December 10, 2016
8:30am-12:15pm
Saturday Morning Seminar
Joyce Cartor, PhD
and Vance Sherwood, PhD, Discussant
Ten Things I Hate About You:
Collisions and Impossibilities in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
I hate the way you talk to me
And the way you cut your hair
I hate the way you drive my car
I hate it when you stare.
I hate your big dumb combat boots
And the way you read my mind
I hate you so much that it makes me sick
It even makes me rhyme.
I hate the way you're always right
I hate it when you lie
I hate it when you make me laugh
Even worse when you make me cry.
(Lazar, 1999)
University of Tennessee Medical Center
Morrison Education and Conference Center
1924 Alcoa Highway
Knoxville, TN 37920
Description of Program
Occasionally a patient comes along who seemingly cannot take what the therapist is offering yet cannot leave the therapist either. Instead the two remain stuck in an unholy scenario of hatred, chronic mis-attunement, and rigid indigestible projective identifications. Various writers have talked about these impossible therapeutic encounters as psychotic transferences, negative therapeutic reactions, or impasses. Issues of disorganized attachment and malignant narcissism are also pertinent.
In this presentation, Dr. Cartor will talk about four such “impossible” cases and try to delineate which part of the impossibility lies within the therapist and what lies within the patients and what it all means in terms of our understanding of the psychoanalytic project and its limitations. If a case fails, does it always mean the therapist has, in some way, failed also? Are some people just too destructive to treat? When is it OK to give up on a patient? What is the place of the therapist’s hatred and rage in the therapy process?How do we work with such relentless destructiveness?
This program will be an intermediate-level mix of theory and case material. Towards the end of the presentation, Dr. Vance Sherwood will discuss the case material that has been presented.
Dr. Cartor asks all participants to read the article attached here before attending the program.
Presenters
Joyce Cartor, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Knoxville. She also teaches at Pellissippi State Community College and has been involved with APS since its inception. She has served on its board as President, Treasurer and Member-at- Large (but not all at once!)
Vance Sherwood, PhD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Knoxville. He has been a featured speaker at conferences from coast to coast and has made multiple presentations in the Knoxville area. Dr. Sherwood has authored several articles on primitive personality disorders. He has also co-authored two books with the late Charles P. Cohen on treating borderline patients, and he has a third book on treating out-of-control adolescents.
Schedule
8:30am Registration
9:00am Hate-filled enactments, negative therapeutic reactions, impasse: Theory and case presentations.
10:30am Break
10:45am Disorganized attachment, psychotic transferences, malignant narcissism: Theory and case presentations.
11:45am Response from Dr. Sherwood with participant discussion.
12:15pm Complete Evaluations and Adjourn.
Learning Objectives
1. Describe psychotic transference, therapeutic impasse, and malignant narcissism and recognize clinical examples of each.
2. Critically analyze and discuss aspects of clinical case work that may indicate a failed therapy process.
3. Explain the importance of a disorganized attachment style as a critical variable in the outcome of a psychotherapy process.
4. Discuss the various impacts impossible cases may have on the therapist’s psychic well-being (disappointment, disillusionment, despair).
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:
Members and Scholars: $45 through December 5, 2016, $55 after December 5, 2016.
Non-members: $60 through December 5, 2016, $70 thereafter.
Free to Early-Career Professional until December 5, 2016, $10 thereafter.
Graduate Student Members: Free
Online registration will close on December 8, 2016.
Although walk-ins will be accepted, please register online at www.aps-tn.org in advance to assure adequate food and seating.
If you prefer to pay by check, please print the Saturday Morning Seminar Registration form and mail with your payment to:
Elaine Erickson, PhD
APS Treasurer
515 Booth Street
Knoxville, TN 37919.
Refunds honored with written/electronic notice at least 24 hours before date of seminar. Contact Elaine Erickson, PhD.
Contact the APS President Heather Hirschfeld, 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 Heather Hirschfeld, PhD.
APS Membership:
Eligible professionals can join APS or renew their membership for the 2016-2017 program year for $70. Scholars can join/renew for $50 and Early-Career Professionals can join/renew for $35. 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 3.0 continuing education credits. With full attendance and completion of a program Evaluation and Learning Assessment, a certificate will be issued. Psychologists will have their participation registered through Division 39.
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/Recommended Reading
Beebe, B. & Lachmann, F. (2014). The Origins of Attachment. New York: Rutledge.
Bronstein, C. (2015). The analyst’s disappointment: An everyday struggle. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 3 (6): 1173-1192.
Epstein, L. (1977). The therapeutic function of hate in the countertransference. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 13: 442-460.
European Psychoanalytical Federation. (2016). The negative therapeutic reaction. http:// www.epf-fep.eu/
Firestone, L. (2013). PsychAlive. http://www.psychalive.org/disorganized-attachment/
Fitzpatrick, K. (2010). Attachment representations and reflective function in women with borderline personality disorder and their adolescent offspring. The University of Tennessee. http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? article=2036&context=utk_graddiss
LaFarge, L. (2015). The fog of disappointment, the cliffs of disillusionment, the abyss of despair. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 63 (6): 1225-1239.
Contact:
If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to APS President Heather Hirschfeld, PhD.
There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between Division 39, APS, presenter, 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.