Returning to Preschool During COVID-19
The following piece was originally published on Alexandra Harrison’s blog entitled Supporting Child Caregivers in September 2020, which can be found here. Panel on school reopening I participated in a great panel at the Cambridge Ellis School last night. It was a remote meeting for parents and teachers in preparation for the opening of school during the COVID-19 crisis. The panelists included Dr. Michael Yogman, the school pediatric consultant, Tal Baz, an occupational therapist and specialist in sensory processing, Dr. John...
read moreThe Burning Child: A YouTube Animation
Shari Thurer, ScD, is a BPSI Psychotherapist Member. Her below remarks originally appeared in the Winter 2019 issue of the library newsletter, which can be read here. While it is not uncommon for Freud’s bon mots to be written on posters, coffee cups, and greeting cards, they are now featured in an animated cartoon on YouTube. Commissioned by The Vienna Project at Harvard, a scholarly and artistic collaboration that explores Vienna at the turn of the century, the short film conveys the dream of the burning child as retold by Freud in...
read moreMore Thoughts about Parenting in COVID
The following piece was originally published on Alexandra Harrison’s blog entitled Supporting Child Caregivers in August 2020, which can be found here. I wanted to offer you some more thoughts about parenting during COVID. In Wordsworth’s famous autobiographical poem, The Prelude, he talks about “losing the props of my affection” when he was 8-years old. In saying this, he refers to the death of his mother. I have always thought that this way of describing parental function as “propping” was such an apt way of describing the way parents...
read moreWriting for the Public about the Mental Fitness of Political Figures
Leonard L. Glass, MD, is a BPSI Psychoanalyst Member. His below remarks originally appeared in the Spring-Summer 2020 issue of the BPSI Bulletin, which can be read here. For me, it began with reading and responding to posts on the American Psychoanalytic Association Members’ Listserv. Analytic colleagues were reacting to the candidacy and, later, the presidency of Donald Trump. They had a variety of opinions, sometimes stated with nuance, but often not. Others objected to this dialogue, feeling it was improper and irresponsible for analysts...
read moreRemote Learning: Challenges and Opportunities
The following piece was originally published on Alexandra Harrison’s blog entitled Supporting Child Caregivers in August 2020, which can be found here. This image may seem anachronistic in the context of a discussion of remote learning, but you will see that it is actually very much to the point. I am suggesting that what is missing in remote learning and to a lesser degree in physically distant in-person learning is what is called “socio-emotional” learning. This kind of learning takes place in relationships. It begins in the infant-parent...
read moreA People’s History of Psychoanalysis – Book Review
by Rita Teusch, PhD Gaztambide, D. J. (2019). A People’s History of Psychoanalysis: From Freud to Liberation Psychology. Lexington Books. 270 pp. Daniel Jose Gaztambide is assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the New School for Social Research. He has written numerous articles and book chapters on cultural competency, social justice and psychodynamic practice, as well as race and class in the treatment of borderline personality disorder. He is currently an analytic candidate at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy...
read moreCordelia Schmidt-Hellerau on the IPA “Talks on Psychoanalysis” Podcast – AUDIO
In a recent episode of the IPA’s “Talks on Psychoanalysis”, Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau presented “Driven to preserve self and object”, investigating the structuring function of the object in tension with the subject and its drives; the role of the aggression as an intensified expression of a need; and her original term “Lethe”, describing the energy of these preservative drives. Click on the player above to listen. You can also listen to this lecture on Apple or Spotify. Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau, PhD, studied...
read moreMeet the Author – Ed Shapiro – VIDEO
Edward Shapiro, MD, discussed his new book Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self-Reflective Institutions, Leaders and Citizens (Phoenix Publishing House, 2020) with his colleague, Jonathan Kolb, MD. The book draws on psychodynamic systems thinking to offer a new understanding of the journey from being an individual to joining society as a citizen. With detailed stories, the steps – and the conscious and unconscious linkages – from being a family member, to entering outside groups, to taking up and making sense of institutional roles,...
read moreUnorthodox
Ellen Goldberg, PhD, is a BPSI Psychotherapist Member. Her below remarks originally appeared in the “What Are We Watching” section of the Spring 2020 issue of the library newsletter, which can be read here. “Unorthodox” is a four-part Netflix mini-series loosely based on a memoir by Deborah Feldman. Ms. Feldman successfully left the Satmar Hasidic sect, which is considered one of the wealthiest and most powerful communities in Williamsburg. The film’s protagonist, Esty Shapiro, prepares, at the age of 19, for her escape from...
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