IPTAR Bulletin - Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research

YEAR ONE
In this year, classes focus on two broad topics: the development of psychic
structure and the evolution of Freud’s work. The sequence of courses in
the first area concerns itself with the key stages of psychosexual development.
It examines development from a number of points of view, including the perspective
of attachment theory, separation-individuation, and evolving theories
of narcissistic regulatory processes.This sequence places particular emphasis
on how developmental achievements and difficulties are manifested in adult
psychic processes and in psychoanalytic treatment. The other year-long topic
is a survey course on the clinical theory of psychoanalysis as it evolved in
Freud’s writings. The emphasis is on: 1) the clinical theory, 2) the extent to
which innovations in psychoanalytic technique became a stimulus for new
theoretical conceptions,and 3) how observations led to progressive revisions
of theoretical formulations. This sequence of four courses illustrates how
Freud’s writings, no matter how much they have undergone revision, have
been the reference point in the framing of psychoanalytic inquiry for successive
generations of psychoanalysts.
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I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHIC STRUCTURE,
OBJECT RELATIONS, AND NARCISSISTIC
REGULATORY PROCESSES
The Early Development of Psychic Process (0-18 Months)
(Eight Weeks)
Sally Moskowitz, Ph.D. / Donna Roth Smith, L.C.S.W. (alternating years)
Infant observation has been important to psychoanalysis from its inception.
Keeping the last two decades of infant research in mind, this course looks at
infant development, focusing particularly on the early mother-infant relationship.
The impact of this research on the way psychoanalysts now
view the non-verbal "clinical infant" as well as its implications for the theory
and understanding of the adult patient in analysis are considered. Development
is viewed prospectively, longitudinally, and reconstructively, examining what infancy
research teaches us about development of mental representations and
internalization of early patterns in the mother-infant dyad.
The Phase of Further Differentiation and Early Exploration
(Separation-Individuation)
(Eight Weeks)
Rena Greenblatt, Ph.D. / Rita Reiswig, M.S. (alternating years)
This course explores the period of development that begins during the second
half of the first year of life and ends in the third year. The course is organized
around the subphases of the separation-individuation process—from differentiation
and hatching to the achievement of a degree of self and object constancy.
Perspectives on self-other differentiation from infant research, attachment
theory, and the school of object relations will be included. Particular emphasis
will be given to the emergence of symbolic functioning as manifested in gender
identity, early language development, and play. Candidates will be encouraged
to apply the developmental theory to their work with both children and adults.
The Development of Triadic Relationships and
the Structuralization of the Superego
(The Oedipal Phase)
(Eight Weeks)
Phyllis Hopkins, Ph.D. / Laura Kleinerman, M.S. (alternating years)
Changes in social mores and our heightened interest in gender raise many
questions concerning our traditional views of the oedipal phase and its unfolding
during the course of the life cycle. This course traces Freud’s discovery of
the Oedipus Complex and its far-reaching significance in psychoanalytic theory. The
oedipal phase with its inherent conflicts will be studied from a number of different
vantage points as well as from a developmental perspective including preoedipal
and oedipal development. Freud’s theory of the Oedipus Complex has
had enormous influence on our theories of sexuality and female sexuality in particular.
The writings of Freud and his early followers will be compared and contrasted
with contemporary research and theory on male and female gender
development. Oedipal conflicts and their attempted resolutions will be examined
in the context of superego development and identification. This course will also
look at the Oedipus myth reinterpreted from a broader cultural perspective.
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