September 21, 2008

Constructing the Self
from the Outside In:

 The Moral Lens in Psychoanalysis

Who defines this elusive notion of “moral character” and how do these definitions affect psychoanalysts and those we treat?  Recent reworking of psychoanalytic theory by feminist theorists, gender theorists and developmental theorists, has led to a very different view of morality.  Ms. Freireich will use the concept, “the lens of morality”, which is internalized throughout our lives to discuss the subtle effects of conscious and unconscious moral bias in the psychoanalytic space.   It is this lens that shapes how we practice psychoanalysis. When the lens of the patient is very different from the lens of the analyst, the analyst can impart their own values in subtle ways. The differences in “the lens of morality” between analyst and patient can lead to an interruption in the therapeutic process. Through theory and case examples, Ms. Freireich  will offer different ways in which this lens can be broadened to include other views and diminish its effect on the analyst and the patient, making it more possible to fully understand the patient's perspective. 

NAOMI FREIREICH, LCSW is in private practice in Austin, Texas working with adolescents and adults in both individual and group treatment.  She received her training in adult psychoanalysis at the National Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in New York. She is a co-founder of the Austin Women's Psychotherapy Project and past president and current board member of Austin Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology

Recommended reading:

Drescher, J. (1999). The Therapist's Authority and the Patient's Sexuality.  J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 3(2):61-80.

Kiersky, S. (2004). Perilous Crossings: Tale of Gender, Identification, and Exile Desires.  In: Lesbians, Feminism, and Psychoanalysis: The Second Wave, (J M. Glassgold & S. Iasenza, Eds.)

Levin, C. (2001). The Siege of the Psychotherapeutic Space. Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis, 9:187-215

Winnicott, D.W. (1965). The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment. 1960 Ego distortions in terms of true and false self (pp.140‑152)  

University Club
East Lansing, Michigan

Directions to the University Club

  Friday and Saturday, October 17, 18, 2007

DAY LONG CONFERENCE

Joseph Lichtenberg, M.D.

Member Dinner and Paper Discussion with Dr. Lichtenberg

Friday, October 17, 2008

6:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Guidelines from Craft and Spirit: The message contains the message, model scenes and the wearing of attributions.

In this presentation, Dr. Lichtenberg will describe guidelines for the exploratory psychotherapies that are derived from an appreciation of self psychology, empathy, safety, and the self object experience as well as from an attachment/relational perspective.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

8:30 am – 4:00 pm

Morning Paper Presentation

Reflections on the Oedipal Strivings of Four to Six Year Old Children and Different Forms of Sensuality and Sexuality in the Love Life of Adults.

Dr. Lichtenberg will present his understanding of the distinction between sensuality and sexuality by discussing the origins of love in early development.  He will address this distinction by specifically applying it to the period of the four to six year old child.  He will then turn to adult experiences and take up the themes and different strategies of attachment love, romantic love, lustful love, lust without love, and transference love in adult life.

Afternoon: Clinical Presentation by Reena Liberman, M.S.

                    Discussion by Joseph Lichtenberg, M.D.

 Register for this event

Sheraton Detroit-Novi Hotel
Novi, Michigan

 November 16, 2008

  "Object?" I Object!

 Arthur Brickman,  Ph.D,

11 A.M.-1:00 P.M.

It is time for psychoanalytic discourse to retire the term “object.”  The term has outlived its usefulness, has become ambiguous, has deleterious connotations, and serves an anachronistic concept of drive theory.  In particular, it contributes to the impression that psychoanalysis is unconcerned with the kinds of relational and interpersonal factors that have assumed center stage in much analytic thinking.  In terms of attachment theory, object relations, and self psychology, concepts might be clarified if couched in other language.

Arthur Brickman, Ph.D is licensed psychologist, and a diplomate in clinical psychology.  He is a fellow of the Academy of Clinical Psychology.  Dr. Brickman attended undergraduate and graduate school at Syracuse University, earning a bachelor’s in political science and a master’s in philosophy.  He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan, and has been practicing in Ann Arbor for over 25 years.  His practice focuses on psychodynamic psychotherapy with adolescents and adults, and comprehensive neuropsychological assessments, focusing on the complex interplay of functional deficit, traumatic brain injury, and personality factors.  He also has worked extensively with underserved populations in residential treatment and foster care.  Dr. Brickman serves on the Board of MPC

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Ann Arbor Women's City Club. 1830 Washtenaw
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Directions to the Women's City Club

January 18, 2009

  Multiple Subjectivities:
A Relational Approach to
Dissociative Identity Disorder

Maria L Slowiaczek, Ph.D 

11:00 A.M.-1:00 P.M.

In treating a patient with DID, the analyst enters into a world of multiplicity where each alter wants to be approached with an openness to their differing developmental needs and distinct subjectivities.   The analyst’s attunement to these multiple subjectivities helps to process traumatic experiences and to develop new capacities for relatedness and self-awareness.   Within the context of the analytic relationship, the alter personalities begin to engage in relationships with each other, moving from a position of isolation to cooperative internal communication. 

The case presented describes a traumatized child alter who cannot speak learns to use her hand as a puppet to communicate.  She begins to process her traumatic experiences, to grow into new ways of relating and to communicate with other alters.

Maria L. Slowiaczek, Ph.D. is in private practice in Ann Arbor where she works with adults in psychoanalysis and adults and couples in psychotherapy.  She is a Clinical Supervisor at the University of Michigan Psychological Clinic where she has taught seminars and supervised graduate students for 13 years.  Dr. Slowiaczek is also an analyst trained at The National Training Program in Contemporary Psychoanalysis in New York.  She was recently elected to the Council of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology

University Club
East Lansing, Michigan

Directions to the University Club

February 15, 2009

11:00 A.M.-1:00 P.M.

Richard Sterba’s Roots
in Psychoanalysis and Social Justice

Elizabeth Ann Danto, Ph.D.

In this presentation, Dr. Elizabeth Ann Danto will present the striking, and too often neglected, history of Freud and other psychoanalysts’ intense social activism and their commitment to treating the poor and working classes. Joining the social democratic and artistic movements that swept across Europe between 1920 and 1938, the psychoanalysts created a transnational network of free outpatient treatment centers.

Drawing on archival and oral histories, Dr. Danto portrays the successes and challenges faced by the Berlin Poliklinik, the Vienna Ambulatorium and Wilhelm Reich’s Sex-Pol. Included is the history of major treatment innovations such as child analysis, short-term therapy, crisis intervention, task-centered treatment, active therapy, and clinical case presentations.

Elizabeth Ann Danto, PhD, is associate professor and chair of Human Behavior in the Social Environment at Hunter College School of Social Work, City University of New York. Her book "Freud's Free Clinics - Psychoanalysis and Social Justice, 1918-1938" (Columbia University Press, 2005) received both the Gradiva Award and the Goethe Prize.