Downloads: Guide to Programs (PDF), Registration Form (PDF)

All events take place at OPC unless otherwise indicated. Directions to OHSU.

Listening to the Music in Clinical Work
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There is a dimension of psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapies that is being increasingly addressed in the literature integrating psychoanalysis with other fields, including infant research, development, and neuroscience. It is an edge of experience that is unconscious, nonverbal, and non-symbolized. Such experiences are often difficult to recognize and use analytically. Exploring ways that allow this edge to emerge and become more available for reflection will be a goal in this course. Concepts of music, metaphor, poetry, and ‘visceral listening’ will be explored and applied to clinical material.
Duane Dale, MD
4 Thursdays: Sept. 20, 27, Oct. 4, 11, 7-8:30pm. 6 cme’s. $150.

The Heart of Addiction
Limited Space, REGISTER EARLY! (pdf) - Scholarships Available! (contact us for more info)
Click here for an article by Leon Pyle, PhD
Addiction has long been deeply misunderstood in both our culture and clinical practice. Rather than being a reflection of impulsivity or self-destructiveness, or a result of genetic or physical factors, addiction can be shown to be a psychological mechanism that is a subset of psychological compulsions in general. Correspondingly, for many people addiction is best understood and treated in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Over the past thirty-five years progress has been made in understanding addictions from a psychoanalytic perspective, and in the past fifteen years a new model of addiction has been developed that permits a comprehensive view of the nature of addictive behavior.

The program will begin with a brief overview of the role of physical, genetic, and biochemical factors in addictions to clarify why, contrary to general belief, these elements have very low importance in the nature of addiction. Psychological theories of addiction developed over the past thirty five years will be reviewed, followed by the description of a new view of addiction and its treatment, illustrated by case examples. The presentation will address the relationship between addictions and compulsions, how to differentiate true addictions from non-addictive sources of excessive behavior, and common myths of addiction. We will also consider the psychology of 12-step programs, and, as time permits, specific factors applicable to compulsive gambling, couples therapy with addictions and other topics. Much of the material will be drawn from my book The Heart of Addiction. Audience participation will be encouraged.

Program Schedule for Saturday, September 29
9:00-10:30 Discussion of the role of physical, genetic and biochemical factors
in addiction; questions; Review of psychoanalytic theories of
addiction; question and answer period
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:30 Presentation of a new view of the psychology of addiction; question
and answer period
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-2:45 Compulsion and its relationship to addiction; Myths of addiction;
question and answer period
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-4:00 Non-addiction causes of excessive behavior; Treatment; question
and answer period

Lance Dodes, MD is a Training and Supervising Analyst with the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has been the Director of the substance abuse treatment unit of Harvard’s McLean Hospital, Director of the Alcoholism Treatment Unit at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (now part of Massachusetts General Hospital) and Director of the Boston Center for Problem Gambling. He annually chairs the discussion group The Substance Abusing Patient in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis at the fall meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He is the author or co-author of a number of journal articles and book chapters about addiction. His book, The Heart of Addiction (HarperCollins, 2002) has been described as a “revolutionary advance” in understanding how addictions work. Dr. Dodes has been honored by the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School for “Distinguished Contribution” to the study and treatment of addictive behavior.
Saturday, Sept. 29, OHSU School of Nursing, Room 144, 9am-4pm. 6 cme’s. $150.
Directions to OHSU.
Park free in the multilevel parking structure between the Ronald McDonald house (#12 on the map) and Building #25. The entry is from SW U.S. Veteran’s Hospital Road. Park on the upper level or levels just below.  Elevator takes you to a walking bridge that goes across to Nursing School (#26)

Freud & Jung: A Study Group (SPECIAL OFFERING FOR OPC MEMBERS)
REGISTER (pdf)
The split that occurred between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung almost a century ago continues to echo in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis today. This study/discussion group will explore the many factors involved in this split, including the historic, cultural, religious, and personal. We want to struggle with questions from ‘Why did it happen then?’ to ‘How do our differences influence us today?’
Kathleen McLaughlin, PhD, LCSW
9 Mondays: Oct. 8, Nov. 12, Dec. 10, Jan. 14, Feb. 11, Mar. 10, Apr. 14, May 12, June 9, 7-8:30pm. Free to OPC members. Space is limited; pre-registration is required.

