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On October 23, 2005, in New York City, we presented the first Clinical
Study Days of the World Association of Psychoanalysis in the United
States. The theme of the CSD was "The Body in Psychoanalysis" and
featured the participation of Vicente Palomera.
The program was held in conjunction with the Ninth International Seminar
of the Freudian Field sponsored by the New York Freud-Lacan Study Group
with Vicente Palomera on "The Subject, The Body, and Jouissance."
Our Clinical Study Days featured three case presentations with
discussion.
The first presentation was made by Pam Jespersen Elliott
(Omaha, Nebraska) of a treatment in which the patient's insistent
silence was presented as the greatest challenge in the treatment. The
case was also notable for a series of traumas the analysand experienced
and the development of an unusual conversion symptom late in the
treatment. The difficulties faced within the conduct of the treatment
were linked in the subsequent discussion--led by Liliana Kruszel
(Member, NEL; Miami, Florida) to the struggle faced by the clinician
with the diagnosis itself, especially with regard to the recognition of
the structure of ordinary psychosis in the case.
The second case presented by Carmen Navarro (Member, NEL; Houston,
Texas) was of an analysis conducted for two years with an analysand with
overwhelming anxiety, anxiety which was modulated in the treatment with
the stabilizing assumption of a paternal identification. In the
discussion--led by Juan Felipe Arango (Member, NEL; Miami, Florda)--we
examined this particular use of the Name of the Father and put the
dramatic therapeutic effects of the case in the context of the overall
analytic direction of the treatment.
The third case was presented by Maria Lopez (Miami, Florida) was of an
autistic child who, over a seven year treatment, developed the use of
language and the ability to tolerate the Other, initially in form of the
analyst, through a remarkable treatment. The discussion--led by Yael
Baldwin (West Carrolton, Georgia)--focussed on the specific structure of
autism and the theorization of the efficacy of this treatment.
The Cases were preceded by Opening Remarks of Alicia Arenas (Member,
NEL; Miami, Florida) on the role of the School on the challenges of
psychoanalysis today. Thomas Svolos (Member, NLS; Omaha, Nebraska) gave
Closing Remarks on how the earlier Seminar and the Clinical Study Days
demonstrated the singular role of the School in the transmission of
psychoanalysis.
The program was held at Fordham University, thanks to the generosity of
Manya Steinkoler. It was followed by an elegant lunch in the Trustee's
Dining Room of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which offered further
time for informal discussion. The program was attended by over 30
people from many states (and countries), mostly psychoanalysts and other
clinicians.
We believe that this Clinical Study Days represent a significant turning
point for the development of psychoanalysis in the United States.
First: this was the first general gathering specifically directed to the
Members of the WAP in the United States, some of us meeting one another
for the first time.
Second: through the Clinical Study Days, we gave testimony to our
colleagues of the vital work done within the Schools in addressing the
symptoms and clinical demands of today. Participants less familiar with
the contemporary work of the AMP--even some with significant exposure to
Lacanian psychoanalysis--commented on the ways in which we put to use
various theories developed out of the practice we are engaged in today.
The contemporary work of the WAP has little exposure in the United
States, and we feel that events such as this are important in
demonstrating the value of such work.
That said, perhaps even more important was the way in which the clinical
discussions demonstrated what was referred to as "the direction of
transmission and the principles of its power," namely that the
transmission of psychoanalysis is not one of an application of the
theory of psychoanalysis or the knowledge we have as psychoanalysts to
particular cases. Rather, our practice is developed and transmitted
from the specificity of each clinical encounter, the way in which each
case develops in its singularity--to which we respond not so much with
knowledge, but ideally with a certain know-how, one that we can transmit
to one another.
This is the direction of the transmission of
psychoanalysis (from the analysand to the analyst), which events such as
this will bring to the United States and which was also commented on by
several participants.
Already, we have seen some effects of the CSD. There is a new demand in
the NYFLAG group for a Clinical Seminar. There were also requests for
participants for references to concepts such as ordinary psychosis that
were brought out in the meeting. Also, new demands for supervision from
the Members of the WAP have followed.
Following the CSD and lunch, the Coordination Committee met for a review
of the event.
We will now plan for a Second Clinical Study Days for
early November, 2006, in Miami, Florida. We will plan to regularly host
such a meeting in early November, which will coincide with the Journees
held in other places throughout the World. We hope that this will
become a key event to gather the Members of the WAP and those interested
in the Lacanian orientation in the United States.
Coordination Committee of CSD 1:
Thomas Svolos
Maria-Cristina Aguirre
Alicia Arenas
© 2012 - Clinical Study Days
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