Time: Saturday, November 20, 2026. 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM PST
With the publication of the Holmes Commission Report, contemporary psychoanalysis finds itself at a cross-roads between time honored traditions and "new" ways of thinking about clinical practice in its broader social and political surround. Current discourse is bifurcated between a "neutral" Freud, a relational Ferenczi, or a political Fanon, with debate raging between the importance of neutrality and relationality, the interpersonal and the political, the couch and the streets.
This presentation rejects the terms of this debate, providing a historically grounded review of Freud's writings cross-referenced with first-person accounts of his practice, revealing not only a socially conscious Freud, but clinical foundations resembling contemporary practices more than usually assumed. Parallels of this "living Freud" will be drawn with a "living Fanon" who was not only a political revolutionary but a practicing therapist who believed psychoanalysis was "a science of the collective par excellence." Through a theoretical integration of Freud and Fanon, research will be reviewed evidencing how the psyche is not simply intrapsychic or relational, but also social and collective, urging us to reimagine theory and technique in ways that allow the interpersonal and political to emerge organically in clinical practice.
Reimagining the core competencies of psychoanalytic therapy, this presentation concludes with case examples and a series of principles with which training and practice can honor the "old" and make room for the "new," while turning these very terms inside out. Psychoanalysis has always been "relational" and "political," an insight we would do well to return to.
2.5 continuing education units are available for an additional fee. To qualify for student ticket pricing, you must use an email address ending in .edu.
Time: Saturday, November 20, 2026. 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM PST
With the publication of the Holmes Commission Report, contemporary psychoanalysis finds itself at a cross-roads between time honored traditions and "new" ways of thinking about clinical practice in its broader social and political surround. Current discourse is bifurcated between a "neutral" Freud, a relational Ferenczi, or a political Fanon, with debate raging between the importance of neutrality and relationality, the interpersonal and the political, the couch and the streets.
This presentation rejects the terms of this debate, providing a historically grounded review of Freud's writings cross-referenced with first-person accounts of his practice, revealing not only a socially conscious Freud, but clinical foundations resembling contemporary practices more than usually assumed. Parallels of this "living Freud" will be drawn with a "living Fanon" who was not only a political revolutionary but a practicing therapist who believed psychoanalysis was "a science of the collective par excellence." Through a theoretical integration of Freud and Fanon, research will be reviewed evidencing how the psyche is not simply intrapsychic or relational, but also social and collective, urging us to reimagine theory and technique in ways that allow the interpersonal and political to emerge organically in clinical practice.
Reimagining the core competencies of psychoanalytic therapy, this presentation concludes with case examples and a series of principles with which training and practice can honor the "old" and make room for the "new," while turning these very terms inside out. Psychoanalysis has always been "relational" and "political," an insight we would do well to return to.
2.5 continuing education units are available for an additional fee. To qualify for student ticket pricing, you must use an email address ending in .edu.
