The PCC's Continuing Education Committee

is pleased to present

A Dynamic Ethical Framework for Psychoanalysts

featuring

Jennifer Kunst, PhD

Psychoanalytic Center of CA

Sunday, November 9, 2025

9:00 am to 12:15 pm (Pacific Daylight Time)



CEUs: 3

Location

Via Zoom. The Zoom Link will be emailed to participants one-week before the event.

Program Description

This seminar will offer an advanced framework for clinical practice that takes seriously the need for an “outside in” and an “inside out” approach to ethical considerations in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The external established framework of legal and professional ethics serves as the foundation for an internal model that is fluid, lived, applied, and emerging within the context of the clinical work itself. General rules and guidelines about ethical behavior provide necessary boundaries for our work. However, we also need to develop an internal compass that can help us think and find our bearings in the challenges that we encounter in the stormy conditions that often characterize psychoanalytic work.



Dr. Kunst will present four lectures, each followed by time for audience discussion. In addition to her original contributions, she will draw from the following papers, which learners are encouraged to read in advance of the seminar.

Ackerman, S. (2020). Impossible Ethics. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, (68)(4):561-582

Slochower, J. (2003). The Analyst’s Secret Delinquencies. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, (13)(4):451-469.

Richard B. Zimmer (2022). Shared Trauma, the Renegotiation of the Frame, and the Preservation of What Is Essential: Transformations in Psychoanalytic Treatment in the Time of the Pandemic, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 91:1, 63-88.

Program Schedule

Target Audience

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

Course Objectives

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

1. Differentiate legal, ethical moral, and technical considerations;
2. Distinguish between a rule-based model of ethics and a model of lived ethics;
3. Identify how the concept of "deferred action" contributes to developing an advanced ethical framework in psychodynamic psychotherapy;
4. Compare and contrast the features of serious boundary violations and ethical misdemeanors.

PCC Conference Recording Description

This program will be recorded. A recording will be shared a few days after the event for those participants who registered for the event, and will be available for 30 days. All registrants will receive a link to the recording so they may review, however, only live attendees will receive credit.

The video may also be used for educational purposes. If you do not wish to be recorded, please turn your camera off. By registering for this event, you grant permission to THE PSYCHOANALYTIC CENTER OF CALIFORNIA to the rights of your images, in video or still, and of the likeness and sound of your voice as recorded on audio or video.

Program Faculty

Jennifer Kunst, PhD is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Pasadena, CA where she works with adults, adolescents, couples, and families. She earned her PhD at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology and is licensed in the state of California. Dr. Kunst trained at the Psychoanalytic Center of California, where she is a Training and Supervising Analyst and teaches courses on Kleinian theory and technique. She is passionate about distilling the complexity of psychoanalysis into ideas that can be applied to everyday life.

Dr. Kunst has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed professional psychology journals and edited books on the topics of clinical psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, forensic psychology, and the interface between religion and psychology. Her outreach projects include her Psychology Today blog, “A Headshrinker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, and her book, “Wisdom from the Couch: Knowing and Growing Yourself from the Inside Out” (Central Recovery Press, 2014). 

Continuing Education Credit

The Psychoanalytic Center of California designates this live activity for a maximum of 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in this activity.



This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the California Medical Association (CMA)  through the Psychoanalytic Center of California. The Psychoanalytic Center of California  is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA)   to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

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 3 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.

*Important note: Participants who plan to use the credits in another state should check with their licensing jurisdiction to see if the credits from an ACCME or CAMFT provider will be accepted.

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 0ffice@p-c-c.org. 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 Disclosure: None of the planners for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

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

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. 

Program Planners

Continuing Education Committee: Leigh Tobias, PhD (chair); Jennifer Kunst, PhD (member and CME coordinator); Chris Minnick, MD (member and CME chair); Persila Conversano, PsyD and Stacey Nicklas, PsyD (members); Jason Snyder, LMFT and Yelena Kashtuyeva, LMFT (candidate members).

Registration

General admission: $100

Current PCC Candidates and PPP students: FREE

Full time student, Candidates from other institutes: $50