205 – Analytic Approach to Treatment – Part 2
Description: This 16-session course is the second part of a yearlong sequence aimed at helping the psychoanalytic therapist conceptualize an intense therapeutic relationship that is at the core of the psychoanalytic process. As a process aimed at freeing the patient’s inner life, psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy are distinguished from other therapies by the principle that has been termed the analytic attitude. It is this principle that differentiates psychoanalytic treatments from those therapies in which the focus is generally limited to symptom relief and behavioral change.
This course is intended to deepen the student’s capacity to conceptualize, listen, and intervene in an analytic fashion- both in exploratory interventions and in supportive ones. Class readings, discussion, and use of case examples will explore the conditions under which the therapist and patient meet and consider how each of their needs and expectations may naturally foster an exploratory process. Attention will be paid to the practical considerations required for facilitating a holding environment, and to the patient’s strengths, limitations, and needs for attachment, safety, and mastery. We will explore the creation of an atmosphere of non-intrusive curiosity and non-judgmental acceptance as well as how to help the patient to engage in treatment and the importance of working with affective tone. We will explore the use of transference and counter-transference, how to address resistances, and how to promote the use of free association. Finally, we will explore the conditions which point to the readiness for ending treatment and how to facilitate this process.
Target Audience: This course is intended for clinicians at the beginning to intermediate levels.
Prerequisite: Applicants must have completed PCC Course, Analytic Approach to Treatment, Part 1 (or earlier versions of that course). Applicants who do not meet this requirement can register for the course with permission of the instructors.