Self-Criticism as a Lifeline (Presentation via Zoom)

2 CE Credits for Psychoanalysts, Psychologists, and Social Workers and Social Workers

Practitioners and General Public: $40

Students: Free

There is a type of patient one sees in psychoanalysis who is surrounded by criticism like a cloud.  Since Freud’s paper on Mourning and Melancholia various authors have addressed this issue.  While descriptively similar to previous explanations, this presentation will explore the dynamics of patients who desperately cling to self-criticism out of a fear of terrifying aloneness.  The unconscious determinants that drive them are similar to those noted in other patients but are a variation with important clinical implications.  A clinical example demonstrating the technique of working with these patients will be presented.

Fred Busch, PhD, is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and has taught at several other institutes.  He has published over 80 articles on psychoanalytic technique and six books, including A Fresh Look at Psychoanalytic Technique (2021), Dear Candidate: Analyst from Around the World Offer Personal Reflections on Psychoanalytic Training, Education, and the Profession (2020), The Analyst’s Reveries: Explorations in Bion’s Enigmatic Concept (2019), Creating a Psychoanalytic Mind (2014), Rethinking Clinical Technique (1999), and The Ego at the Center of Psychoanalytic Technique (1995).  His work has been translated into many languages, and he has presented over 170 papers and clinical workshops nationally and internationally.

Please register at least 24 hours in advance. For those who register promptly, the zoom invitation will be emailed the Monday before the event, with reminders periodically afterwards. Be sure to check your junk, spam, and promotions emails.

Download Flier