This course will span the academic year--18 sessions-- and will explore the context and development of the basic but complex object relations concepts arising from Freud and expanded upon by Klein and later theorists and clinicians. We will also consider necessary conditions for growing a mind, and the clinical implications when that process is affected by neglect or trauma.
Fall Quarter will outline Klein’s expansion of Freud’s idea of psychic reality, and the concepts that Klein (and others) developed from this. As such, we will look at the British Object Relations constructs of mental processes such as unconscious phantasy, internal objects, and the depressive and paranoid-schizoid positions.
Winter Quarter introduces the question: How does a mind grow? This quarter attempts to work with some of the central concepts and processes that are useful in considering the complexities of how a mind grows. The concepts of projective identification and container/contained will be introduced as well as the processes of transference and countertransference.
Spring Quarter investigates psychopathology from the Object Relations viewpoint. In this quarter we will think about major areas of psychological problems, including narcissism and narcissistic character structure, psychic retreats and pathological organizations, and trauma. We will read key papers but mostly use our clinical experience to think about these important issues.
Dates and Times:
Mondays, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Fall Quarter: September 14, 21, 28, October 19, 26, and November 2
Winter Quarter: January 11, 25, February 1, 8, 22, and March 1
Spring Quarter: April 5, 26, May 3, 10, 17, and 24
Register on or before August 17th: COR members: $900 / Non-members: $1,200
Register after August 17th: COR members: $1000 / Non-members: $1,350
Scholarships Available: YES, for COR members
CEUs: 1.5 for each attended class, 27 total.
Class is limited to a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 12 participants.
Location: Online via Zoom (unless it is determined closer to the date/time that it is safe to meet together in person at the COR Meeting Room)