Autism Spectrum Disorder Symposium: Developmental, Psychoanalytic, and Neuroscientific Perspectives on Diagnosis and Treatment

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  •  September 27, 2025
     9:30 am - 4:30 pm

***This symposium will be held in person***

Autism Spectrum Disorder Symposium: Developmental, Psychoanalytic, and Neuroscientific Perspectives on Diagnosis and Treatment

Saturday, September 27th 2025

9:30AM – 4:30 PM (EST)

In person:

Marianne & Nicholas Young Auditorium

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute

247 East 82nd St., New York, NY

 

Presenters: Susan Sherkow, M.D., Alexandra Harrison, M.D., Fred Volkmar M.D., Sylvie Goldman, Ph.D., Cynthia Martin, Psy.D., and Carlotta Bettencourt Ph.D.

This full-day symposium is designed for mental health professionals, educators, and parents seeking to learn how to apply a psychoanalytic approach to diagnosis and treatment of youngsters with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and integrative approaches to and techniques used in play therapy.

Presentations will address: a comparison of typical and atypical developmental trajectories, the impact of ASD on object relations, ego, superego, and gender development, the role of anxiety in symptom formation and in parent-child dynamics, and on theory of mind. Experts will present clinical video recordings, case material, and play-based interventions to illustrate how psychoanalytic techniques foster self-regulation, emotional understanding, and parent-child attunement. This symposium will equip clinicians with strategies to enhance diagnostic precision and therapeutic engagement by applying developmental and psychoanalytic frameworks to understand behavior, emotional conflict, and relational dynamics in children with ASD.

6 Contact Hours. 6 CME/CE credits will be offered. See details below.

**Please note that in order to receive credits, you must attend the entire symposium. NYPSI cannot award partial credits.**


EARLY BIRD (Till 9/5/25)

General Admission: $125

Student Admission: $50

REGULAR (After 9/5/25)

General Admission: $175

Student Admission: $60

Free Admission for current NYPSI members/students and HFI Candidates

REGISTRATION LINK 

Please note registration closes at 5 PM on Thursday, September 25th.


PROGRAM:

9:30am-10:00am – Introduction and overview by Susan Sherkow, M.D.

10:00am-10:30am – “Working with Individuals on the Autism Spectrum: Complexities and Challenges” by Keynote Speaker, Fred Volkmar, M.D.

10:30am-11:30am – “Psychoanalytic Technique in Play Therapy with Children with Autism – Part 1” by Susan Sherkow, M.D., presenter, and Alexandra Harrison, M.D, discussant

11:30am-12:30pm – Panel discussion and Q&A with Cynthia Martin, Psy.D.

12:30pm-1:30pm: Break for lunch

1:30pm-2:00pm: “Female Autism: Diagnosing Girls From Toddlerhood Through Latency” by Sylvie Goldman, Ph.D., presenter

2:00pm-2:30pm – “A Psychoanalytic approach to group therapy for ASD” by Carlotta Bettencourt, MD

2:30pm-3:30pm – “Psychoanalytic Technique in Play Therapy with Children with Autism – Part 2” by Alexandra Harrison, M.D, presenter and Susan Sherkow, M.D., discussant

3:30pm-4:30pm – Panel discussion and Q&A with Cynthia Martin, Psy.D.

 


OPTIONAL READINGS
  1. Sherkow, S. P., & Harrison, A. M. (2013). Autism spectrum disorder: Perspectives from psychoanalysis and neuroscience. Rowman & Littlefield.
  2. Van Schalkwyk, G. I., & Volkmar, F. R. (2015). Autism spectrum disorders: In theory and practice. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child69(1), 219-241.
  3. Lai, M. C., Amestoy, A., Bishop, S., Brown, H. M., Onaiwu, M. G., Halladay, A., … & Goldman, S. (2023). Improving autism identification and support for individuals assigned female at birth: Clinical suggestions and research priorities. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health7(12), 897-908.
  4. Harrison, A.M. (2022). Insights into safety and connection in relationships provided by psychoanalytic treatment of autistic individuals. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 42(1), 23-29.

