Seminar Series - Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis

Co-sponsored by the MIP Trauma Studies Program

Course: When Stress Causes Pain, Can the Psychoanalyst Intervene?

Instructors: Frances Sommer Anderson, Ph.D., SEP, and Eric Sherman, Psy.D.

In the midst of the pain epidemic and ensuing opioid addiction crisis, psychoanalysts have the opportunity to learn interventions based on the conceptualization of somatic pain as a complex subjective construction comprised of sensations, emotions, and beliefs/cognitions. This psychoanalytic perspective is congruent with contemporary research on the neuroscience of pain, trauma, and cognitive and emotion processing. In this six-session course, participants will be introduced to this research and its implications for integration into a psychoanalytically-informed model for treating Psychophysiologic Pain Disorders (PPD). In contrast to pain management, this treatment model aims to eliminate somatic pain by elucidating and resolving underlying emotional and/or physical trauma residues and emotional conflicts which may have contributed to its development. Relevant readings and experiential processes will be assigned for each class.

Dates: Part I: Sundays, January 13 and 27, and February 3, 2019, from 11 am to 1 pm (taught by Dr. Anderson)

Part II: Saturdays, February 9 and 23, and March 2, 2019, 11 am to 1 pm (taught by Dr. Sherman)

Participants should attend both Part I and Part II.

Cost: $360 and candidates $300 (Proof of Institute affiliation required) 12 hours CEUs for NYS Social Workers will be awarded.

CEUs for NYS Social Workers: 12

Locations: Part I: Office of Dr. Sommer Anderson, 140 E. 40^th St., #12A, New York, NY 10016

Part II: Office of Dr. Sherman, 19 W. 34^th St., PH Floor, New York, NY 10001

Frances Sommer Anderson, Ph.D., SEP, is a psychologist and psychoanalyst whose clinical work, teaching, and publications have focused on the body since she was a clinical psychology intern in 1974 at the Rusk Institute-NYU Langone Medical Center. She has specialized in treating chronic pain and other psychophysiologic disorders since 1979 when she began treating back pain patients at Rusk. Her approach to treatment is informed by specialized training in treating trauma and current developments in the neurobiology of affect, trauma, and pain. She is on the faculty of the Manhattan Institute’s Certificate Program in Trauma Studies.

Eric G. Sherman, Psy.D., a graduate of The New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, has a full-time private practice in New York. Since completing his clinical psychology internship in 1984 at Rusk Institute-NYU Langone Medical Center, Dr. Sherman has specialized in the assessment and treatment of mindbody disorders, as well as the psychological issues associated with serious medical illness and disability. Together with Dr. Frances Sommer Anderson, Dr. Sherman co-authored Pathways to Pain Relief (2013) which details how treatment for psychophysiologic pain disorders works from the perspective of both the patient and the therapist. Dr. Sherman is a founding Board Member of the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association and was recently appointed co-chair of the Committee on Health Care and Psychoanalysis of Division 39.

Course: Introduction to Writing A Psychoanalytic Article

Instructor: Christopher Bandini, LCSW

Both beginning and established practitioners often find writing for professional publication to be a difficult and daunting process. In this experiential and practical workshop, we will confront the specific challenges posed by psychoanalytic writing. Participants’ feelings and anxieties about writing and submitting clinical material for consumption by colleagues and/or the public will be explored. We will read and discuss examples of strong analytic writing to learn from the styles of excellent writers in the field. Optional writing exercises will be assigned between meetings, and participants will have the opportunity to present their writing to the group and receive feedback in a supportive environment.

Dates: Saturdays, January 26 and February 9, 2019, from 10am -12pm

Cost: $120 and candidates $100 (Proof of Institute affiliation required.) CEUs for NY State Social Workers: 4

Location: Office of Chris Bandini, 303 Fifth Avenue (at 31st Street), Room 1703, New York, NY 10016

Christopher Bandini, LCSW, is a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. A graduate of the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis, he teaches and supervises at several psychoanalytic institutes. His writing focuses on the daily challenges of contemporary analytic practice. His article, “The Good Job: Financial Anxiety, Class Envy and Drudgery in Beginning a Private Practice,” appeared in Contemporary Psychoanalysis in 2010. He is also one of the hosts of the New Books in Psychoanalysis podcast.