Lacan & Ego Psychology Fifty Plus Years Later
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In the first two books of The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Lacan elaborated his critique of the ego psychology of Hartmann, Kris, and Lowenstein, which had become a dominant perspective in North America and elsewhere. In doing so, he also took decisive steps in developing his own unique theoretical position. How does all of this look from the perspectives we have as analytic thinkers and clinicians in 2007? In this course we will pursue a critical reading of Books I and II of The Seminar, and attempt to address this question. From our current perspective, how does 1950s ego psychology hold up? How does Lacan’s critique hold up? How does Lacan’s early theory hold up? How do our current perspectives differ from any of these, and, if they do, why?

Requirements: Participants should be familiar with the rudiments of psychoanalytic theory, i.e. Freud’s three major positions (seduction theory, topographic theory, and structural theory), and ego psychological conflict theory. A minimum of five participants. Participants should be prepared to read approximately 100 pages per meeting, and anticipate presenting portions of the assigned reading to the group to initiate discussion.
Ralph Beaumont, MD
6 Wednesdays: Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12, Feb. 13, Mar. 12, Apr. 9, 7-9pm. 9 cme’s. $225.

Destination Opera: Cinderella
With Professor Katya Amato and Dr. Nancy Winters.
Thurs, Oct. 18, 7:00-9:00pm. Japanese Garden, 611 SW Kingston Ave. Visit www.portlandopera.org for more details.

Informational Open House
Interested in psychoanalytic training? Have questions? Join some of our candidates and faculty for an informal discussion of what it means to become a psychoanalytic candidate at Oregon Psychoanalytic Institute. Bring a friend or colleague. An RSVP (via phone or email) would be appreciated, but is not necessary.
Mon, Oct. 29, 7:30pm. Open to all Mental Health Professionals, Graduate Students, and Residents.

School Shootings and the Computer: Real and Virtual Rage
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Dr. Jerald Block is a leading authority on normal and compulsive computer use, pathological computer use, and “Internet addiction.” In his talk, Dr. Block will discuss the chronology of events leading up to the deaths of 15 people at Columbine High School in 1999. Dr. Block will also comment on the school shooting at Red Lake, which left 10 dead. He will review his belief that one must be cautious when limiting or prohibiting access to computers – that to do otherwise might destabilize a person.
Jerald Block, MD
Thursday, Nov. 1, 7-9pm. 2 cme’s. $40.

Perverse Countertransference:
Meanings and Uses of the Analyst’s Excitement in the Treatment of Perversion
REGISTER (pdf)
This presentation will demonstrate the point of view that unconscious sexual excitement and gratification are especially important and under recognized elements in the dynamics of perverse pathology. It will underscore the value of giving perverse sexual gratification a more prominent position in the clinical theory of treating perversion than that which has been assigned tacitly through analysts’ routine focus on the defensive and destructive dynamics of perversion. Clinical material from the analysis of a perverse patient will be used to illustrate the multiple roles of excitement in the transference-countertransference and will emphasize the perspective that gratifying perverse enactments occurring in the treatment can appear, at times most clearly, as the analyst’s excitement.

Program Schedule for Saturday, November 3
9:00 Introductions
9:10-10:40 Presentation: Perverse Countertransference
10:40-11:00 Q&A
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:00 Case presentation

Stephen D. Purcell, MD is a Faculty member and Training and Supervising Analyst at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. He is also a Faculty member and Personal and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California. Dr. Purcell trained in psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco where he was subsequently Associate Clinical Professor and Associate Director of Residency Training. He has written and published on topics including psychiatric education, countertransference, perversion, and the use of medications in psychoanalysis.
Saturday, Nov. 3, OHSU Old Library Auditorium, 9am-12pm. 3 cme’s. $75.
Directions to OHSU.

Ethics
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This year’s two sessions of two hours each will focus on the interface between personal ethics and professional ethics. Several readings will be supplied. This course is designed to meet the psychology continuing education and ethics requirements.
Jeffrey Sher, PsyD
2 Thursdays: Nov. 29, Dec. 6, 7-9pm. 4 cme’s. $100.

