101: Writing Descriptions of Psychoanalytic Process I
Instructors
Jennifer Stuart, Ph.D.
January 13, 2025 – March 3, 2025
Mondays, 8:35 – 10:00 pm
No class: 1/20, 2/17
Course Description
In this course, candidates will be asked to write brief vignettes of analytically informed process. The focus will be on being able to identify and then write about discrete moments in sessions in which the interaction between analyst and patient is illuminated, so that aspects of transference and countertransference are elucidated and communicated to a reader. The goal is to sharpen the skills needed to make the writing vibrant and clear, and to bring the reader into the analyst’s thoughts and process in an experience-near way. Guidelines for annual summaries will also be discussed.
Educational Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
Articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS ARE CONFIRMED.
CLASS 1: January 13, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Bernstein, S. (2024). The process of case writing: A fourth pillar of analytic training. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 72 (2): 267-294.
CLASS 2: January 27, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
McLaughlin, J.T. (1991). Clinical and theoretical aspects of enactment. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 39:595-614.
CLASS 3: February 3, 2025
CLASS 4: February 10, 2025
CLASS 5: February 24, 2025
CLASS 6: March 3, 2025
SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS
Ackerman, S. (2018). (How) Can We Write about Our Patients?. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 66(1):59-81.
Altstein, R. (2016). Finding Words: How the Process and Products of Psychoanalytic Writing Can Channel the Therapeutic Action of the Very Treatment It Sets Out to Describe. Psychoanal. Perspect., 13(1):51-70.
Aron, L. (2016). Ethical Considerations in Psychoanalytic Writing Revisited. Psychoanal. Perspect., 13(3):267-290.
Bernstein, S. (2008). Writing about the Psychoanalytic Process. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 28:433-449.
Grier, F. (2023). Editorial. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 104: 981-985.
Lister, E., Kravis, N., Sandberg, L., Halpern, J.K., Cabaniss, D.L. and Singer, M.B. (2008). “I Write to Know What I Think”: A Four-Year Writing Curriculum. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 56:1231-1247.
Stuart, J. (2024) “No Mortal Can Keep a Secret”: Reading Freud’s Cases as Preparation for Candidates’ First Efforts to Write About Their Patients. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 44:194-209.