Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society
a local chapter of the Division 39 of the American Psychological Association
presents a
Saturday Morning Seminar
with
Heather Hirschfeld, PhD,
on
The Psychoanalytic Study
of Thinking
in Shakespeare's Time
Saturday, March 28, 2026
8:30am - 12:10pm
University of Tennessee Medical Center
Morrison Education and Conference Center
1924 Alcoa Highway
Knoxville, TN 37920
Description of Program
“There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so,” Shakespeare’s Hamlet tells his audience. His preoccupation with the significance and power of thinking is central also to the work of the psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion (whose autobiography, All My Sins Remembered, draws its title from Hamlet). This intermediate presentation explores what happens when we bring Bion’s theoretical apparatus, with its emphasis on thinking as a response to frustration and absence, to bear on Shakespearean models of the thinking subject and its objects. The presentation will begin with a discussion of contemporary trends in cognitive literary studies, psychoanalytic criticism, and historical scholarship on Elizabethan understandings of the mind. It will then survey Bion’s theories of thinking, particularly his claim that “thinking has to be called into existence to cope with thoughts [. . .] thinking is a development forced on the psyche by the pressure of thoughts and not the other way round.” The second half of the presentation will consider the ways in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries stage characters whose dialogue and soliloquies resonate with such theories. It will pay special attention to the linguistic resources that dramatists and other writers of the time had at their disposal for conveying thought as both a personal and impersonal, conscious and unconscious experience.
Dr. Hirschfeld asks attendees to read this essay before the program.
Presenter
Heather Hirschfeld, PhD, English literature, is a Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the University of Tennessee, where she has taught Shakespeare and Renaissance literature since 2000. A recipient of Folger Shakespeare Library and NEH fellowships, she is the author of two books on the material and religious contexts of the early modern stage and the editor of the Cambridge Shakespeare Hamlet and The Oxford Handbook of Shakespearean Comedy. She also writes, teaches, and lectures on Shakespeare and psychoanalytic theory and is a long-time member of APS.
Schedule
8:30am Registration
8:55am Welcome and Introduction
9:00am Cognitive Literary Criticism, Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism, and the Psychoanalytic Study of Thinking
10:30am Break
10:40am The Psychoanalytic Study of Thinking in Shakespeare's Time
12:10pm Complete Evaluations and Adjourn.
Learning Objectives
After attending this intermediate-level program in full, participants will be able to:
1. Identify contemporary trends in cognitive literary criticism and psychoanalytic literary criticism.
2. Analyze Bion's "Psychoanalytic Study of Thinking" and its implications for theories of mind and mentalization.
3. Formulate the ways in which thinking was theorized in Shakespeare's time and the ways in which it resonates with Bionian terms.
Participants
This program is open to all APS members and other interested mental health professionals who may not be members. It is not limited to individuals practicing in a predominately psychoanalytic mode. The material will be appropriate for clinicians with intermediate levels of experience and knowledge.
Registration Fees and Policies
BY March 23, 2026:
Professional Members and Scholar Members: $45
Non-members: $60
Early-Career Professional Members: $35
Graduate Student Members: Free.
AFTER March 23, 2026:
Professional Members and Scholar Members: $60
Non-members: $75
Early-Career Professional Members: $50.
Graduate Student Members: Free
Registration will close on March 27, 2026.
Although walk-ins will be accepted, please register online at www.aps-tn.wildapricot.org in advance to assure adequate food and seating.
If you prefer to pay by check, please print the Program Registration form, and mail with your payment to:
Marisa Whitley, PhD
APS Treasurer
100 Forest Court
Knoxville, TN 37919.
Refunds honored with written/electronic notice at least 48 hours before date of program. Contact Marisa Whitley, PhD.
Contact the APS President Joyce Cartor, PhD to negotiate fees, if needed.
Facility is accessible to persons who are physically challenged. If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to Joyce Cartor, PhD.
APS Membership
Eligible professionals can join APS or renew their membership for the 2025-2026 program year for $120. Scholars can join/renew for $80 and Early-Career Professionals can join/renew for $65. Graduate students may join or renew for $25.
American Psychological Association Approval Statement
Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Continuing Education
This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 3 continuing education credits. With full attendance (sign-in at start of program) and completion of a program Evaluation and Learning Assessment, a certificate will be issued. Psychologists will have their participation registered through Division 39. Partial credit is not available for partial attendance.
APS and Division 39 are committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists. APS and Division 39 are also committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in continuing education activities. 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.
Selected References
Bates, C. (2021). Recognitions: Shakespeare, Freud, and the story of psychoanalysis. In V. J. Camden (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to literature and psychoanalysis (pp. 41–53). Cambridge University Press.
Hackett, H. (2022). The Elizabethan mind: Searching for the self in an age of uncertainty. Yale University Press.
Kornbluh, A. (2020). Freeing impersonality: The objective subject in psychoanalysis and Sense & Sensibility. In J.-M. Rabaté (Ed.), Knots: Post-Lacanian psychoanalysis, literature and film. Routledge.
Newlin, J., & Stone, J. W. (Eds.). (2024). New psychoanalytic readings of Shakespeare: Cool minds and seething brains. Routledge.
Reiner, A. (2023). W. R. Bion’s theories of mind: A contemporary introduction. Routledge.
Contact
If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to the APS President Joyce Cartor, PhD.
There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between Division 39, APS, presenters, program content, research, grants or other funding sources that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest. During the program, the validity/utility of the content and risks/limitations of the approaches discussed will be addressed.