BIOGRAPHIES

Susan P. Sherkow, M.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, and on the voluntary faculties of the Mount Sinai and Albert Einstein Colleges of Medicine. Dr. Sherkow has published in JAPA, The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, and Psychoanalytic Inquiry, among other journals, on the topics of autism spectrum disorder, primal scene, intergenerational eating disorders, the diagnosis of sexual abuse in young children, watched play, and working in analysis with children under five. She is co-author, with Dr. Alexandra Harrison, of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perspectives from Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience (2014). Her most recent writings include chapter contributions: “Managing arrogance in child analysis” in  Arrogance: Developmental, Cultural, and Clinical Realms, and “Back to Freud’s Beginning: Looking at Neuroscience through a Contemporary Psychoanalytic Lens” in Psychoanalytic Trends in Theory and Practice, The Second Century of The Talking Cure. Dr. Sherkow received the Ritvo prize in child psychoanalysis from the Yale Child Study Center in 2010. In 2012, she founded The Sherkow Center for Child Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder, a not-for-profit organization created to provide support for training, treatment, and research in the area of developmental delays and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Alexandra Murray Harrison, M.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute in Adult and Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis, an Associate Professor Part Time of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and on the Core Faculty of the Early Relational Health Fellowship at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Her clinical and academic interests focus on development across the lifespan and include therapeutic action in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, the treatment of autistic spectrum disorders, the use of videotape in child evaluation and treatment, and supporting the caregiving relationship. In 2017 Dr. Harrison co-founded a non-profit organization, Supporting Child Caregivers, https://supportingchildcaregivers.org, that has as its mission offering training and educational support to caregivers of children and their families. Dr. Harrison has publications in the areas of child analysis, therapeutic action, autism, and infant mental health, and has lectured in the U.S. and internationally.

Fred R. Volkmar, M.D. is the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology Emeritus at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine and the Dorothy Goodwin Family Chair of Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University.  An international authority on Asperger’s disorder and autism, Dr. Volkmar was the primary author of the DSM-IV autism and pervasive developmental disorders section. He has authored several hundred scientific papers and has co-edited numerous books, including Asperger Syndrome, Healthcare for Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Guide to Medical, Nutritional, and Behavioral Issues, and the recently released third edition of The Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. He serves as associate editor of the Journal of Autism, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He also serves as co-chairperson of the autism/MR committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  From 2007-2022, Dr. Volkmar served as editor of the Journal of Autism and more recently of the Encyclopedia of Autism. He is certified in adult and child psychoanalysis and a member of the Western New England Institute.

Sylvie Goldman, Ph.D. is a Developmental Neuropsychologist and Associate Professor in the Division of Child Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Neurology and the Sergievsky Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). She obtained her degree in Clinical Psychology from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). Her dissertation under the mentorship of Katherine Nelson addressed “Personal and fictional narratives in children with autism, and language developmental disorders and typically developing children”. She held a post-doc position at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY in Child Neurology under the mentorship of Dr. Isabelle Rapin and was the co-director of the NIH-Human Clinical Phenotype Core of the Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDRRC). During that time, Dr. Goldman worked part-time at the Mc Carton Center for Developmental Pediatrics conducting developmental diagnostic assessments of toddlers. Dr Goldman joined the Division of Child Neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2014 to lead a clinic on early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder with a focus on movement disorders and identification of autism in young girls. Her main research interests center around motor stereotypes and sex/gender factors affecting clinicians’ diagnostic decision-making. Dr. Goldman is a teaching faculty for the Parent-Infant Psychotherapy Program (PIP) in the Department of Child Psychiatry at CUIMC.

Carlotta Bettencourt, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and researcher at The Sherkow Center for Child Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder in New York City. Her work bridges clinical practice and developmental research, with a focus on individualized, integrative interventions for children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. She earned her Ph.D. from Sorbonne Université where her research centered on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in autism interventions. Her ongoing work explores neurodevelopmental approaches to care, including robotic-assisted therapy, social skills interventions, and longitudinal outcomes in psychodynamic treatment models for ASD.

Cynthia Martin, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist based in New York City with over 20 years of experience specializing in neurodevelopmental assessment, therapy, and consultation. Her work covers the lifespan – from toddlers to adults – with developmental differences such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, intellectual disability, and genetic conditions. Her research focuses on early developmental assessment and longitudinal outcomes in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD and Down syndrome.


CONTINUING EDUCATION

Educational Objectives: Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

  1. Differentiate between the observable diagnostic features of ASD and symptoms rooted in relational dynamics and intrapsychic conflict, in order to enhance clinical formulations through a developmental and psychoanalytic lens.
  2. Explain and illustrate how psychoanalytic play technique fosters ego and superego development in children with autism by working through internal conflict, enhancing symbolic functioning, and integrating early relational experiences – ultimately informing more individualized and psychoanalytically, developmentally-based therapeutic interventions.

