211: Women’s Bodies, Pregnancy, and Other Self-Revelations in Psychoanalysis
Instructors
Lisa Deutscher, MD
Sarah Fox, MD
September 11 – October 23, 2023
Mondays, 8:35 – 10:00 pm
No class: 9/25, 10/9
Course Description
In this course, the impact of her pregnancy on the analyst’s sense of herself and her work with her patients will be discussed. Pre-psychoanalytic conceptions of women’s bodies and Freud’s early theories will be compared with recent theoretical formulations and clinical examples related to the role of the body in the transference. We will extend the idea of the analyst’s pregnancy as a form of self-revelation to look at other ways in which the analyst discloses, often nonverbally, aspects of his or her self and life. We will consider the roles of cultural, racial, and other elements of identity and presentation in the transference and countertransference. Personal and clinical examples from the members of the class will allow for lively exchange of ideas.
Educational Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
- explain the influence of women’s bodies, including the potential for pregnancy, or actual pregnancy, on what is unique about the psychology of women and on the transference dynamics.
- explain several other kinds of inevitable or nonverbal self-disclosure by the analyst, and discuss how the analyst may make use of this material in the treatment.
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and demonstration of understanding of the course objectives, readings and clinical material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These 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.
I. Pregnancy in Psychoanalysis
CLASS 1: September 11, 2023
Discuss one aspect of Balsams and Notman’s revisions of the classical Freudian phallocentric model of female development that interested you. Balsam gives several clinical examples of women comparing their bodies with the bodies of other women, as in vignette #5, pp.28-29. How could such examples be seen in both an Oedipal and an object relations framework? Are there other theoretical perspectives that you feel might be relevant? Can you think of examples from your own patients that illustrate women’s sensitivity to bodily changes?
REQUIRED READINGS
Balsam, R. (2012). Women’s Bodies in Psychoanalysis. Routledge. [Read Forward, pp. xi to xii and Introduction, pp. 1-6]
Balsam, R. (2012). Women’s Bodies in Psychoanalysis. Routledge. [Read Ch. 1, pp. 7-12; Ch. 2, pp. 17-30; Ch. 3, pp. 31-35 and bottom pp. 45-54]
Notman, M.T., Lester, E.P. (1988). Pregnancy: Theoretical Considerations. Psychoanal. Inq., 8:139-159.
II. The Pregnant Analyst
CLASS 2: September 18, 2023
What are some of the common dynamics which can be evoked by the analyst’s pregnancy?
What aspects of the two cases you read illustrate examples of common countertransference issues discussed in the Uyehara article?
Another general question: Does anonymity really exist in analysis?
REQUIRED READINGS
Denton, Tayloe. (2012). The Analyst’s Pregnancy: A Paradise Lost. Mod. Psychoanal., (37)(1): 82-115.
Friedman, M. (1993). When the Analyst Becomes Pregnant – Twice. Psychoanal. Inq. 13:226-239.
Lazar, S. (1990). Patients’ responses to pregnancy and miscarriage in the analyst. In H.J. Schwartz & A.L. Silver (Eds.), Illness in the Analyst, (pp. 199-226). International Universities Press, Inc.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Rocah, B.S. (2008). The Impact of the Analyst’s Pregnancy on a Vulnerable Child a Case with Discussion by Anna Freud. Ann. Psychoanal., 36:7-30.
Uyehara, L.A., Austrian, S., Upton, L.G., Warner, R.H., Williamson, R.A. (1995). Telling About The Analyst’s Pregnancy. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 43:113-135.
III. Patients’ Reactions to the Analyst’s Body
CLASS 3: October 2, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Balsam, R. (2012). Women’s Bodies in Psychoanalysis. Routledge. [Read Ch. 4, pp. 55-75]
Lemma, A. (2014). The Body of the Analyst and the Analytic Setting: Reflections on the Embodied Setting and the Symbiotic Transference. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 95(2):225-244.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Yakeley, J. (2013). Seeing, Mirroring, Desiring: The Impact of the Analyst’s Pregnant Body on the Patient’s Body Image. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 94(4):667-68.
IV. Illness in the Analyst
CLASS 4: October 16, 2023
Dewald, P. A. (1982). Serious Illness in the Analyst: Transference, Countertransference, and Reality Responses. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 30:347-363.
Dewald, P. A. (1990). Further Reflections. In Schwartz, H. J., & Silver, A.-L. S. (Eds.), Illness in the analyst: Implications for the treatment relationship (pp. 91 – 98). International Universities Press, Inc.
Kahn, N. E. (2003). Self-Disclosure of Serious Illness: The Impact of Boundary Disruptions for Patient and Analyst*. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 39:51-74.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Abend, S. M. (1982). Serious Illness in the Analyst: Countertransference Considerations. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 30:365-379.
V. Other Unintended Self-Revelations
CLASS 5: October 23, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
For Smith and Tang–
1. Smith and Tang describe various ways that perceived similarity to or difference from the therapist or analyst can have significance for the patient. Explain how the significance differed in the case of the L family vs. the case of Miss E.
2. If the analyst limits self-disclosure, how might one still explore the patient’s perception or even knowledge about the analyst?
For Burton and Gilmore–
1.Describe some of the elements that went into JKB’s decision not to disclose his sexual orientation, including countertransference issues. Several observations in the article suggest that the patient is aware that the analyst is gay. What elements of the countertransference might have made it difficult for him to realize that she already knew?
2. What might have been different in the treatment if the analyst had answered the patient’s question?
REQUIRED READINGS
Kantrowitz, J. L. (2020). A Psychoanalytic Memoir: The Analyst Enabled and Disabled by What is Personal. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 68:83-100.
Burton, J.K. Gilmore, K. (2010). “This Strange Disease”: Adolescent Transference and the Analyst’s Sexual Orientation. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 58(4):715-734.
Smith, B.L. Tang, N.M. (2006). Different Differences: Revelation and Disclosure of Social Identity in the Psychoanalytic Situation. Psychoanal Q., 75(1):295-321.