

Psychoanalysis On and Off the Couch
Harvey Schwartz MD
Psychoanalysis applied outside the office.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 31, 2021 • 58min
Off the Couch and into the Political Arena with John, Lord Alderdice FRCPsych (Oxford)
"I decided I would try to understand things psychologically because it seemed to me that the current wisdom that people were acting as rational actors operating in their own best interests didn’t actually fit the facts. Many people and communities were doing things that were harmful to themselves. I thought, ‘Well, one profession that spends a lot of its time exploring why individuals and indeed communities do things that harm themselves rather than operating in their best interest is psychiatry and indeed psychoanalysis’. So I went into medicine and qualified in medicine and then in psychiatry and later I went into analysis and tried to explore individual psychoanalytic work, but also group analysis, family therapy - any of the approaches that seemed to me would deepen our understanding." Episode Description: John begins by describing the early family influences on his interest in hearing others’ points of view. He developed this orientation and eventually trained as a psychiatrist and then received training in psychoanalysis which he has brought to the many negotiations in which he has participated. He learned to appreciate the centrality of relationship building in his political work. We discuss the fundamentals of analytic listening as it applies in the political arena which includes the expectation that disruptions inevitably characterize the back and forth of these tense collaborations. He describes his ongoing work in monthly IPA-affiliated meetings that are devoted to considering how a psychoanalytic perspective may ease struggles in the international arena. We close with his explaining the meaning of his title of Lord. Our Guest: John, Lord Alderdice FRCPsych is a psychiatrist who served as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland for eleven years. Dr. Alderdice played a significant role in negotiating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. He then stood down as Party Leader and became the first Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly. As the first Assembly mandate was ending, he was appointed by the British and Irish Governments to be one of four international commissioners appointed to monitor security normalization and close down the illegal paramilitary activities in Ireland. He had been appointed in 1996 to the House of Lords where he chaired the Liberal Democrat caucus during the Liberal/Conservative Coalition Government in the United Kingdom. He was also for many years a psychoanalytical psychiatrist in Belfast where he established the Centre for Psychotherapy and a range of analytically informed trainings. Now retired from clinical work he is a Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, at the University of Oxford, and is the Director of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict. Recommended Readings: Alderdice, John, Lord (2010) Off the couch and round the conference table, Chap 1, 15 – 32, in Off the Couch – Contemporary Psychoanalytic Applications, ed Alessandra Lemma and Matthew Patrick, Routledge, London, and New York ISBN: 978-0-415-47615-7 Alderdice, John, Lord, (2017) Fundamentalism, Radicalization and Terrorism Part I: Terrorism as Dissolution in a Complex System, Psychoanal. Psychotherapy Alderdice, John, Lord, (2017) Fundamentalism, Radicalization and Terrorism Part II: Fundamentalism, Regression and Repair, Psychoanal. Psychotherapy, Alderdice, John, Lord (2021) On the Psychology of Religious Fundamentalism, Chap 11, 193 - 212, in A Deeper Cut – Further Explorations of the Unconscious in Social and Political Life, ed. David Morgan, Phoenix Publishing House, Bicester, UK ISBN-13: 978-1-912691-19-7 Alderdice, John, Lord (2021) Conflict, Complexity, and Cooperation, New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 33: Iss. 1, Article 9.

Oct 17, 2021 • 50min
Why Do We Read Books? Literature and Psychoanalysis with Merav Roth, Ph.D.
Clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, Merav Roth, discusses the transformative experience of reading books and the unique space of literature where readers can delve into their own existential struggles. They explore the impact of literature on the reader's mind, the importance of storytelling, and the ethical aspect of reading. They also discuss controversial books and the role of literature in understanding and accepting different cultures and perspectives.