Psychologists

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY – 0073.

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education programs for psychologists. New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content. DISCLOSURE: None of the planners and presenters of this CE program has any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Social Workers

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW – 0317.

Physicians
ACCME Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of [6] AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Disclosure Statement

The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.


Scientific Meeting: Impact of Siblings on Development Across the Lifespan: Case Study of a Sibling Pair over 60

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  •  September 9, 2025
     8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

***This meeting is virtual and will be held on ZOOM.***

NYPSI’s 1079th Scientific Meeting:

“Impact of Siblings on Development Across the Lifespan: Case Study of a Sibling Pair over 60”

Tuesday, September 9th 2025

8:00 – 10:00 PM (EST)

Presenter: Wendy Olesker, Ph.D

Discussant: Jessica Wolman, Ph.D.

The development of sibling relationships is often overlooked and undervalued in psychoanalysis. A study of siblings observed and followed over 60 years in Margaret Mahler’s nursery research, offers insights into how these relationships shape not only one’s place among peers but also shape self-development over the lifespan as validator and confirmer of one’s true sense of self. Mitchell (1953, 2022, 2023) called the birth of a sibling the “trauma of annihilation” of the baby one has heretofore been. The trajectory siblings take to master this “unrecognized trauma (because it is so ubiquitous)” and to transform initial sibling rivalry adaptively is a central focus of this paper. Dr. Olesker, the Director of the Mahler Follow-up Study for the last 15 years, presents on this topic to improve clinicians’ knowledge base and ability to recognize sibling transferences as well as to improve their ability to treat patients with problems with aggression.

2 Contact Hours. 2 CME/CE credits will be offered. See details below.


General Admission: $50

Student Admission: $35

Free Admission for current NYPSI members/students and HFI Candidates

REGISTRATION LINK HERE

Please note registration closes at 5 PM on Monday, September 8th.


THIS MEETING IS VIRTUAL; READ INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:

1. BUY YOUR TICKET.
2. LOOK FOR CONFIRMATION EMAIL containing a link to Pre-Register in ZOOM for the event.
3. CLICK ON PRE-REGISTRATION ZOOM LINK and enter your name and email address. If you do not complete this step, you will NOT receive link to meeting.
4. LOOK FOR EMAIL FROM ZOOM containing the JOIN LINK to the meeting. Click the JOIN LINK to “enter” the meeting.
5. Evaluation Survey and CME/CE documentation will be emailed the day after the event.

Please make sure you type your email correctly when you register!  Contact with questions.


OPTIONAL READINGS
  1. Mitchell, J. (2022). Why sibling? Introducing the “Sibling Trauma” and “the Law of the Mother” on the Horizontal Axis, 75:121-139.
  2. Hemway, M.K., Rolan, E.P., Jensen, A.C., & Whiteman, S.D. (2019). Absence makes the heart grow fonder”: A qualitative examination of sibling relationships during emerging adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(8),2487-2506.
  3. Gilligan, M., Suitor, J. J., & Nam, S. (2015). Maternal differential treatment in later life families and within-family variations in adult sibling closeness. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 70(1), 167-177.
  4. Pine, F. (2004). Mahler’s Concepts of “symbiosis and separation-individuation: revisted, reevaluated, refined. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 52:511-533.
  5. Vivona J. M. (2013). Sibling recognition and the development of identity: intersubjective consequences of sibling differentiation in the sister relationship. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 67, 66–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.2014.11785489

BIOGRAPHIES
*
Wendy Olesker, Ph.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute and on the Faculty at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. She is Senior Editor of The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. Dr. Olesker is Director of the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at NYPSI and, for the past ten years, she has been Director of the Follow-up Study of the Margaret Mahler Foundation focusing on eight of the original Mahler babies who have been interviewed in depth over many months, given psychological tests, repeated Adult Attachment Interviews, other measures at various points in time, and are now followed into their sixth decade. It is from Dr. Olesker’s longitudinal research and her analytic experience that she has developed a focus on the developmental process as it impacts understanding of the intrapsychic world and the handling of aggression and love relations in analytic work with children and adults.
*
Jessica Wolman, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice. She received her doctoral degree from the Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University and completed her psychoanalytic training at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. She is a member of the faculty at NYPSI, where she also supervises psychology trainees in the externship program.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Educational Objectives: Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

  1. Distinguish the unique ways each sibling processed the family environment, especially focused on the handling of sibling aggression, sense of self formation, and ego ideal formation.
  2. Articulate the details about the processes of transformation of aggression during different phases of development.

