The Therapist’s Fragile Parents: Psychoanalytic perspectives on theory and technique
EVENT POSTPONED
Saturday 08 July 2023
A Live Webinar with Karen J. Maroda and Steven Kuchuck
CE Credits: 2.5 hours
- Includes a subtitled recording of the event and a transcript, with access for a year (14 days post the event)
- This event will be recorded
- Bookings close at 4:00am EDT Wednesday 05 July
It has long been recognized that therapists have a history of being caretakers in their families of origin. Yet as a profession we may not have pursued how that role impacted our own personal growth, values, ideas and limitations. In this workshop we will consider the vulnerabilities and strengths that result from being precociously assigned the responsibility for others’ happiness or even their psychic survival.
READ MORE...We will ask what role does the resulting guilt, shame, and desire to rescue and be rescued play in the creation of both our theories and preferred interventions. Do therapist’s tend to be excessively passive as a result of not having any real power as children when faced with the daunting responsibility of being soother, peacemaker, mediator and even entertainer?
In the spirit of expanding the conversation about the dynamics in the therapeutic dyad, this presentation focuses on three topics, including the therapist’s early experiences and how they impact both our theory and practice, the natural human limits of empathy, and how the analyst and patient’ may “collide” in their experiences related to parental fragility.
This program is designed for working clinicians, focusing heavily on clinical examples and opening up conversation about the ways we work and how we might creatively enhance our interventions with clients.
FULL PROGRAMME
09.00 EDT
Introductions
09:10
Karen Maroda
The Gods Must Not Die: Sacrificing to avoid de-idealization.
To what extent have therapists sacrificed their own needs and preferences to preserve their suffering family members? And at what cost? Feiner and Levenson’s (1968) classic paper outlines the psychology of sacrifice, noting that it preserves the needed authority figure (or God), avoids separation, proves love, and provides redemption. If we closely examine the consequences of having been our parents’ therapists, the inevitable question arises: At what point, if ever, does the budding therapist child see the parents more realistically, which would include de-idealizing them as merely innocent and needy? Or does their status as all-important prevail throughout the therapist’s life? Most importantly, what are the implications for our theoretical and clinical choices?
Learning objectives
- Recognise patterns of parentification from the therapist’s childhood in their clinical work
- Consider the re-enactment of patient as parentified child in response to the therapist.
10.00
Discussant: Steve Kuchuck
10.20
Break
10:40
Steve Kuchuck
Say You, Say Me*— Confusing Our Objects, Naturally
Melanie had just landed and arrived for her session exhausted. Depleted and in distress; “I know I won’t get to see him or hear his voice again. I could barely say goodbye, knowing that”. Tears filled her eyes and I felt a similar press against my own lids as my mind began to wander… This paper will explore work with a patient traumatized by toxic, fragile objects, in treatment with an analyst similarly impacted by parental fragility. One moment in particular will be considered, a period of existential crisis for both parties in which events overlapped, finality hovered, and confusion enveloped the dyad.
(*Lionel Richie, 1986)
Learning objectives
- Identify examples from their clinical practice of a situation in which patient and therapist boundaries weakened and subject and object became confused.
- List ways in which the therapist’s own internalized fragile parents impacted a clinical moment.
11.30
Discussant: Karen Maroda
11:50
Q&A
12:30
End
FEES (USD)
Bookings close at 4:00am EDT Wednesday 05 July
Live Webinar:
$96 (Member $48)
(Click here to become a member)
This includes a recording of the event.
CE
This event is accredited by:
- ASWB
- NBCC
- NYSED (Psychology)
- NYSED (Psychoanalysis)
- NYSED (Social Workers)
Certificates of attendance for 2.5 hours will be provided.
To receive the full CE credits, you are required to attend 100% of the live event. No partial credit will be given.
This event is NOT accredited by the following organisations:
Please note, that this event is not being recorded and no CE test post event will be available and so you will need to attend all of the live event to receive the CE certificate.
Please contact events@conferonline.org for any further questions.
Confer, #1813, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Confer maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 08/19/2022 – 08/19/2023. Social workers completing this course receive 2.5 continuing education credits
Confer has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7136. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Confer is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Confer 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-0169
Confer Limited is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts #P-0059.
Confer Limited 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-0729.
VENUE
Live webinar: Zoom
Zoom is free to download and use.
For more information about Zoom click here.
For special accommodations for individuals with disabilities see our FAQs.
SCHEDULE
Saturday
09.00 EDT Introductions
09:10 Karen Maroda
10.00 Discussant: Steve Kuchuck
10.20 Break
10:40 Steve Kuchuck
11.30 Discussant: Karen Maroda
11:50 Q&A
12:30 End
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By attending this event, participants will be able to:
- Identify the clinical relevance for the therapist of their childhood experience of protecting themselves and their parents
- Define what is meant by “fragile parents”.
- Recognise patterns of parentification from the therapist’s childhood in their clinical work
- Consider the re-enactment of patient as parentified child in response to the therapist
BOOKING CONDITIONS
Regrettably, refunds cannot be given in any circumstances except as follows:
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 60 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 100% refund.
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 30 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 50% refund.
This does not apply to parts of an event such as a seminar within a series but only to a whole event or complete series. You may give your place to another person if you let us know that person's name at least 24 hours before the event begins.
We reserve the right to change a speaker at one of our conferences without offering a refund. However, if a solo presenter cancels we will offer a full refund OR transfer of your fee to another Confer event. If the entire event is canceled we will offer you a full refund.
We reserve the right to change our prices at any time. Regrettably, discounts offered after you made your booking cannot be claimed or applied retrospectively.