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QUOTE of the DAY  DR. JEFFREY SEINFELD MEMORIAL

Current Concepts in Object Relations Theory on Psychic Change and Clinical Process

- a new certificate program @ ORI - with  Dr. Susan Kavaler-Adler - offered for in-person and virtual participation

This program consists of three 10-week trimesters, which can be taken as separate certificate courses, each earning 12hrs of continuing education/ post-graduate credits.

Where: In-person (115 East 9th Street- @ 3rd Ave, 12P, NY, NY, 10003) or

Virtual (audio/video - with minimal technical requirements)

Tuition: $450/ 10 week course (can be paid in 2 installments)

2014-2015 Academic Year: 1st trimester: October 7, 2014 - December 9, 2014 (Tuesdays, 9 am - 10:10 am)

Current Clinical Object Relations Concepts: Object survival; Developmental mirroring; Pathological narcissistic mirroring; Mirroring vulnerability, Addiction to “bad objects”; Malignant vs. benign regression; Mourning; Developmental mourning; and Transitional and potential space and transitional objects.

Syllabus: First trimester

1.  Object Survival

D. W. Winnicott’s concept of “object survival”:  read “The use of an object and relating through identifications” in Winnicott (1971) Playing and Reality.

2. Object Survival in Clinical Case Illustration

Reading:  case illustration of “object survival” – read “Opening up blocked mourning in the preoedipal character” (Kavaler-Adler, 1995, American Journal of Psychoanalysis).

3.  Developmental Mirroring

D. W. Winnicott’s concept of “developmental mirroring”: read A) “Mirror-role of mother and family in child development” in Winnicott (1971) “Playing and Reality.”  B) “From benign mirror to demon lover:  An object Relations view of compulsion versus desire” by Kavaler-Adler (2005), American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 65, 31-52.

4.  Pathological Narcissistic Mirroring

Pathological narcissistic mirroring – is related to Winnicott’s “Mirroring role…” paper, describing the mother who projects her own self when is looking at her child.  Read: “Mirror Mirror on the Wall…” (Kavaler-Adler, 1985, Journal of Comprehensive Psychotherapy, 5, 1-38) and “Lord of the mirrors and the demon lover” (Kavaler-Adler, 1985, American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 48(4), 366-370).

5. Mirroring Vulnerability, Not Grandiosity

James Masterson on “mirroring vulnerability”:  Read A) Chapter on mirroring vulnerability in Narcissistic and Borderline Disorders (Masterson, 1981).  B) “Narcissistic mirroring as a perversion of developmental mirroring” (chapter on pathological narcissistic mirroring, in Kavaler-Adler, 2014, The Klein-Winnicott Dialectic:  Transformative New Metapsychology and Interactive Clinical Theory, pp. 209-223.)

6. The Addiction to “Bad Objects”

Read Ronald Fairbairn, and his concept of “bad objects” and addictions to bad objects in his book of collected Papers:  Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality (Fairbairn, 1952); chapter on “The repression and the return of bad objects” (with special references to the war neuroses). Also read “Nightmares and object relations theory,” (Kavaler-Adler, 1985, in H. Kellerman [Ed.], Nightmares: Biological and Psychological Foundations” and “Seduction, date rape, and aborted surrender” (Kavaler-Adler, 2010, International Forum of Psychoanalysis journal, 19; 15-26).

7.   Malignant vs. Benign Regression

Malignant (vs. benign) regression is the theory proposed by Michael Balint in his book, The Basic Fault (1979). Read: A) Basic Fault; B) “The Beginning of Heartache…” (Kavaler-Adler, 2014, Paper presentation at IFPS).

8. Mourning

Mourning as a clinical and developmental process is a concept proposed by Melanie Klein in her paper, “Mourning and its relation to manic depressive states.”

Read: “Mourning and its relation to manic depressive states” (Klein, 1940; In Love, Guilt, and Reparation and Other Works 1921-1945 [1975]). 

9. Developmental Mourning

Developmental mourning is a concept proposed by Kavaler-Adler, following and expanding on Klein’s idea of mourning.

Read from Kavaler-Adler:  A) “Pivotal moments of surrender to mourning the parental internal objects” (Psychoanalytic Review, 2007, 94, 763-789); B) “Mourning and erotic transference” (International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 1992, 73(3), 527-539); C) See also in depth cases in Kavaler-Adler’s  books, including Mourning, spirituality, and psychic change: A new object relations view of psychoanalysis (Routledge, 2003, 2004 NAAP’s Gradiva Award). Other books on “developmental mourning” can be seen on www.kavaleradler.com

10.  Transitional and Potential Space and Transitional Objects

Concepts of transitional and potential space and transitional objects were proposed by D.W. Winnicott.

Read:  A) “Transitional objects and transitional phenomena—A study of the first not me possession” (International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 34, 89-97; republished in Playing and Reality, 1971); B) Clinical examples of the concept – in Kavaler-Adler, The Klein-Winnicott Dialectic:  Transformative New Metapsychology and Interactive Clinical Theory (Karnac Press, 2014); chapter on transitional space (pp.115-148), “Developmental evolution within the works of D. W. Winnicott: Psychic and transitional space.”

Bio of the Instructor:    Susan Kavaler-Adler, Ph.D., ABPP, D. Litt., NCPsyA, is the Founder and Executive Director of the Object Relations Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and a Diplomat in Psychoanalysis from the American Board of Professional Psychology.  Dr. Kavaler-Adler has been practicing for 39 years as a psychologist and psychoanalyst.  She is a Training Analyst, and a Senior Supervising Analyst, who runs monthly supervision groups, and does individual supervision. She has conducted workshops, and presented at conferences and institutes for 39 years.

Dr. Kavaler-Adler is also a prolific author in the field of Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, and Object Relations theory and clinical practice.  Five of her books are:  The Klein-Winnicott Dialectic: New Transformative Metapsychology and Interactive Clinical Theory (Karnac 2014); The Anatomy of Regret: From Death Instinct to Reparation and Symbolization in Vivid Case Studies; Mourning, Spirituality and Psychic Change: A New Object Relations View of Psychoanalysis (Routledge, 2003, Gradiva Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis, NAAP, 2004); The Compulsion to Create: Women Writers and Their Demon Lovers (Routledge 1993, ORI Academic Press 2013); The Creative Mystique:  From Red Shoes Frenzy to Love and Creativity (Routledge 1996, ORI Academic Press 2014).  Dr. Kavaler-Adler also has over 60 journal articles and edited book chapters on many topics related to Object Relations theory and Psychoanalysis, topics such as Erotic Transference, Fear of Success, Fear of Intimacy, Self Sabotage, The Supervisor as an Internal Object,  Homoerotic Transference, Pivotal Moments of Surrender to Mourning the Parental Internal Object, Nightmares and Object Relations Theory, The Subject of Seclusion, Date Rape, Seduction, Opening Up Mourning in the Preoedipal Character, Why Narcissists Can’t Mourn, etc. Dr. Kavaler-Adler has won 14 awards in the field for her writing. 

For more information, visit www.kavaleradler.com or write to drkavaleradler@gmail.com or to admin@orinyc.org

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