CPC Welcomes Rachel Blass
Rachel B. Blass is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Israel Psychoanalytic Society, a member of the British Psychoanalytical Society, and on the Board of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis where she is the editor of the Controversies section. She was formerly a professor of psychoanalysis at universities both in Israel and England. She has published a book and numerous papers that elucidate the foundations of analytic thinking and practice, with a special focus on Kleinian psychoanalysis and its Freudian roots. Her writings have been translated into 15 languages. While she lives and practices in Jerusalem, via the internet she also teaches and supervises in the US, Australia and several countries in Europe and Asia.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Location: Baker Nord Center for the Humanities on Case Western Reserve University campus
6- 630 p.m. Light cocktail reception
630 - 8 p.m. Public Lecture: “A new perspective on Freud’s thinking on truth, it’s foundational role in psychoanalysis, and its contemporary relevance” 1.5 CE/CME offered.
1.5 Ethics CE are offered to Ohio Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists
Location: Baker Nord Center for the Humanities on Case Western Reserve University campus
At the foundation of Freud’s thinking is the idea that psychopathology is the result of denial. Truths denied lead to a distorted reality and accordingly coming to know these truths, discovering the true meanings underlying distortions, is what defines psychoanalytic practice and cure. A common criticism of this approach, (within psychoanalysis, as well as outside of it) is that it is a limited intellectual and “positivistic” one; it neglects relational, experiential, environmental and “pre-meaning” sources of pathology and modes of cure and hence it is ineffectual and rightly has been replaced by new analytic perspectives.
In this lecture I will counter this critique by shedding new light on the Freudian view of truth and the act of knowing and its ongoing value and significance-- not only within the clinical situation. I will show how this view offers a very rich understanding of the human predicament, at the heart of which lies a deeply personal and emotional battle between the loving desire to encounter reality truthfully and humbly, and egoistic wishes to possess or annihilate it. We will see how Freud’s psychological understanding of this battle informs an ethical perspective on personal responsibility, conviction, commitment and our relationship to others. It can also contribute to the understanding of popular contemporary alternative ethical views.
Learning Objectives:
Gaining an understanding of Freud’s approach to truth, its central place in psychoanalytic thinking, and its major critiques
Understanding Freud’s rich perspective on the human condition that underlies his view of truth
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Location: Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center
930 a.m. -1230 p.m. : Live supervision with Rob Guerin, PhD. 3.0 CE/CME
3.0 Supervision CE/CME are offered to Ohio Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists
1230 -130 p.m. : Lunch
130 - 330 p.m. : Lecture - “On the special nature of Kleinian transference interpretation, and why it is essential to analytic cure” 2.0 CE/CME
6 - 9 p.m. : Banquet at Shoreby Club. Dinner is in honor and recognition of Dr. Sarah Tucker's stewardship and leadership of the Visiting Scholar program. Open to members of the Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center and Psychoanalytic colleagues from other cities. *Banquet reservations now closed*
The idea that transference interpretation plays an important role in the analytic process is a familiar one. Underlying the London Kleinian approach is the idea that it is not only essential to the process but that only transference interpretation can bring about cure of an analytic kind. To appreciate this view, one must consider the unique nature of analytic cure and the limitations of other forms of intervention, including and especially other forms of interpretation of unconscious processes, in attaining it. It will be suggested that transference interpretation, as understood and developed by the Kleinian approach, moves beyond promoting awareness to actively denied unconscious ideas, and thus allows for actual change and integration of the unconscious fantasies of the inner world. Brief clinical vignettes will be presented to illustrate these ideas.
Learning Objectives:
Understanding the Kleinian approach to transference interpretation
Deepening the understanding of analytic concepts of knowledge, cure and interpretation
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Location: Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center
930 a.m. - 1230 p.m. : Live supervision with Anna Janicki, MD. 3.0 CE/CME
3.0 Supervision CE are offered to Ohio Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists
1230 -130 p.m. : Lunch
130 - 330 p.m. : Class—“On the Kleinian view of narcissism: self-love, perfection and idealization as forces of destruction” 2.0 CE/CME
In this course we will examine the Kleinian approach to narcissism, focusing on the works of Melanie Klein, Joan Riviere and Herbert Rosenfeld. We will see how and why in this approach narcissism and the self-love, sense of perfection and tendency to idealize associated with it, are usually regarded as manifestations of destructive forces, pulling towards death of oneself and of the other. We will consider the clinical implications of this approach and the rich view of the person as essentially loving that underlies it.
Learning Objectives:
Understanding several perspectives on the unique Kleinian approach to narcissism
Deepening the understanding of the interplay between forces of life and death in clinical situations
In this course we will examine the Kleinian approach to narcissism, focusing on the works of Melanie Klein, Joan Riviere and Herbert Rosenfeld. We will see how and why in this approach narcissism and the self-love, sense of perfection and tendency to idealize associated with it, are usually regarded as manifestations of destructive forces, pulling towards death of oneself and of the other. We will consider the clinical implications of this approach and the rich view of the person as essentially loving that underlies it.