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In this presentation, Stan Case revisits the timeless myth of Oedipus in which an autocratic force seeks to control social narratives, rewrite history, and stage the future accordingly. He asserts that Freud, by centering his theory on Oedipus as a single intrapsychic actor, excluded an entire cast of characters—who remain outcasts in King Oedipus’s world. These characters, treated as strangers by Oedipus, offered an unrealized vision of care and repair for an oedipal triad blinded by hubris.
In contemporary times, the Oedipal story has evolved into oedipal complexity; the lone Oedipus at the crossroads now confronts sociocultural intersectionality. As inherently group related beings, we are drawn to an ethic of care, yet we navigate increasingly difficult paths as we attempt to reconcile our group nature with an ethic of fairness. Signs of an emerging collective
conscience are becoming visible in contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice, as this presentation explores.
Please note that participation in this scientific meeting provides 1.75 ethics credit hours.
Learning Objectives: Upon completing this scientific meeting, participants will be able to:
- Distinguish between a rules-based approach to psychoanalytic ethics and an ethics model grounded in lived experience.
- Analyze the differences between moral systems and ethical reasoning.
- Recognize key features of an emerging collective conscience in contemporary psychoanalytic thinking and practice.
About the Presenter
Stan Case LICSW, PhD, FIPA is a board-certified psychoanalyst with a fulltime practice in Edmonds, Washington, working with adults, adolescents, and children. He is a training and supervising psychoanalyst on the faculty of Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (NPSI) and of Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (SPSI). He has chaired and/or served on the Ethics Committees at NPSI and SPSI. Publications include, “Weaving Deceptive Webs, Untangling Emotional Truths” (American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2023), and “Strangers Among Us: Psychoanalytic Ethics at the Crossroads” (American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2025). He has presented papers at multiple NPSI International Evolving British Object Relations conferences and institute scientific sessions.
About the Moderator
Caron Harrang, LICSW, FIPA, BCPsa is a board-certified psychoanalyst with a fulltime private practice in Seattle, Washington. She is an IPA training and supervising psychoanalyst on the faculty of Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and teaches throughout North America. Recent publications include “Introduction. Truth and Lies: Psychoanalytic Perspectives” (American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2023a); “On Grotstein’s ‘truth’ in Bion's theory of ‘O’” (American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2023b); Nancy C. Winters, Caron Harrang & Stefanie Sedlacek “Transformations in O Online: Group Process in the Virtual Realm” (The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 2024); and “Earthquakes in the Analytic Field: A Post-Bionian View of Negative Therapeutic Reaction (JAPA, 2025). For additional information see www.caronharrang.com.
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