2025 Annual Meeting with Seminar by Paul Cooper, Ph.D., L.P.
Annual Business Meeting
Please plan to join us for our VAPS Annual Business Meeting followed by a free CE presentation.
Schedule
12:00 – 2:00pm Annual Business Meeting
2:00 – 3:00pm Light Snacks and Social Time
3:00 – 5:00pm FREE 2 CE presentation by Seiso Paul Cooper, Ph.D., L.P.
Psychoanalysis & Buddhism: A Realizational Perspective Presented by Seiso Paul Cooper, Ph.D., L.P.
This seminar examines the integration of Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis in a clinically relevant manner derived from the works of the British psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion and the Soto Zen teacher Eihei Dōgen, which is based on and elaborated in terms of these four major points described as the "realizational model." They include:
- Primacy of experience rooted in the present moment;
- Radical openness to unknowing;
- Relationship between intuition and cognition;
- Shift from an emphasis on static mind states to the fluidity of psychic functions and actional relationships.
It is within the structure provided by these four points that the realizational orientation will be elaborated. The seminar is an intermediate level activity appropriate for graduate students and graduate level practitioners in the mental health field.
Learning objectives:
Participants will be able to:
- Describe the four points of the Realizational Model of psychoanalytic theory and practice.
- Apply the Zen concept of dependent co-arising in relation to the transference/countertransference dynamic
- Practice the Zen practice of "just sitting" meditation and recognize its impact on enhanced psychoanalytic listening.
- Explain the clinical use of “negative” states, such as the analyst’s inattention as related to the patient’s inner world.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
2 CEs are available for participants who attend this program in its entirety. VAPS is a local chapter of SPPP (Division 39). SPPP is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. SPPP maintains responsibility for the program and its content. APA sponsored continuing education credits are typically accepted by the licensure boards for Psychoanalysts, Social Workers, and Licensed Mental Health Counselors. Upon completion of the program evaluation by participants, a certificate of completion will be issued. This serves as a document of attendance for all participants. Psychologists will have their participation reported to Division 39: SPPP.
VAPS and Division 39: SPPP are committed to accessibility and nondiscrimination in CE activities and will conduct all activities in conformity with the APA’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists. If participants have special needs, reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate them. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. There is no commercial support for either program nor any relationship between the CE sponsor, presenting organization, and presenter that could reasonably be considered a conflict of interest. Participants will be informed of the utility/validity of the content/approach discussed (including the basis for the statements about validity/utility), as well as the limitations of the approach and most common (and severe) risks, if any, associated with the program’s content.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
PAUL C. COOPER, PH.D., LP is a licensed psychoanalyst; Zen Buddhist Priest and formally transmitted Zen teacher. Faculty and Supervisor: Metropolitan Institute for Training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Adult Program. Member: American Zen Teachers Association. Founder and Guiding Teacher: Barre Zen Circle; Former Dean of Training: National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis; Faculty, Training Analyst, Supervisor: Institute for Expressive Analysis; Faculty: Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science; California Institute for Integral Studies: Clinic Without Walls; Award-winning author: Psychoanalysis & Zen Buddhism: A Realizational Perspective (2023), Zen Insight, Psychoanalytic Action: Two Arrows Meeting (2019), The Zen Impulse and the Psychoanalytic Encounter (2010). He has presented his work on Buddhism and Psychoanalysis internationally. He currently organizes, facilitates and leads meditation retreats especially tailored for mental health professionals that integrate Buddhist theory and practice with psychoanalytic psychotherapy and he maintains a private practice in Montpelier.
REFERENCES:
Alfano, C. (2005). Traversing the caesura: Transcendent attunement in Buddhist meditation and psychoanalysis. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 41: 223-247.
Bobrow, J. (2004). Presence of mind. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies,1:18-35.
Christensen, A., & Rudnick, S. (1999). A glimpse of Zen practice within the realm of countertransference. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 59: 59-69.
Cooper, P. (2014b). Zen meditation, reverie, and psychoanalytic listening. Psychoanalytic Review, 101: 795-813.
Epstein, M. (1988). Attention and psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought, 11: 171–189.
Rubin, J. (1985). Meditation and psychoanalytic listening. Psychoanalytic Review, 72, (599 – 614).