One of the most challenging aspects of our work is a pervasive perfectionism that can so dominate our own minds as therapists and greatly inhibit the emotional growth of our patients.  The pressure to get it right and have the answers can undermine therapeutic work with both participants.  One of the psychoanalytic writers who has most directly addressed these problems is Harold Searles, an American psychoanalyst greatly influenced both by the British object relations tradition, especially Bion, and the American interpersonal tradition.  In the fall meetings we will read articles focused on the experience of the therapist with the problem of a overly demanding superego, and in the winter section we will look at articles related to the therapeutic process. This course is cosponsored with the Center for Object Relations. Please contact the instructor directly to enroll.

Fee:  $300.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe how an overly harsh superego undermines psychotherapy work.

2. Apply the concept of the difficult superego to their own work with patients.