A Dialogic Journey to the Center of Traumatic Worlds:
A Clinical Conversation
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Interweaving the traditions of relational psychoanalysis, gestalt therapy, and transpersonal psychotherapies, the workshop will bring forth a relational dialogic view of trauma and its impact on the psychotherapeutic encounter. The discussion will be organized around the idea that an important dimension of traumatic experience is in the freezing of the victim in non-dialogic space thereby shattering his/her capacity to generate meaning. Clinical vignettes will illuminate the challenges of re-instating a dialogic process with survivors of prolonged and horrific trauma for whom the very notion of collaborative dialogue is quite foreign. The workshop will be highly interactive and participants are encouraged to bring their own clinical material.

Program Schedule for Friday, November 30
7:00-8:15 Presentation
8:15-9:00 Discussion

Max Sucharov, MD is a psychoanalytic clinician, author, and teacher based in Vancouver, Canada. He is an active member of the Self Psychology/Intersubjectivity community and has contributed numerous papers/chapters to the psychoanalytic literature including Kafka’s Window and Kohut’s Mirror: A Dialogic Journey to the Center of Traumatic Worlds to be distributed to workshop participants.
Friday, Nov. 30, OHSU Old Library, Room 217. 7-9pm. 2 cme’s. $40.

Case Conference for Advanced Graduate Students
REGISTER (pdf)
Six sessions will be devoted to following 1 or 2 cases of participants from process notes. Key concepts of psychoanalytic therapy will be discussed through detailed clinical material. This course is designed for advanced graduate students in psychology or social work (i.e. within 2 years of graduation) and unlicensed graduates who wish to learn about or expand their knowledge of psychoanalytic therapy. Two participants will be asked to present case material and all participants will be encouraged to question and discuss the clinical material.
Peter Armstrong, PhD
6 Tuesdays: Jan. 8, 22, 29, Feb. 5, 12, 19, 6:30-8pm. 9 cme’s.
$220; special rate of $110 for students.

What Do Psychotherapy Patients Really Want?
REGISTER (pdf)
As psychodynamic psychotherapists, we often assume a patient wants what we have to offer – an understanding of the unconscious conflicts and object relationships that perpetuate their distress. It can blind us to how patients may have a multitude of different motivations for what they are going to gain from psychotherapy. These may include the desire for parenting, advice, reassurance, comfort, instant symptom relief, or a hug. This class will explore the tension between the clinician’s goals for treatment and the patient’s agenda. We will read a variety of papers to stimulate and inform our discussion about this theme, and participants’ clinical material will be welcomed to ground our conversations.
Cynthia Ellis Gray, MD
5 Thursdays: Jan. 10, 17, 24, 31, Feb. 7, 7-8:30pm. 7.5 cme’s. $185.

A Weekend with Judith Viorst on Marriage & Parenting
REGISTER (pdf)
Grown-Up Marriage: In her first presentation Friday night, Mrs. Viorst will offer a wise and humorous look at marriage that deals with the shocks of married life: the arrival of kids; marital rivalry and marital manners; married sex (not always with the person to whom we are married); fighting and apologies; divorce and re-marriage; growing older together; the boredom and the bliss, the highs and lows, of ordinary, everyday married life. After her hour-long talk she will be joined by analysts from the Oregon Psychoanalytic Center for a lively discussion of the complexities of contemporary married life. Audience questions and participation will be encouraged.
Friday, Jan. 25, Catlin Gabel School, 8825 SW Barnes Rd, Portland, 97225.
7-9pm. 2 cme’s.

Parenting Our Children from Newborn to Thirty Year Old and Beyond: In her second presentation Saturday morning, Mrs. Viorst will address the stages of parenthood, from newborn to thirty year old and beyond – the joys, the messes, aggravations, heartbreaks, the breaking away, the passionate pride, and feelings of “did I do something wrong?” She will talk about the way children transform our lives and the shocking realization that there is no such thing as a “retired” parent. After her hour-long talk, analysts from the Oregon Psychoanalytic Center will join her for more discussion with the audience.
Saturday, Jan. 26, Catlin Gabel School, 8825 SW Barnes Rd, Portland, 97225.
10am-12pm. 2 cme’s.