Co-sponsored by the MIP Trauma Studies Program

Course: The Treatment of Trauma from a Relational Psychoanalytic Perspective

Instructor: Jonathan Kurfirst, Ph.D.

jdkurf@aol.com

The effect of trauma on the human psyche has become a topic of growing importance to mental health professionals. This course will present the relational psychoanalytic approach to understanding and treating trauma, and will demonstrate why this model can have a significant impact in healing. The core of the course will focus on dissociation as a process that impacts the psychological self. The challenges of working with unformulated and nonverbal material that is a consequence of dissociation is highlighted. The therapist’s use of his or her own changing experiences of themselves and of the patient over time is presented as a technique to address this challenge. Along these lines, various typical transference-countertransference matrices will be presented. Participants will be invited to present their own case material to help illustrate the concepts under consideration.

Dates: Saturdays, March 2, 9, 23, and 30, 2019, from 10:30-12.

CEUs for NY State Social Workers: 6

Location: Manhattan Institute, 245 E. 13^th St, New York, NY 10003

Jonathan Kurfirst, Ph.D., is a faculty member of the Manhattan Institute’s Certificate Program in Trauma Studies, where he teaches a course on Trauma and Attachment Theory and serves as a clinical supervisor. He serves on MIP’s Steering Committee and has written for the Analysis Now blog. Additionally, he is a Supervisor of Psychotherapy at the Karen Horney Clinic, where he teaches a course on the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Trauma in the fellowship program. He has worked for over thirty years on an inpatient unit treating profoundly traumatized adolescents. Dr. Kurfirst is a graduate of the Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy at Adelphi University’s Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological studies.

Course: The Impact of Race and Ethnicity on Transference and Countertransference in Clinical Practice

Instructor: Chanda Griffin, LCSW

In our current socio-political climate, there is a heightened awareness of racial and ethnic identity and its pervasive impact systemically and psychologically. In the consulting room, clinician and patient alike bring conscious and unconscious fantasies of the other shaped by their unique racial and ethnic experiences. This course will explore race and ethnicity as important dimensions of analytic work for both clinician and patient, introducing specific racial and ethnic factors that manifest in both inter-racial and intra-racial transference-countertransference matrices.

Dates: Fridays, April 12 and 19, 2019, from 2-5 pm

Cost: $180 and candidates $150 (Proof of Institute affiliation required.) CEUs for NY State Social Workers: 6 CEUs for NY State Social Workers: 6

Location: Office of Chanda Griffin, 286 Fifth Ave, #7E, New York, NY 10001

Chanda D. Griffin, LCSW, is co-chair of the Multicultural Committee at the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Silberman Graduate School of Social Work at Hunter College, where she teaches various clinical courses. Additionally, she provides trainings and supervision on psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A graduate of MIP’s Certificate Program in Psychoanalysis, she is in private practice in Manhattan.

Course: Ethics in Everyday Psychoanalytic Practice

Instructor: Blair Casdin, LCSW-R

Ethical questions arise in analysis from the moment a patient makes the first contact. Simply deciding whether to take a case launches an analyst into an ethical decision-making process that continues and complicates over the course of the treatment. This seminar will provide participants the opportunity to explore ethical dilemmas in psychoanalytic practice, from the everyday (“Is it okay to text my patient?”) to the existential (“Is it possible to ‘do no harm’?”). By juxtaposing the psychoanalytic literature on the topic with pop culture test cases drawn from film, television, podcasts, and short stories, we will explore the current state of ethics in our field. Participants will be invited to present clinical material from their own practices.

Dates: Saturdays, April 27, May 4, and May 11, 2019, from 10-12 am

Cost: $180 and candidates $150 (Proof of Institute affiliation required.) CEUs for NY State Social Workers: 6 CEUs for New York State Social Workers: 6

Location: Office of Blair Casdin, 26 W. 9^th St., Suite 2D (between 5th and 6th Ave.), New York, NY 10011

Blair Casdin, LCSW-R, is a graduate of the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis Certificate Program in Psychoanalysis and teaches Ethics in Psychoanalysis in the License Qualifying Program. She co-chairs the Colloquium Committee, and is the founder and co-editor of MIP’s Analysis Now blog. In her spare time, she puts on the occasional cabaret show and can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, and SoundCloud.