Creativity in the Science of Psychoanalysis

For years psychoanalysts have been so invested in proving that psychoanalysis is a science that they have all but forgotten that it is an art of a kind.  There have been many attempts to tease apart creative and scientific aspects of psychoanalysis.  Bowlby famously made a distinction between “the art of psychoanalytic therapy and the science of psychoanalytic psychology.” Is such separation possible?  Is it useful?  This panel will discuss different aspects of creativity in everyday psychoanalytic work.  Dr. Shapiro will consider various definitions of creativity and explore their applicability to art and psychoanalysis.  He will investigate the use of the psychoanalytic setting as a creative integrative opportunity to facilitate the treatment.  Dr. Marcus will take up the issue of creativity in science and apply these thoughts to creativity and science in psychoanalytic work and research. The claim will be made that psychoanalytic work is inherently creative and can be scientific. Examples from dream interpretation with patients and use of dreams in social science research will be used to illustrate his ideas. Dr. Mirkin will discuss the transformative role of creativity in therapeutic action of psychoanalysis.  She will outline the analyst’s contribution – the analyst’s own creativity – to the treatment and suggest that the development of the patient’s creative capacity is a measure of the progress of the treatment.  The panelists will engage in discussion amongst themselves and with the audience to further our understanding of these complex issues.

Eric R. Marcus, M.D. is a training and supervising analyst at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, where he was the director for ten years. He is a professor of clinical psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Marcus is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, The American College of Psychoanalysts, The New York Psychiatric Society, The American Board of Psychoanalysis and the Center for Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies. In addition, Dr. Marcus is a past president of the New York County district branch of the American Psychiatric Association and currently on their executive committee; a past president of the Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine; and a counselor-at-large to the Executive Committee and past chair of the University and Medical Education Committee of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He now chairs discussion groups there on modern ego psychology and also on the psychodynamic treatment of the very ill psychiatric patient. For twenty-seven years Dr. Marcus was Director of Medical Student Education for the Department of Psychiatry of Columbia University. His teaching awards include the Columbia University President’s Teaching Award, the first Roeske Teaching Award of the American Psychiatric Association, the first Sabshin teaching award of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the regional teaching award of the Association for Academic Psychiatry, and numerous College of Physician’s and Surgeons teaching awards, including Commencement Speaker. Dr. Marcus’ latest book is Psychosis and Near Psychosis: Ego Function, Symbol Structure, Treatment, revised third edition (2017, Routledge). The first edition won The Hartmann Prize of The New York Psychoanalytic Institute.

Marina Mirkin, M.D. is a faculty member and Program Committee Chair at PANY.  She is in full-time private practice in NYC.  Additionally, Dr. Mirkin holds a teacher’s diploma in Japanese flower arrangement (Ikenobo ikebana).

Theodore Shapiro, M.D. is a training and supervising analyst. A graduate of NYPSI, he was Professor of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine from 1972 to 1976 and has been Professor of Psychiatry at Cornell Medical College from 1976 to the present. He has served on NYPSI’s Board of Trustees, as Chair of the Research Program, and on the Education Committee. He also served as Chair of the Subspecialty Board of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.  Dr. Shapiro’s many awards and recognitions include the Sandor Rado Lecturer (1991), the A.A. Brill Lecturer (1999), the Heinz Hartman Memorial Lecturer (2004), the Salmon Akhtar-Brenner Lecturer (Jefferson Medical School, 2007), and the Philip Wilson Memorial Lecturer (2013). He has been the editor of JAPA (1984-1993) and book review editor of The International Journal of Psychoanalysis (1993-2001). Dr. Shapiro has published over 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is the author or co-author of nine books.

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.