Oct 3, 2021 • 32min
The 4th Wall and the Movable Analytic Frame with Isacc Tylim, PsyD
"The frame begins to cry - something gets broken in the analytic session. What do we do then? We interpret just based on early material, what we know about the patient, some kind of reconstruction? Or are we facing a piece of reality that cannot be analyzed, just analyzed. It might be acknowledged that you have to face it in some way or other, and this is the similarity with what might happen when the 4th wall is disrupted." Episode Description: We begin with an understanding of the 4th wall as it refers to the actor's stage - the removal from reality, immersion in metaphor, and the illusion of not being witnessed. Isaac describes how this informs his sense of the analytic frame which he sees as a "choreography between the internal and external worlds." We discuss the challenge of engaging patients when the dyad together faces external dangers. These moments provide an opportunity for "connectivity" to be followed by a return to metaphor. We close by discussing his personal journey from Argentina to eventually landing in the United States. We consider the similarities and differences between analysis in Buenos Aires and in New York. Our Guest: Isaac Tylim, PsyD is on the Faculty and Clinical Consultant New York University Postdoctoral Program and is a Fellow and Training Analyst at the Institute For Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He is a former Secretary of the IPA committee in the UN, Co-Founder of the Trauma and Disaster Specialization Program at the NYU Postdoctoral Program, and is a past member of the editorial board of JAPA He played the role of Ferenczi in a theatrical event based on the correspondence between Freud and Ferenczi- (Prague, London, Buenos Aires, New York, Philadelphia. Denver) Recommended Readings: The Power of Apologies in Transforming Resentment into Forgiveness, I J of Applied Psychoanal Studies, 2005. 2(3). Living with Terror. Working with Trauma, Skyscrapers and Bones. Memorials to Lost Objects in the Culture of Desire. In D Knaffo,2004, NY: Aronson Terrorism and the Psychoanalytic Space (co-editor) 2003, NY: Pace University Ethical Notes on Disrupted Frames and Violated Boundaries. Psychoanalysis in Argentina. A Couch with a View. Psychoanalytic Dialogues.1996 6 (5) Reconsidering the Moveable Frame in Psychoanalysis. (Co-editor), 2018 London and New York: Routledge The Fourth Wall Comes Down. Creative Responses to the Unexpected Room. 2018 NY IPTAR The Power of Apologies in Transforming Resentment into Forgiveness I J of Applied Psychoanal Studies.2005 2(3).

Sep 19, 2021 • 42min
Presidential Reflections on Psychoanalysis with Virginia Ungar, MD (Buenos Aires)
“First, when we started to work online, it was exhausting. Now, I cannot say it is exhausting at the same level but it is still exhausting. You feel very tired and you miss the in-person contact. It has been more than one and a half years...I think that we will be able to think about the consequences and the impact of working in this way, and in the upcoming years we will have a lot of material.” Episode Description: We begin with a review of our first two podcast conversations - the first being the inaugural episode and the second coming one year later at the beginning of the COVID lockdown. Now we are able to look back at what we hope is the worst of the pandemic and its impact on our lives and on analytic practice. The clinical implications for online and in-person contact will be studied for some time ahead. Virginia discusses her views on the politics of the IPA, the meaning of being the first woman president, and the importance of her being a child analyst. We close with an affirmation of her optimism for our field which is seen as more essential than ever. Our Guest: Virginia Ungar M.D, is a Training Analyst at the Buenos Aires Psychoanalytic Association (APdeBA) where she lives and practices. She specializes in child and adolescent analysis, was the former Chair of the IPA’s Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis Committee (COCAP) and of the Committee for Integrated Training. Dr. Ungar was given the Platinum Konex Award for Psychoanalysis in 2016. She has just completed her term as the President of the International Psychoanalytic Association, 2017-2021.