Judith Viorst is the New York Times bestselling author of Necessary Losses and the children’s classic Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. In all her talks, Mrs. Viorst combines serious, though-provoking points with humorous anecdotes and poems showing how laughter can serve as a way of coping as we journey through the different stages of life.
$25 each talk ($40 for clinicians wanting cme’s)
$40 for both ($70 for clinicians wanting cme’s)
There will be book signings & sales following these events.
Target audience: These programs are open to the general public and to professionals who work with children, parents and couples, including mental health professionals, family doctors, pediatricians, nurses, teachers and clergy.

Co-sponsored by the Catlin Gabel School and the OHSU Department of Psychiatry and Department of Child Psychiatry.

You Can Have Your Opinion: Contributions from Infancy Research for the Practicing Psychoanalyst and Psychodynamic Psychotherapist
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Drawing on theoretical and technical tools from infant research - developmental models consistent with open systems theory and videotape - Dr. Harrison complements her psychoanalytic theory with alternative perspectives and offers a new way of understanding therapeutic change in psychotherapy with children and adults. Change from moment to moment is variable and unpredictable. Her videotapes of moment to moment therapeutic interactions show the importance of nonverbal communication in our understanding of change in therapy and also show how the symbolic content of the session is inseparable from the communication of meaning by the body. By applying contemporary theories of development to the analysis of these non-verbal and moment to moment interactions, Dr. Harrison makes connections that promote the understanding of the process of growth in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

Educational Objectives: The participants will be introduced to a developmental theory that is useful to the practicing clinician. The participants will learn the value of videotape analysis to understanding clinical process. The participants will be exposed to the technique of videotape analysis and microanalysis. The participants will learn about the value of the role of the consultant in working with parents in child therapy cases. The participants will learn some general principles of open systems theory that underscore the process of growth and change in healthy development and psychotherapy.

Alexandra Murray Harrison, MD is an adult training and supervising analyst and child supervising analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. She is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. She has written many papers and made numerous national and international presentations. Alexandra Harrison is one of the few analysts nationally and internationally who is at the cutting edge of analytic thinking and work. Psychoanalytic theory, infant research, developmental theory, dynamic systems theory, and open systems theory inspire many of her ideas which now range even further into her own creative formations of theory and technique. Her presentations are riveting; her relationship with her audiences an echo of the kind of work she does in her consulting room.
Saturday, Feb. 23, OHSU Old Library Auditorium. 9am-4pm. 6 cme’s. $150.
Directions to OHSU.

Mind Meeting Brain: Implications of Contemporary Neuroscience for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
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Freud said in 1914 “We must recollect that all of our provisional ideas in psychology will presumably one day be based on an organic substructure.” Psychoanalysis remains the most coherent and comprehensive view of the mind from a subjective perspective. The new field of neuro-psychoanalysis attempts to align psychoanalysis more closely with the biological sciences. The explosion of empirical knowledge in neural science and cognitive psychology offers tantalizing opportunities for integration with the practice of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy. This course will review selected topics of interest common to psychoanalysis and neuroscience, including consciousness, unconscious processing, memory, dreaming, affect, infant mental development, attachment, and the etiology of mental illness. Readings have been selected to represent great thinkers in neuroscience and psychoanalysis, including Freud, Fonagy, Kandel, Damasio, Solms, Gabbard and others.
Lee Shershow, MD & Nancy Winters, MD
7 Thursdays: Feb. 28, Mar. 6, 13, 20, Apr. 3, 10, 17, 7-8:30pm. 10.5 cme’s. $260.

Integrated Treatment of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Body Betrayed
REGISTER (pdf)
Eating disorders are ubiquitous in clinical practice. They also cause the largest mortality and medical morbidity of any psychiatric condition despite significant advances in psychological, biological and cultural understanding over the past 25 years. This clinical workshop will offer practical help to the clinician who treats anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and subclinical variants of these disorders; while the focus will be on how clinicians can understand and directly intervene from a psychodynamic perspective, contemporary pharmacological, cognitive-behavioral, cultural and anthropological, and medical contributions will also be included. Case examples will be used to further describe how integrated, multidisciplinary treatment can be employed to produce better long term outcome which must be based on more than ‘symptom control’ alone. Because eating disorders manifest differently in adolescents, adults, and middle and later life individuals, emphasis will also be placed on the unique life cycle events that underlie and influence treatment. Particular attention will be paid to the role of enactment and coercion, transference and countertransference, patient narrative, psychological meaning of food and eating in the unconscious, and the therapist’s own care.

