Extension Course: An Exploration of Six Films of Psychoanalytic Interest by David Lynch

Instructor & Course Information

Thomas Wolman, M.D.

January 5 – February 23, 2026
Mondays, 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.

No class: 1/19, 2/16

Location: ZOOM

Please note that there are no CE/CME credits available for this course. 

Course Fee: $225 – REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Course Description

A Psychoanalytic foray into the films of the late David Lynch

The films of David Lynch invite psychoanalytic interest for two reasons. In the first instance, Lynch himself states that his bold imagery arises from the depths of his unconscious. And in the second, he always sets our normal everyday world beside a largely unknown mentality, depicted as a swarming insect life underneath the well -kept lawns of the fictional town of Lumberton, for example (Blue Velvet, 1986). To illustrate his approach, I have selected films that -in my opinion -most clearly exhibit this division. I begin with Eraserhead (1977), his first, because it serves as a kind of blueprint or prototype for his later films. It also -more than any of the others -offers us a window into his internal world. In a sense, Lynch was adept at translating his inner world into external imagery -imagery that is both arresting and entertaining. In Elephant Man (1980) we see the early version of his evolving perspective. In Blue Velvet (1986) his characteristic division of worlds reaches an early apotheosis. It was about this time that Lynch -for a key period at least -garnered the financial support to make big budget Hollywood style films. Thus, we have Lost Highway (1997) and his piece de resistance -Mullholand Drive (2001).

It perhaps goes without saying that Lynch was an auteur in the grand style. Elephant Man (1980) is a kind of horror film in the mold of Freaks (1932, Lost Highway (1997) a kind of twisted film noir, and Wild at Heart (1990) a love story pushed to extremes. In this light, Mullholand Drive (2001) stands alone as the ultimate exemplar of the Hollywood film, defined as a movie about Hollywood. Thus, it offers both a paean to Hollywood movies and the “poison pill” that taints the after-image that lingers in the mind of viewers.

It is expected that registrants watch each of these films on their own time prior to the class discussion.

Bio

Thomas Wolman, M.D. was born and raised in in New York City. He moved back here recently after having lived in Philadelphia for 45 years. He attended Johns Hopkins University and the Pennsylvania State University Medical College. Subsequently he trained at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, where he taught in both the psychoanalytic and psychotherapy training programs. He has taught at Jefferson Medical College, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and most recently, the psychiatry residency at Temple University School of Medicine. He has written on Winnicott, Mahler, Kohut and Lacan, as well as on contemporary film and literary themes. He is married with two adult children and three grandchildren.

Continuing Education

No CME/CE credits offered for this course.