Looking Beyond the Manifest: Revisiting What We Theorize and What We Do, featuring Joyce Slochower, Ph.D., ABPP

Morning Program - A Few Regrets

In the morning portion of this conference, Dr. Slochower turns a fresh eye on her own theory of relational holding by subjecting it to self-critique. Interrogating its contribution and limits, she addresses what is problematic in the implicit analytic ideal embedded in the concept of holding. How does this vision of therapeutic process add to and narrow the clinical arena? What is absent, overlooked, or just plain wrong in this perspective? Implicitly, Dr. Slochower challenges us to do the same—to revisit our dearly held clinical attitudes with the aim of revealing their underbellies. She demonstrates how this kind of investigation can result in a freer, less defensively locked-in way of conceptualizing clinical work.

Afternoon Program - Sequels: A second look at non-sexual friendships between ex-analyst and ex-patient

In the afternoon we will turn our attention to a clinical underbelly common to both psychoanalysis and psychotherapy: the space between our termination ideal and the rarity with which “complete” terminations occur. This gap is perhaps best explored by considering sequels – instances in which ex-analyst and ex-patient become nonsexual friends post treatment. The meanings and implications of these post-termination friendships – their complexities, problematic edges, serious difficulties, and the potential therapeutic benefit of this deviation from the termination ideal- are illustrated using the unfinished story of a good treatment and its yet-to-be defined ending. I aim to interrogate our model of termination and to elucidate the complexities of treatment sequels for both patient and analyst.

This conference is designed for social workers, psychologists, psychoanalysts, mental health professionals, and psychiatrists, targeting intermediate to advanced level clinicians. Six CEs are available. The preceding day will feature a pre-conference seminar on the Zoom platform. If you would like to sign up for both days, check out our Events page to find the package available at a discounted price.

Please see the attached brochure for more details, including information about CEs, the day's schedule, discussion group leaders, cancellation policies, learning objectives, and references to relevant reading prior to the conference.

About the presenter

Joyce Slochower, Ph.D., ABPP is Professor Emerita of Psychology at CUNY; Faculty, NYU Postdoctoral Program, Steven Mitchell Center, National Training Program of NIP, & PINC in San Francisco. Second Editions of her books, Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective and Psychoanalytic Collisions were released in 2014. She is co-Editor, with Lew Aron and Sue Grand, of De-Idealizing Relational Theory: A Critique from Within and Decentering Relational Theory: A Comparative Critique (2018, Routledge). Her forthcoming book, Psychoanalysis and the Unspoken, is in press with Routledge. She is in private practice in New York City where she sees individuals and couples and runs supervision and study groups.