Making us Great Again? A Psychoanalytic Discussion of Populism

SPECIAL EVENT

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
8:00 pm

Presenters: Leon Hoffman, M.D. and Coline Covington, Ph.D.

The presenters will discuss the political dynamics of populism from a psychoanalytic perspective. They will stress the group’s sense of vulnerability and fear and the powerful role the populist leader plays for the group within this psychological state. A charismatic leader is chosen who promises to make the group powerful, perverting the truth by promoting “alt-facts” which fit into the fantasy life of the leader and group. Two approaches are discussed: (1) understanding how vulnerable groups attempt to deal with traumatic experiences by utilizing maladaptive defense mechanisms, such as denial and projection, in order to protect themselves from unbearable negative emotions and (2) understanding that when a large group’s survival and identity are under threat, individual mindfulness is dissolved in the service of defending against the experience of loss and trying to restore a sense of potency within the group.

$20 General Admission

$10  Student Admission (non-NYPSI)

Free RSVP for NYPSI members and students

Dr. Leon Hoffman is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, a Training and Supervising Analyst in adult, child, and adolescent analysis, and co-Director of the Pacella Research Center at NYPSI. He is on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Chief Psychiatrist at the West End Day School in New York City.

Most recently, Dr. Hoffman has developed the Manual for Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children with Externalizing Behaviors (RFP-C): A Psychodynamic Approach, co-written with Timothy Rice and Tracy Prout, and published by Routledge in 2016. A clinical trial using the manual is underway at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University, with Tracy Prout as Principal Investigator.

Dr. Coline Covington is a Jungian Analyst with a background in political science and criminology. She is a Fellow of the International Dialogue Initiative (IDI), a think tank formed by Prof. Vamik Volkan, Lord Alderdice, and Dr. Robi Friedman, to apply psychoanalytic concepts to understanding political conflict. Dr. Covington’s publications include: Terrorism and War: Unconscious Dynamics of Political Violence (Karnac, 2002), Shrinking the News: Headline Stories on the Couch (Karnac, 2014), Sabina Spielrein: Forgotten Pioneer of Psychoanalysis, 2nd edition (Routledge, 2015), and Everyday Evils: A Psychoanalytic View of Evil and Morality (Routledge, 2016). She is in private practice in London.