312: Nonverbal Communications
Instructors
Jessica Wolman, Ph.D.
Susanna Stephens, Ph.D.
May 11 – June 22, 2026
Mondays, 7:00 – 8:25 pm
No class: 5/25
Co-requisites
Candidates must have or have had at least two cases in supervised psychoanalysis to be eligible for upper level courses.
Course Description
This course will explore the various manifestations and meanings of embodiment, sensory experiences, and nonverbal communications in the psychoanalytic encounter. We will employ Freud’s (1923) notion of the ego as “first and foremost a body ego” as a jumping off point to launch into questions around what it feels like to have a body, experiences of sensory integration / disintegration, and how we as analysts might develop a well-honed listening instrument for nonverbal communications in the psychoanalytic encounter. Some elements will include: mind-body dissociation, somatization and symbolization, unconscious and preverbal knowledge, sensory disruptions and integration, and nonverbal analytic functions including holding, containing and dreaming.
Educational Objectives
- Describe the concepts of dissociation, sensory integration, and preverbal experience.
- Explain the differences between the diverse theoretical understandings of these concepts.
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).
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 FOR 2026 CLASS ARE NOT YET CONFIRMED.
CLASS 1: May 11, 2026
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Greenson, R.R. (1967). The Technique and Practice of Psychoanalysis, Volume I. New York: International Universities Press.
Jacobs, T.J. (2018). Theodore J. Jacobs on ‘On Countertransference Enactments’. PEP/UCL Top Authors Project, 1(1):25.
Ogden, T.H. (2018). How I talk with my patients. Psychoanalytic Quarterly.87:(3) 399-413.
Sandler, J., Kennedy, H., Tyson, R.L. (1980). The Technique of Child Psychoanalysis: Discussions With Anna Freud. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Slade, A. (1994). Making meaning and making believe: Their role in the clinical process. In A. Slade & D. P. Wolf (Eds.), Children at play: Clinical and developmental approaches to meaning and representation (pp. 81–107). Oxford University Press.
Zerbe, K. J. (2019). The Secret Life of Secrets: Deleterious Psychosomatic Effects on Patient and Analyst. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 67:185-214.