Goals & Objectives:
Middle Age: Participants will recognize how biological, psychological, and cultural changes impact the individual in middle life, likely giving rise to increase in prevalence of these disorders. Participants will have a greater understanding of the psychological tasks of the individual in middle age. Participants will have at least 3 new interventions to use in working with middle aged persons.
Integrated Treatment: Participants will review the major issues in the stages of treatment of eating disorder patients with particular emphasis on issues that are not addressed in short term therapies. Participants will have a greater appreciation for the specific transference and countertransference mechanisms that occur when treating eating disorder patients. Participants will be able to incorporate at least 3 CBT, IPT, or patient education interventions into their psychodynamic work with patients in a seamless fashion that does not disrupt the evolving therapeutic alliance.

There will be a book signing & sale at this event.

Kathryn J. Zerbe, MD. A frequently requested speaker both nationally and internationally, Dr. Zerbe lectures on topics that include eating disorders, women’s health, professional well-being and the psychology of 19th and 20th Century artists. She has authored over 60 clinical papers and book chapters and 4 books, including The Body Betrayed: Women, Eating Disorders, and Treatment and Integrated Treatment of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Body Betrayed. In 2005, Dr. Zerbe received the Alexandra Symonds Award for contributions and leadership in promoting women’s health and the advancement of women from the American Psychiatric Association and the Association of Women Psychiatrists. In 2007, the American Psychoanalytic Association recognized her teaching contributions with the Edith Sabshin Award. Dr. Zerbe served on the APA Task Force for Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Eating Disorders (2000 and 2006). Dr. Zerbe is a Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Sciences University, a Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the Oregon Psychoanalytic Institute, and is in private practice in Portland.
Saturday, April 5, Vey Conference Room, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. 9am-3pm. 5 cme’s. $125.
Directions to OHSU.

Shame
REGISTER (pdf)
Dr. Lansky will be addressing the multiplicity and ubiquity of shame dynamics as they occur in both patient and analyst and in psychoanalytic treatment. Failure to appreciate dimensions of hidden shame has resulted in costly theoretical fragmentation and the failure to have a total, composite view of psychoanalysis that adds new discoveries and modifies existing theories but does not unnecessarily subtract significant features of our theoretical and clinical body of knowledge.

This workshop will explore not only shame as an affect, but also the anticipation of shame as well as defenses against its emergence. Dr. Lansky will discuss the importance of shame in the escalation of conflict, the effect of shame on the disruption of bonds to the object, and the role of shame in such diverse phenomena as envy, hatred, bouts of blaming, domestic violence, terrorism, and grudge bearing, all of which are held in place by hidden or unacknowledged shame.

Dr. Lansky will utilize his own and audience case material as well as facilitate a general discussion with the audience. He has provided two of his papers to be read prior to the program. The papers are available here.

Program Schedule for Saturday, May 17
9:00-10:15 First Session: Hidden Shame
10:15-10:30 Break
10:30-12:00 Second Session: Continuation of Hidden Shame and our liability to
clinical and theoretical fragmentation. Clinical vignettes from audience
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:15 Third Session: Shame and Splitting – resentment and its variations
2:15-2:30 Break
2:30-4:00 Fourth Session: Shame and Working Through: Working through splitting

Melvin R. Lansky, MD is a training and supervising analyst at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles and a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Medical School. He is the author or editor of seven books, including Essential Papers on Dreams (1992), Posttraumatic Nightmares: Psychodynamic Explorations (1995), and over a hundred articles and book chapters on a wide range or psychoanalytic topics including shame dynamics, dreams, posttraumatic nightmares, and psychiatrically impaired fathers. He is in private practice in Los Angeles, California.
Saturday, May 17, OHSU Old Library Auditorium. 9am-4pm. 6 cme’s. $150.
Directions to OHSU.

Study Group for Shame
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Dr. Jeffrey Sher will lead a special study group in preparation for Dr. Melvin R. Lansky’s program on Shame. The papers for the study group are available at www.oregonpsychoanalytic.org.
Jeffrey Sher, PsyD
Thursday, May 8, 7-9pm. No cme’s. Free to OPC members.

Last updated 10/05/2007