Matt. (2021). The Sleepy Analyst Struggles to Awaken: Dissociation, Enactment, Regression, and Altered States with Trauma Patients. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, (57)(1):54-84.
04.14.26 Attachment Theory Kevin Smith and Laure Swearingen
Attachment Theory and Psychoanalysis
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Holmes, J. (2000). Attachment theory and psychoanalysis: A rapprochement. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 17, 157-172.
Smith, K. R. Handout on attachment classifications (1 page)
Smith, K. R. Handout: Three classes on attachment theory, mentalization, and shared intentionality. (5 pages)
Eliza-Christie, A. Handout: What is analytic listening? (1 page)
Optional Readings:
Castellano, R. (2025). The psychoanalytic facet of attachment theory and research: “Behind” and “beyond” attachment disorganization. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 42, 199-206. Doi.org/10.1037/pap0000556 (This paper examines the relevance of infant research and attachment theory to theories of psychopathology, with a clinical vignette that applies these ideas to a couple’s relationship.)
Karen, R. (2018). Review of: Attachment across clinical and cultural perspectives: A relational psychoanalytic approach. Psychoanalytic Review, 105, 237-248. (A review of an edited book on attachment theory and psychoanalysis that begins with a brief history of the relationship between the two, followed by a summary of the book’s chapters that provides some perspective on the range of topics that arise at the intersection of attachment theory and psychoanalysis.)
Seligman, S. (2017). Recognition and reflection in infancy and psychotherapy: Convergences of attachment research with psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 37, 298-308. Doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2017.1322424(Seligman summarizes the relationship between attachment theory, mentalization theory, object relations theory, contemporary relational psychoanalysis, and infant observational research—with some illustrative clinical vignettes.)
04.21.26 Attachment Theory Kevin Smith and Jay Wiggin
Attachment and the Development of Mentalization
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (2000). Playing with reality III: The persistence of dual psychic reality in borderline patients. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 81, 853-873.
Smith, K. R. Mentalization Theory—An Outline. (7 pages)
Optional Readings:
Cucchi, A. (2020). Borderline personality disorders: From the developmental theory of the “self” and mentalizing to “systems.” Journal of Psychological Therapies, 5, 168-188. (Summarizes some of the more recent develpments in mentalization theory, especially mentalization’s role in developing a capacity for (1) the epistemic trust that is necessary in order to learn from our social environment, and (2) an appropriate vigilance regarding the trustworthiness of others.)
Duchinsky, R., Coliver, J, & Carel, H. (2019). “Trust comes from a sense of feeling one’s self understood by another mind”: An interview with Peter Fonagy. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 36, 224-227. Doi.org/10.1037/pap0000244 (A conversation about various issues in mentalization theory, including its relevance for understanding psychopathology and psychotherapy, how difficulties in mentalization are exploited by populist politicians, and how digital technologies can create the illusion of being recognized by another.)
Luyten, P., Campbell, C., & Fonagy, P. (2109). Reflections on the contributions of Sidney J. Blatt: The dialectical needs for autonomy, relatedness, and the emergence of epistemic trust. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 36, 328-334. Doi.org/10.1037/pap243 (Sidney Blatt was a psychoanalyst and researcher who focused on the importance of maintaining a balance between the capacity to relate to/seek support from others and the capacity to retain a sufficient hold over one’s sense of self. This article explores the links between Blatt’s work and mentalization theory.)
04.28.26 Process group Landaiche
05.05.26 Attachment Theory Kevin Smith
Shared Intentionality (And its Dissociative Disruption)
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Goldberg, P. (2020). Mind-Body Dissociation, Altered States, and Alter Worlds. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 68, 771-804.
Tomasello, Michael. (2019) Becoming Human: A theory of Ontogeny. Keynote address at The Association for Psychological Science. Watch on YouTube: (This talk is a valuable guide to these topics, in particular because it includes video clips of children and chimps engaging in similar activities in such a way that you can see the differences between their forms of interaction with others.)
Smith, K. R. (2026). Shared Intentionality Theory—A Brief Introduction.
Optional Readings:
Browning, M. M. (2019). Our symbolic minds: What are they really? Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 88, 25-52. Doi.org.10.1080/00332828.2019.1556037 (What happens when the affective life we share with other animals is poured into the “shared, external formulations that constitutes the intersubjectivity of our culturally-mediated minds.”)
Cortina, M. (2017). Adaptive flexibility, cooperation, and prosocial motivations: The emotional foundations of becoming human. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 37, 436-454. Doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2017.1362920 (Summarizes Tomasello’s theories of the evolution of the distinctively human capacities for human intentionality and group identity, with a brief description of their implications for psychoanalytic therapy.)
Ogden, T. (2016). On language and truth in psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 85, 411-426. (Language in psychoanalytic practice does more than shape experience in ways that are distinctly human; it can be a way for experience to happen.)
05.12.26 Infant Observation, Self Psych, Intersubjectivity Theory Alyson Kepple
Introduction to Self Psychology, Part 1
Syllabus
Required Reading:
Please read the process material provided by your classmate. I will present a brief conceptualization of the case (through a self psychological lens) to demonstrate some of the concepts we are covering at the end of the class. I have provided an outline for those that would like to print and bring this to class.
Fosshage, J. L. (1995). Self psychology and its contributions to psychoanalysis. International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 4(4), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/08037069508409554This broad overview is a bit dry, as overviews tend to be, but it introduces the key concepts of self psychology which will be reviewed in class.