Sep 5, 2021 • 1h 10min
Fifty Years On, a Survivor of Torture Reflects on his Therapeutic Practice with John Schlapobersky, BA MSc (London)
They forced me into this tiny little interrogation room off the big anteroom, a whole mob of policemen shouting and screaming. I thought I would perish there, that I was going to die there and then, which was exactly what they wanted me to think. Their intention was to overwhelm me with terror, and they did. But then Swanepoel’s interrogation partner, a man named Harvey Richter, produced this brick and he held it up in front of me right across my eyes and I thought, looking at its granular surface, that it would abrade my face when he hit me with it. But he didn't, he put it down in front of me and said: Stand on it. Episode Description: John begins our journey through his past by describing his family life before his arrest and torture at the age of 21 at the hands of the South African Security Police. We learn of his family's longstanding history of opposition to political injustice. He then recounts his methods of survival during his imprisonment which included forming a 'relationship' with the brick he was forced to stand on for days and nights. He also internally relied upon his loving parents, his girlfriend, his Jewish identity, and The Sounds of Silence. He was held in solitary confinement and brutalized until his release to travel to Israel. After establishing his life in England, John eventually began training as a psychotherapist. He describes having life-changing personal treatments including two analyses and he has become a contributor to the field especially to the world of analytic group therapy. He shares with us vignettes of patients he has worked with and how he has turned 'swords into plowshares' in his efforts at transforming his own scars into the act of healing others. Our Guest: John Schlapobersky, BA MSc is a psychoanalytic and couple psychotherapist and a group analyst accredited by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. After many years in private practice at the Group Analytic Practice, he established his own Bloomsbury Psychotherapy Practice in 2009. He is also a training analyst and faculty member at the Institute of Group Analysis and an honorary research fellow at the Birkbeck College University of London. He has served as faculty at the London Centre for Psychotherapy, Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR) and is a founding member of the British Society for Couple Psychotherapists and Counsellors. He teaches internationally on topics that include group studies, psychoanalytic and relational theory, and trauma. His commitments include programs in Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA, and elsewhere. He was Program Chair for the Group Analytic Society Symposium in 2011: Cultures, Conflict, and Creativity. John was formerly a Consultant Psychotherapist for the Traumatic Stress Clinic, London, and The Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture which, as a founding trustee, he helped establish in 1985. It is now called Freedom From Torture, a leading human rights charity. Recommended Readings: Bernstein, H. (1994) The Rift: The Exile Experience of South Africans. London: Jonathan Cape. Reissued Persephone Books, Bath UK, 2020. Pines, M. (1998) Circular Reflections: Selected Papers in Psychoanalysis and Group Analysis. Jessica Kingsley, London. Rosenthal, N. (2014) The Gift of Adversity. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. Sachs, Albie. (1969) The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs. London: Sphere. Reissued Africa Book Centre, London, 1978. Sachs, Albie (1990) The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter. Oakland: University of California Press. Reissued Souvenir Press, 2014. Schlapobersky, J. (2016) From The Couch To The Circle: Group-Analytic Psychotherapy In Practice. Routledge, London. Schlapobersky, John R.(2021) When They Came For Me: The Hidden Diary Of An Apartheid Prisoner. Berghan Books, Oxford and New York.

Aug 22, 2021 • 37min
The Return to the Office with Marilia Aisenstein, Part II
I observe what many of the French analysts and my supervisees say [about online treatment] - they are absolutely happy by how fantastic the patients talk, they talk much easier than before, they have dreams, and they relate their dreams and even sexual fantasies which they never did before. I understand them of course because they talk to them as easily as they would talk to a taxi driver that they will never see again. Episode Description: We begin by recalling our first conversation in March 2020 (Episode #43) at the beginning of the lockdown in Paris and the switch from in-person to online analytic treatment. We discuss the impact of the missing bodies in the office and its implications for the freedom that some patients now feel to be more open. Marilia wondered about how analysands will feel when they return to in-person treatment after revealing more online than they would have otherwise tolerated. This forced experiment in technique will hopefully shed light on what is essential in our work in contrast to what are non-essential "rules." We also discuss her 45 years of practicing analysis, her deepened comforts in aloneness, and her view on the future of our field. Our Guest: Marilia Aisenstein is a Training and Supervising Analyst in the Hellenic Society and the Paris Society and past president of the Paris Society. She has served as the IPA's Board representative to the Executive Committee and the past president of the International New Groups Committee. She has been the Editor and co-founder of the French Review of Psychosomatics and President of the Paris Institute of Psychosomatics. Her most recent book translated into English is Desire, Pain, and Thought. Episode referred to http://ipaoffthecouch.org/2020/03/31/episode-43-a-report-from-paris-with-marilia-aisenstein/

