cmps annual conference

Sex and The Psyche

CMPS Annual Conference Saturday, December 6, 2008

Lycée Français, 505 East 75th Street at York Avenue in New York City

Freud framed human development as male development with women viewed as a “little man,” and he himself
acknowledged that his phallo-centric theories of femininity were “incomplete and fragmentary.” Later psychoanalysts attempted to address the integrity and uniqueness rather than the “difference” of female maturation and development. More recent writers have focused on the importance of the pre-Oedipal period for both women and men, and the use of drive theory to understand femininity.

The conference will focus on gender and the latest thinking about its psychic significance and is organized throughout to facilitate a discussion on what it means to be a man or a woman.

The day will include presentations by two female psychoanalysts, followed by responses and discussion from four male analysts who are members of the faculties of the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies and the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.

Dr. Lucy Holmes will begin the day by presenting an innovative theory of female development based on the triangulation of the female unconscious and the importance of internalized objects for women. Dr. Eugene Kalin will respond to her paper, and Dr. Theodore Laquercia will moderate a dialogue with the audience.

This year, the Center faculty invites all conference participants to join us for lunch and a lively dialogue between the sexes in the spacious and comfortable Lycée cafeteria. A healthy and delicious box lunch (see Registration form for choices) is included in the registration fee.

After lunch, Dr. Elisabeth Young-Bruehl will talk about recent shifts in psychoanalytic theories about women and how they are being reflected in a socio-political way in the world. Dr. Siamak Movahedi will respond. Dr. Elliot Zeisel will facilitate a final discussion with the audience.

Download Sex and the Psyche Brochure

Case Presentations

Friday Night, December 5. 2008 in the CMPS Great Hall, 7:30-9:00PM
In conjunction with the conference, the Center is hosting a night of case presentations by students in the CMPS Certificate Training Program.

Drs. Lucy Holmes and Elisabeth Young-Bruehl will lead the discussion.

Cases to be presented for discussion: “Fear of Falling and the Self-Holding Defense in a Schizoaffective Woman,”
presented by Nicholas Ganoudis

“Don’t You See I’m Pregnant?”
presented by Jennifer Lieber.

No charge for conference registrants.

$10 for non-registrants. R.S.V.P requested: 212-260-7050.