Psychoanalysis and group treatment afford the opportunity to evoke early, unsymbolized, and non-represented trauma, neglect, and yet-to-be-suffered breakdown. When the analyst and group leader can unobtrusively make the space for the emergence of these phenomena, the unspoken and unmetabolized can take shape in the language of enactment, impact, and deep inner resonance between patient and analyst or within the group field. Rather than seeking to bring patients out of these states of pain and dysregulation or regard them as resistances, the analyst can companion the patient and the group within these dark and undifferentiated spaces. This work asks the analyst to hold and metabolize powerful states that evoke his or her own trauma and loss. When known and companioned, early loss, neglect, and breakdown find narrative shape in action and can finally find an address and be transformed. This presentation will fill out this approach and offer vivid examples from both individual and group psychoanalysis.
Enactment, Companioning and Narration in Psychoanalysis and Group Psychoanalysis
Agenda
- 7:30 pm Welcome & introduction
- 7:35 pm Presentation with Dr. Grossmark
- 8:40 pm Q&A
Learning Objectives
- Describe how early trauma and loss manifests in clinical phenomena in individual and group settings.
- Describe moments where enactment narrates early non-symbolized trauma and distinguish such moments from resistances.
Meet the Presenter
Robert Grossmark, PhD, ABPP
Robert Grossmark, PhD, ABPP, is a psychoanalyst in New York City. He works with individuals, groups, and couples and conducts psychoanalytic consultation and study groups. He is on the teaching and supervising faculty at the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, and the National Training Program in Psychoanalysis. He is also a National Faculty Member at the Florida Psychoanalytic Center, and he lectures at other psychoanalytic institutes and clinical psychology training programs nationally and internationally. He is an Associate Editor for Psychoanalytic Dialogues. He is the author of The Unobtrusive Relational Analyst: Explorations in Psychoanalytic Companioning and co-editor of The One and the Many: Relational Approaches to Group Psychotherapy and Heterosexual Masculinities: Contemporary Perspectives from Psychoanalytic Gender Theory, all published by Routledge.
References
Grossmark, R. (2016). Psychoanalytic companioning. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 26, 698–712.
Grossmark, R. (2017). Narrating the unsayable: Enactment, repair and creative multiplicity in group psychotherapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 67(1), 27–46.
Grossmark, R. (2018). The unobtrusive relational group analyst and the work of the narrative. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 38(4), 246–252.
Disclosures
Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
CE Eligibility
This program, when attended in its entirety, is eligible for 1.5 continuing education credits. Austin Psychoanalytic will provide certificates of attendance to participants who attend the program in full. Austin Psychoanalytic’s continuing education programs are sponsored through Division 39’s APA-approved continuing education program. It is the responsibility of each licensee to verify that a given program meets the continuing education requirements for their specific license. Participants outside of Texas should consult their own licensing boards regarding CE eligibility.
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Financial Disclosure
There is no commercial support for this program. Neither Division 39, Austin Psychoanalytic, nor the presenter has any financial relationships or conflicts of interest that could reasonably be construed as influencing the program content.
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Grievances
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