Aug 8, 2021 • 45min
Cultural Complexity: Palestinian Therapist - Jewish Patient with Roney Srour, PhD
A decade ago I started to tell my colleagues that there is something big here in the therapeutic room and if we don’t talk about it in the room and in supervision there’s something we are missing here. We are not talking just about two people who can speak only on the humanistic level - just to be human one to the other or a good object one to the other. We have to talk about what is going on outside and how every one of us in this therapeutic dyad is coming from a threatening group to the other. Episode Description: We begin by appreciating how ethnic affiliations have a presence in the therapeutic encounter. Whether therapist/patient cultural allegiances are manifestly similar or different, when the therapeutic space allows for exploration internal meaning can be revealed. These possibilities become fraught when the external representations of these ethnicities are at actual war. Dr. Srour describes working through his countertransference struggles which he felt was essential in coming to empathize with the internal experiences of his Jewish patients. He characterizes this as 'political countertransference' and feels that the freedom to speak of outside realities in the treatment dyad is an essential aspect of a deepening psychotherapy. Our Guest: Dr. Roney Srour, a Palestinian-Israeli clinical and educational psychologist is married and the father of 2 sons who lives in Haifa and works as a clinical psychologist in the Israeli Ministry of Health and in private practice. Dr. Srour teaches and researches “psychodynamic psychotherapy with cultural and political competence” at the University of Haifa and is a lecturer and supervisor in two post-graduate programs of psychotherapy. He is an activist in the field of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Recommended Readings: Gorkin, M. (1986). Counter-Transference in Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy: The Example of Jewish Therapist and Arab Patient. Psychiatry, 49, 69-79. Srour, R. (2015) Transference and Countertransference Issues During Times of Violent Political Conflict: The Arab Therapist-Jewish Patient Dyad, Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(1). Baum, N. (2011). Issues in Psychotherapy with Clients Affiliated with the Opposing Side in a Violent Political Conflict. Clinical Social Work Journal, 39, 91-100. Altman, N. (2000). Black and White Thinking: A Psychoanalyst Reconsiders Race. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 10(4), 589-605. Ghassan Kanafani, Men in the Sun Lynne Rienner Publishers 1999

Jul 25, 2021 • 49min
Large Groups, Diplomacy, and Psychoanalysis with Vamik Volkan, MD
"Thousands or millions of people who will never meet each other sharing certain sentiments - these sentiments have historical, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. When I started this, of course, conflicts between large groups have certain realistic aspects as you can imagine: political, personal and legal ones, but underneath those I figured out that everything is in the name of maintaining and protecting one's large group." Episode Description: Dr. Volkan begins by describing his experience of loss and conflicted mourning as a stimulus for his life-long study of large group phenomena and its application to international diplomacy. We review his concepts of 'chosen trauma' and 'chosen glory' as they function to emotionally collapse time for large groups seeking to intergenerationally transmit a sense of collective entitlement. Dr. Volkan gives examples of how his understanding of large group phenomena has informed and impacted diplomatic negotiations. We conclude with his sharing his view of both the progress that psychoanalysis has made over the past half century and some of his concerns for its future. Our Guest: Vamık Volkan, MD is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, a former president of the International Society of Political Psychology, the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society, the American College of Psychoanalysts and the Emeritus President of the International Dialogue Initiative (IDI). He applied a growing theoretical and field-proven base of knowledge to issues such as ethnic tension, racism, transgenerational transmissions, leader-follower relationships, and other aspects of national and international conflict. He was a member of the International Negotiation Network (INN) under the directorship of former President Jimmy Carter (1989-2000). He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times with letters of support from 27 countries. Dr. Volkan is the author, co-author, or editor of sixty books. Recommended Readings: Volkan, V.D. (2006, 2019). Killing in the Name of Identity: A Study of Bloody Conflicts. Durham, NC.: Pitchstone. Volkan, V. D. (2013). Enemies on the Couch: A Psychopolitical Journey Through War and Peace. Durham, NC: Pitchstone Publishing. Volkan, V. D. (2015). A Nazi Legacy: A Study of Depositing, Transgenerational Transmission, Dissociation and Remembering Through Action. UK: Karnac. Volkan, V. D. (2017). Immigrants and Refugees: Trauma, Perennial Mourning, and Border Psychology. UK: Karnac. Volkan, V. D. (2020). Large-Group Psychology: Racism, Societal Divisions, Narcissistic Leaders and Who We Are Now. UK: Phoenix. Volkan, V. D. (2021). Sexual Addiction and Hunger for Maternal Care: Psychoanalytic Concepts and the Art of Supervision. UK: Phoenix.