Optional Readings:
Terman, D. M. (1988) Chapter 8 Optimum Frustration: Structuralization and the Therapeutic Process. Progress in Self-Psychology 4:113-125
Stern, S. (2024). Breathing together: Needed relationships and complex selfobjects. Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, 19(3), 274–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/24720038.2024.2345619
Goldin, D. (2024). Empathy on a continuum. Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, 19(3), 266–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/24720038.2024.2353300
Kottler, A. (2024). On becoming a thou: Discussion of Steven Stern’s “Breathing together: Needed relationships and complex selfobjects” and Daniel Goldin’s “Empathy on a continuum.” Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, 19(3), 286–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/24720038.2024.2352378
05.19.26 Infant Observation, Self Psych, Intersubjectivity Theory Alyson Kepple
Infant Research & Psychoanalytic Engagement
Syllabus + Class Outline
Required Reading:
Beebe, B. & Lachmann, F. M. (1994) Representation and Internalization in Infancy: Three Principles of Salience. Psychoanalytic Psychology 11:127-165
The “baby watchers” have their own language so there is a lot of terminology which may be new. We will focus in on some of the key terms in class. Reviewing the research protocols and findings from microanalysis can be very tedious - so we will be viewing some examples of mother-infant video analysis in class and will focus on some of the most important findings and the big picture in terms of how this research has contributed to a more contemporary analytic understanding of development. If this paper starts to feel too heavy, view the following brief YouTube video introducing Beebe’s work: “Joining your baby’s distress: A story of one mother and infant”(15 min) copy this link into your browser: https://youtu.be/qfIyFLP5oXg?si=OYzgVw_HmN0J7OpU
Lachmann, F.M. (2001) Some Contributions of Empirical Infant Research to Adult Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 11:167-185
Optional Readings:
Beebe, B. & Lachmann, F. (2020) Infant Research and Adult Treatment Revisited: Cocreating Self- and Interactive Regulation. Psychoanalytic Psychology 37:313-323
Beebe, B. & Lachmann, F. M. (2015) The Expanding World of Edward Tronick. Psychoanalytic Inquiry 35:328-336
Lyons-Ruth, K. (2015) Dissociation and the Parent-Infant Dialogue: A Longitudinal Perspective from Attachment Research. Attachment: New Directions in Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 9:253-276
05.26.26 Infant Observation, Self Psych, Intersubjectivity Theory Alyson Kepple
Introduction to Intersubjective-Systems Theory, the Phenomenological, Contextualist Perspective in Psychoanalysis
Syllabus + Class Outline
Required Reading:
Please listen to part 1 of the podcast, "The Conversation" by Daniel Goldin and Daniel Posner on the subject of "Otherness" and come prepared to share your questions and reflections. Hopefully this will start to jog everyone’s memory a little as we will be integrating concepts from earlier classes on infant research and attachment and it’s interesting to hear the theorist’s speak.
Stolorow, R. D. (2014). Undergoing the situation: Emotional dwelling is more than empathic understanding. International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, 9(1), 80–83.This paper provides some background on intersubjective systems theory but quickly moves into a compelling clinical application. If you are wanting more of an overview of the theory, which will be provided in class, see the recommended reading #3 below.
Optional Readings:
Stolorow, R. D., & Atwood, G. E. (1996). The intersubjective perspective. Psychoanalytic Review, 83(2), 181–194.
Bugliani, A., & Rowlandson, B. (2023). The Therapist’s Struggle to Hold Hope When All Seems Lost. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 33, 351 - 367.
Ferguson, H. (2023). Searching for Embodied Connection in the Age of COVID-19. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 43, 629 - 640.
06.02.26 Infant Observation, Self Psych, Intersubjectivity Theory Alyson Kepple
Affect & Selfobject Experiences
Syllabus + Class Outline
Required Reading:
Socarides, D. D., & Stolorow, R. D. (1984-1985). Affects and selfobjects. The Annual of Psychoanalysis, 12-13, 105–119. Intersubjectivity theory expands Kohut’s original concept of a selfobject emphasizing the primacy of affect in the selfobject experience. The paper gets a bit repetitive so focus on the beginning of it and get the gist if you are short on time.
Atwood, G. & Stolorow, R. (2016). Walking the tightrope of emotional dwelling. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 26:102-107. DOI:10.1080/10481885.2016.1123525. An opportunity to review the concept of “emotional dwelling” from last week focusing on how this relates to Kohut’s original understanding of empathy as vicarious introspection, we will be integrating these different perspectives on empathy in class.
Mitchell, S. A. (1984). Object relations theories and the developmental tilt. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 20(4), 473–499. https://doi.org/10.1080/00107530.1984.10745749
Mitchell’s “developmental tilt” is an important hypothesis that alerts us to some of the potential limitations and clinical issues that can emerge in many psychoanalytic perspectives that have held on to (and attempted to build on top of) the original premises of drive theory while leaning into an interpersonal, developmental model.
Optional Readings:
Beebe, B., & Lachmann, F. (2020). Infant research and adult treatment revisited: Cocreating self- and interactive regulation. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 37(4), 313–323.
Hill, D. (2021). Vitality, attunement and the lack thereof. In A. Schwartz Cooney & R. Sopher (Eds.), Vitalization in psychoanalysis: Perspectives on being and becoming (pp. 213–235). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Schore, A. Right brain-to-right brain psychotherapy: recent scientific and clinical advances. Ann Gen Psychiatry 21, 46 (2022).
06.09.26 Process group Landaiche
