PSYCHOANALYTIC EXPLORATIONS IN

TRAUMA WORK: WHEN TRAUMATIC LACUNA

MEETS LANGUAGE

featuring

Dana Amir, PhD

Israeli Psychoanalytic Society,

and

Eliane Hary, PhD

Training and Supervising Analyst

Psychoanalytic Center of California

Saturday, March 4, 2023

9:00 am to 12:00 pm (PST)

CEUs: 2.75

When

Saturday, March 4, 2023

8:45 am Sign-in

9:00 am Presentation of Dr. Amir's Paper: "When Traumatic Lacuna Meets Language".

10:00 am Response to Paper, Dr. Eliane Hary

10:30 am Break

10:45 am Audience discussion

12:o0 pm Adjourn

Virtual Meeting Service

Zoom Video Conference (The Zoom login ID will be provided after registration).

Program Description

In this presentation, Professor Amir will explore the narratives that individuals unconsciously develop to make sense of traumatic experiences. She will introduce the concept of "traumatic testimony" and trace four distinct modes that are distinguished from one another in the degree of the psychic movement they convey in relation to traumatic memories. Included are the metaphoric, the metonymic, the excessive-psychotic, and the Muselmann-psychotic modes of testimony, all of which will be defined. The metaphoric mode is characterized by the simultaneous holding of the position of the victim (the experiencing”I”) and the position of the witness (the narrating “I”), the other three modes are gradually declining in their capacity to hold the traumatic memories in mind in a way that allows for transformation and healing. These four modes are illustrated through a close reading of various testimonies. What emerges is the hypothesis that the core of the psychoanalytic treatment of trauma lies in the attempt to enable the crucial shift from the metonymic, the excessive, and the Muselmann modes of testimony to the metaphoric one, which is the only force that can turn the traumatic lacuna, or blind spot, into a creative force.

Target Audience

MD's, Psychologists, LCSW's, MFT's, Registered Nurses, candidates and members of psychoanalytic institutes, and student clinicians who are interested in psychoanalytic training programs.

Course Objectives

At the end of this activity, participants should be better able to:

1. Describe the links between trauma and language;
2. Name four modes of traumatic witnessing;
3. Identify and track these four testimonial modes in the transference and countertransference in a clinical case.

Dana Amir, PhD is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and also an adult psychotherapist in private practice. She is currently Emeritus Clinical Course Director for the Independent Training offered by the Independent Psychoanalytic Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy Association at the BPF and the Anna Freud Centre, accredited by University College, London. 

Previously she worked as a Consultant Child Psychotherapist at the Portman Clinic, Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, having worked for many years before that at the Tavistock Mulberry Bush Day Unit, a small unit for children with complex difficulties. She trained originally as a child psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic and subsequently as an adult psychotherapist at the British Association of Psychotherapists (now the British Psychotherapy Foundation (BPF).

She is very involved in training issues and active in the professional body for child psychotherapists, the Association of Child Psychotherapists. She has been editor of the Journal of Child Psychotherapy and Editorial Co-ordinator of the British Journal of Psychotherapy.  As well as numerous other chapters and briefer publications, she has written a book which addresses what capacities and skills are needed for psychotherapeutic work and how these may be enhanced by infant observation ( ‘Infant Observation at the Heart of Training’ ) and co-edited (with Cathy Urwin) a book on infant observation as a research methodology (‘Infant Observation and Research: Emotional Processes in Everyday lives').   

Eliane Hary, PhD is a clinical psychologist and a Training and Supervising psychoanalyst at the PCC where she also serves as the Secretary Treasurer. She was the Director of the Counseling Department at Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood for 27 years. During the years she had taught and supervised in different capacities including teaching in the core program of the institute. She is the recipient of the 2015 Gooch Essay Prize, the 2016 Mental Health Advocacy Award and the 2016 County of Los Angeles Commendation in recognition of dedicated service to the affairs of the community. Dr Hary maintains a private practice in Beverly Hills.

The Psychoanalytic Center of California is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.



The Psychoanalytic Center of California designates this live activity for a maximum of 2.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in this activity.

As per the California Board of Psychology, psychologists may apply AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ earned by attendance at this CME accredited live activity toward their continuing education requirement for licensing. 

The Psychoanalytic Center of California is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) to sponsor continuing education for LMFT's and LCSW's (CAMFT Approved Provider # 135374). The Psychoanalytic Center of California maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. This course meets the qualifications for 2.75 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. These learners must attend the entire course to claim credit; no partial credit is offered according to CAMFT requirements.

This course is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (Provider #CEP6003) for up to 2.75 contact hours. 

The PCC maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.  

Claiming Credit: Participants will receive a certificate of attendance at the event, which can be used toward licensing requirements. Credit is offered for actual instruction time and does not include breaks.

Refunds/Cancellations: Refunds, less a $10 administrative fee, will be made if cancellation notification is phoned or postmarked three (3) business days in advance of this program. There will be no refunds on requests received after the refund deadline. Full refunds are made in the event that PCC must cancel this program.

Returned Checks: A $25.00 service charge will be assessed for checks returned by the bank.

Grievances: While PCC goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues that come to the attention of the PCC staff which will require intervention and/or action on the part of the staff. Visit  www.p-c-c.org/ethics for PCC's procedural guidelines for handling such grievances.

Special Needs: Facilities are accessible to persons with disabilities. If you have a special need and plan to attend the conference, please contact the PCC Office by phone at (310) 478-4347 or via email at [email protected]. Special needs requests will be fulfilled if received one week prior to the event, which will ensure we have ample opportunity to meet your needs.

Commercial Support Disclaimer: The planners and presenters for this event have not received commercial support for this event nor are there any relevant financial relationships between the sponsors, presenters, program content, research, grants, or other funding that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest.

Financial Support Disclaimer: The planners and presenters for this event have no financial relationships to disclose.

Continuing Education Membership: Any person who attends a PCC Continuing Education conference shall become a Continuing Education Member for one year. The registration fee for the conference covers the cost of membership. A Continuing Education Member will be provided with a PCC newsletter as available, and the option to participate in periodic forums to discuss continuing education offerings. Continuing Education Members will also be eligible to attend Continuing Education planning meetings. 

Confidentiality:  By registering for this educational event, attendees agree to strictly maintain confidentiality of any clinical material shared and will not distribute or convey such confidential material outside of the conference. 

List of Program Planners

Presenters:

Dana Amir, PhD and Eliane Hary, PhD

Continuing Education Committee:

Philip Lance, PhD (co-chair), Leigh Tobias, PhD (co-chair), Jennifer Kunst, Ph.D. (member and CME coordinator) and Chris Minnick, MD (member and CME chair); Persila Conversano, PsyD, Jason Snyder, LMFT, Stacey Nicklas, PsyD, Jennifer Langham, PhD, and Yelena Kashtuyeva, MFT (members)



Registration

General Admission: $100

Candidate/PPP Admission: $50

Full time Student Admission: $50