Jul 11, 2021 • 59min
Wisdom and Enthusiasm for Today's Candidates with Fred Busch, PhD
"I was somebody who all throughout my academic career was very affected by good teachers. In fact, my becoming a psychologist – I took my first psychology undergraduate course as a junior and it had such a profound effect upon me that I stayed in college an extra year to get all the requirements to go on to a Ph.D. program. There have been certain teachers that I’ve had that have really inspired me and changed my life." Episode Description: We begin by discussing the origins of the book Dear Candidate which consists of 42 letters written by senior analysts from around the world to candidates in training. Notable is the enthusiasm, wisdom, affection, and encouragement that the older generation conveys to the future generation of psychoanalysts. Fred and I each read to each other favorite paragraphs from selected letters that emphasize valuing international input into one's clinical thinking; tolerating uncertainty; recognizing one's place in the social/political arena; addressing the literal and fantasy-driven physicality of the work, and acknowledging all that it means to be an aging analyst. Fred shares with us his own journey of learning and the importance to him of having had teachers who made a difference in his life. Our Guest: Fred Busch, Ph.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. Dr. Busch has published over 70 articles in the psychoanalytic literature, and five books, primarily on the method and theory of treatment. His work has been translated into ten languages, and he has been invited to present over 160 papers and clinical workshops nationally and internationally. His last three books were: Creating a Psychoanalytic Mind; The Analyst's Reveries: Explorations in Bion's Enigmatic Concept; and Dear Candidate: Analyst from Around the World Offer Personal Reflections on Psychoanalytic Training, Education, and the Profession. All published by Routledge. Recommended Readings: Busch, F. (2013). Creating a Psychoanalytic Mind: A psychoanalytic method and theory. Routledge: London Busch, F. (2019). The Analyst's Reveries: Explorations in Bion's Enigmatic Concept. Routledge: London. Green, A. (1974). Surface Analysis, Deep Analysis (The Role of the Preconscious in Psychoanalytical Technique). Int. Rev. Psycho-Anal., 1:415-423. Gray, P. (1982). "Developmental Lag" in the Evolution of Technique for Psychoanalysis of Neurotic Conflict. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 30:621-655. SEARL, M. N. 1936 Some Queries on Principles of Technique Int. J. Psychoanal. 17:471-493

Jun 27, 2021 • 45min
A Psychoanalytic Consideration of Mass Murder - the Norway Experience with Dr. philos. Siri Erika Gullestad
In this engaging discussion, Dr. Siri Erika Gullestad, a distinguished clinical psychology professor, delves into the psychological underpinnings of the tragic 2011 Norway mass murder by Anders Breivik. She analyzes the roles of familial dynamics and cultural ideologies in shaping violent beliefs. Gullestad sheds light on the challenges of balancing cultural integration and community identity. The conversation also touches on the allure of extremist groups for those seeking identity and belonging, emphasizing the complex interplay between individual experiences and wider societal tensions.