The Austin Psychoanalytic board is proud to announce our upcoming theme for our 2023-2024 program calendar:
Collapse and Rebirth: a dialectic
We would like to open a call for program proposals in relation to our theme. Our upcoming theme is about examining the dialectic of collapse and rebirth through a psychoanalytic lens. We are faced with the realities of “collapse” and “rebirth” in many different ways in the consulting room. Whether it be the concomitant destructive and generative aspects of working with enactments, the moment-to-moment rise and fall of affect within intersubjective engagement, making sense of our work alongside the realities of climate change, or trying to work within a system of increasingly split political and cultural allegiances that may be more or less generative or stymying, collapse and rebirth seems to be the dialectic of the hour.
We currently have three conferences planned for our next program year:
Our Clinical Conference with Steven Knoblauch, PhD is scheduled for October, 2023. A prolific author and theorist from within the Relational world, Knoblauch writes much about musical rhythmicity, embodiment, and intersubjectivity within clinical process and will explore these and other concepts as they relate to the theme of collapse and rebirth.
Our Ethics Conference with Donna Orange, PhD, PsyD is scheduled for March, 2024. Orange will discuss the role of collapse and rebirth as it shows up in our relation to the climate crisis. She recently published a book: Climate Crisis, Psychoanalysis, and Radical Ethics and will be addressing themes pertaining to collapse and rebirth as addressed there.
Our Diversity Conference with Daniel Jose Gaztambide, PsyD is scheduled for September, 2023. Gaztambide comes from the liberation psychology movement within psychoanalysis and writes about the relation between the political and the clinical and will help us better understand our relation to our clinical work as political endeavor.
After much feedback from the membership and careful consideration, the Austin Psychoanalytic Board is thrilled to announce we will be implementing a hybrid model for programs next year. All of the above conferences will be IN-PERSON, all monthly meetings will be virtual, and the format for Salons will be decided on a case-by-case basis by the leaders and participants involved.
Proposals for monthly meetings and salons (or study groups) are invited to further address the theme of Collapse and Rebirth: a dialectic. Since “Collapse and Rebirth” may be interpreted in numerous ways, we encourage you to take liberty to interpret its meaning in a manner that fits whatever presentations or topics that might interest you and our community. For example, the concept of enactment is ripe for presentations involving a collapse of the analytic function for one (or both) participants. Presentations might include cases involving treatment impasses where this collapse was central or cases involving failed treatments altogether. Salons might include reading papers by authors addressing the topic of enactment such as Philip Bromberg, Jessica Benjamin, Anthony Bass, Owen Renik, or many others. Thinking of Collapse and Repair as a global and cultural dialectic, proposals might include a psychoanalytic discussion of a movie or documentary about the climate, social media, or politics. Topics might also include treatments involving more disturbed patients involving the collapse of thinking, such as that seen in psychotic and borderline processes. Proposals might also involve a salon series of articles centered around a particular topic, such as the rise and fall (and rise) of the body and embodiment within psychoanalysis, breathing and its relation to psychoanalysis, lying down on the couch or sitting up within psychoanalysis, etc. A salon may also function as a continued exploration of a conference topic and/or in-depth analysis of readings recommended by conference presenters. Any of these topics approach the theme from different angles and would be welcomed along with myriad others. Austin Psychoanalytic Educational Committee members are available to help curate programs.
Please be aware that presenters and facilitators of salons or monthly meetings are not paid for presenting. Participants’ registration fees are used to operate AP programs.
Monthly Meeting Programs may consist of lectures, panel discussions, film screenings, or guided group (audience) discussions. It is expected that presentations are informed by psychoanalytic theory and literature. (However, it is preferable if speakers do not read their entire presentation from a paper.) Regardless of format, presentations should allow ample time for the audience to interact and engage with the material.
Salons (or study groups) typically consist of 2 or more sessions conducted in the facilitator’s home or office, or online. Facilitators may require the participants to purchase a textbook or other book for the salon, or facilitators may email journal articles to participants.
Proposals are due by March 15, 2023. Your proposal should consist of a short paragraph about the content and format of the proposed salon or monthly meeting as well as a short bio and/or CV outlining your educational background and credentials. Email your proposal to info@austinpsychoanalytic.org, with “Proposal for 2023-24” in the subject line. If accepted, presenters are required to submit a program syllabus, reference list, and learning objectives. We look forward to hearing from you!