Psychologists

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY – 0073.

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education programs for psychologists. New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content. DISCLOSURE: None of the planners and presenters of this CE program has any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Social Workers

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW – 0317.

Physicians
ACCME Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of [2] AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Disclosure Statement

The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.


Closed Meeting: Candidate Presentation

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  •  June 10, 2025
     8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN IN-PERSON MEETING.**

Candidate Presentation

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

8:00 – 9:30 PM (EST)

Presenter: Eli Mandel, Ph.D.

Discussant: Adele Tutter, M.D., Ph.D.

Details to be announced.

No CME/CE credits will be offered. 


Free Admission for current NYPSI members/students

Please note registration closes at 5 PM on Monday, June 9.


BIO

Eli Mandel, Ph.D. is a candidate in adult psychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and a lecturer in English and comparative literature at Columbia University. He holds a B.A. from Yale College and a joint Ph.D. in English literature and interdisciplinary humanities from Princeton University. His first book, The Grid, was shortlisted for the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize as well as the Anglo-Hellenic Runciman Award, and named one of the “best poetry books of 2023” by The Telegraph (UK).


NYPSI Graduation Party

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  •  May 16, 2023
     8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
  •  June 18, 2025
     8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

NYPSI Graduation Party

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

8 – 9:30 PM (EST)

NYPSI members, faculty, candidates and other trainees are invited to an in-person celebration to honor recent graduates and socialize with friends and colleagues.

8:00 PM – Drinks & Hors d’oeuvres

8:45 PM – Presentation

RSVP by June 13

Closed Meeting: Advanced Child Seminar: A Selection of Psychoanalytically-informed Projects of Child Analytic Programs

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  •  January 30, 2025
     8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
  •  May 29, 2025
     8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Please note this meeting is closed to the public. Child candidates at NYPSI, Columbia, PANY, and Cincinnati are expected to attend.

***This meeting is virtual and will be held on ZOOM.***


Advanced Seminar in Child and Adolescent Analysis:

“A Selection of Psychoanalytically-informed Projects of Child Analytic Programs”

Thursday, May 29, 2025

8:00 – 10:00 PM (EST)

Presenters: Timothy Rice, MD, Alexander H. Sheppe, MD, Natalia van Hissenhoven, LCSW, Alberto Manzi, PhD, LMHC, and Naomi Gofine, LCSW

Timothy Rice will speak about the use of Regulation-Focused Therapy (RFP), a psychodynamic-based manualized treatment for children with behavioral and self-regulation difficulties.

Alexander Sheppe will speak about the use of TFP for the evaluation and treatment of adolescents with personality disorders.

Natalia Van Hissenhoven will speak about her Blos Fellowship Clinical Research Project in which she assessed the impact of and differences observed in virtual sessions vs in-person sessions in psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Alberto Manzi will speak about the use of parent-infant interventions in community settings.

Naomi Gofine will describe her work at an NYU-affiliated mental health program that is based at an elementary school.

No CME/CE credits will be offered. 


Free Admission for current NYPSI members/candidates

Free Admission for Child Candidates of NYPSI, PANY, Columbia, and Cincinnati

REGISTRATION LINK

Please note registration closes at 5 PM on Wed, May 28.


THIS MEETING IS VIRTUAL; READ INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:

1. REGISTER at above link.

2. LOOK FOR confirmation email.

4. CLICK on ZOOM LINK within confirmation email to join the meeting.

Please make sure you type your email correctly when you register!  

Contact  with questions.


BIOGRAPHIES

Timothy Rice, MD is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in practice in New York. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai, and co-chair of the Child Division at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

Alexander H. Sheppe, MD is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and an adult psychoanalyst in private practice in New York. He is Assistant Clinical Professor of psychiatry at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is an associate instructor in the Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) at Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

Natalia Van Hissenhoven, LCSW is a Clinical MSW from NYU School of Social Work and an MA in Psychology from University of Andes in Bogota, Columbia. She was awarded the Peter Blos Fellowship at NYPSI which led to this project. She is a child, adolescent and adult psychotherapist and an adult psychoanalyst in private practice in New York. She is an advanced candidate in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis at NYPSI.

Alberto Manzi, PhD, LMHC is Associate Professor of Psychology at Mercy College, and practices psychotherapy in New York. In addition to his background in family work and in intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy, he is currently completing the Parent-Infant Program at Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

Naomi Gofine, LCSW is a clinical social worker who has worked with families in various community settings.