by Admin General | Mar 22, 2018
Social, Political, and Philosophical Perspectives on Contemporary Psychoanalysis and its Institutions
How did the past produce psychoanalysis? How do psychoanalytic institutions co-produce the present? How will psychoanalysts help to construct the future? Psychoanalytic theory is often mobilised to analyse political discourse, or to explain the reasons behind historical events, implicitly elevating psychoanalysis to a position outside of politics and history. In this series of three panel discussions in Jan-Feb 2018, the SITE brought political theorists, sorcerers, philosophers and activists into conversation with practicing analysts, to put the spotlight on the historical and political context of psychoanalysis itself.
[To play, click on the bottom left corner of the box]
by Admin General | Mar 16, 2018
We are pleased to announce that issue 13 of our journal, Sitegeist, is now out and available via our publishing partners.
Issue 13 takes features papers from our 2017 conference on Transgender and Psychoanalysis, other essays on the same theme and a full review section.
Contributors include Dina Al- Kassim, Sheila Cavanagh, Juliet Jacques, Henry Strick van Linschoten and Damien McCann.
Sitegeist Issue 13 can be purchased HERE
by Admin General | Jan 31, 2017
The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Transgender, Gender and Psychoanalysis Conference Fringe, 2017 is proud to present a programme of artistic events, March 5th-15th, to celebrate the Transgender, Gender and Psychoanalysis Conference, March 11th &12th, Freud Museum, London.
Tickets and further information: https://www.facebook.com/sitefringe2017
https://www.the-site.org.uk/events/conference-fringe-2017/
https://freud.org.uk/events/
5-15th March, Transgender, Gender and Psychoanalysis, An Exhibition
of paintings, sculpture, photography and film
“Putting together an exhibition of visual art on this theme has been an intriguing journey. We felt it was our responsibility to show, without any sort of agenda, a stimulating selection of work that would capture the imagination and provoke dialogue. We think the exhibition will surprise, challenge, and arguably most importantly, move its audience.” Mandy Wax and Spencer Rowell, Curators
Venue: Draper Hall, Junction of Hampton Street/Newington Butts, London SE17
Time: Private View 5th March, 4 pm-6.30 pm. Exhibition open Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th March, 11-6 ; Saturday 11th March, 11-5 and Sunday-Wednesday 12-15th March, 11-6 pm. (We regret we are closed Wednesday-Friday, 8th-10th March).Tickets: free but email sitefringe2017@gmail.com to add your name to guest list
Site Fringe 2017 and the Cinema Museum are proud to present Laurence Anyways, a film by Xavier Dolan charting ten years in the relationship of a trans woman’s relationship with her lover. Dolan raises questions of love, relationships, and transphobia in a well written and visually lush film.
The film screening is followed by a Q&A.
Venue: Cinema Museum, 2 Dugard Way, London SE11 4TH
Time: Tuesday 7th March 2017, 7.30 pm
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/laurence-anyways-tickets-31446486287
Infallible Productions at Draper Hall presents the London premiere of
The Gospel according to Jesus, Queen of Heaven, Jo Clifford, dir. Susan Worsfold. Join Queen Jesus for a revolutionary queer ritual in which bread is shared, wine is drunk and familiar stories are reimagined by a transgender Jesus.
Venue: Draper Hall, Junction of Hampton Street/Newington Butts, London SE17
Dates and time: Thursday 9th, Friday 10th, and Saturday 11th March 2017, 7:30 pm
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-gospel-according-to-jesus-queen-of-heaven-london-premiere-tickets-31585854140
Tickets are still available for the Conference: Transgender, Gender and Psychoanalysis, 11th & 12th March, https://www.the-site.org.uk/events/conference or https://freud.org.uk/events/
by Admin General | Oct 20, 2016
The SITE is teaming up with the Freud Museum for its annual conference in 2017.
Transgender, Gender & Psychoanalysis
11th & 12th March 2017 at the Freud Museum
The struggles of people of transgender identity have exploded into mainstream consciousness. By crossing the ‘gender divide’, the trans movement has radicalised the question of what it means to be a man or a woman, uncovering a fertile and conflicting arena in which the emancipatory deconstruction of sexual identity intriguingly flirts with the pitfalls of essentialism.
Such a reshuffling of binary and non-binary categories confronts psychoanalysis with new clinical, political and theoretical challenges that push it out of its comfort zone. How can contemporary psychoanalysis meet the demands and the needs that such challenges yield? What does psychoanalysis have to lose? And what does it stand to gain?
The 2017 SITE Conference in collaboration with the Freud Museum will approach these questions critically while exploring new horizons from which to address the complex issues of sexual identity and gendered positioning.
Tickets now on sale, click here to find out more
by Admin General | Apr 5, 2016
The SITE is bringing together a number of distinctive voices to offer workshops for qualified clinicians and trainees. The workshops will explore key topics for contemporary psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, with workshop leaders considering these topics in new ways.
The Workshop series will begin with a launch event, Talking About Clinical Work, with Adam Phillips on Wednesday September 28, 2016 at 7.30pm.
Details on our FLYER
Time: 2-5pm
Venue: October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AL
Cost: £50.00 or £40.00 if you book 3 or more workshops at the same time. £20 for the launch evening.
£30 reduced fees for trainees from the SITE and other organisations.
| Subject |
Facilitator |
Date |
|
What’s the Point of Technique? |
Andie Newman |
8th Oct 2016 |
| The Impact of Suicide |
Paul Gurney |
12th Nov 2016 |
| The Responsible Supervisor |
Jim O’Neill |
21st Jan 2017 |
| Psychoanalysis & Truth |
Angela Kreeger |
4th Feb 2017 |
| Working with Psychosis |
Dorothée Bonnigal-Katz |
8th April 2017 |
| Psychoanalysis & Class |
Barry Watt |
6th May 2017 |
| Working with Drug & Alcohol Addiction
Working with Couples |
Eric Harper
Haya Oakley |
10th June 2017
8th July 2017
|
To book:
Please pay by electronic transfer of funds to: Unity Trust Bank, The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis; Sort code: 60-83-01; Account No: 20099428.
Please insert your name as reference and email siteenquiries2015@gmail.com to confirm which of the workshops you wish to book.
If you have any questions or wish to pay by cheque contact siteenquiries2015@gmail.com
CPD certificates will be provided
Workshop Details
What’s the Point of Technique? with Andie Newman
Where do you stand on the role of technique?
“Technique is a necessary set of guidelines which can be taught and which, if followed thoughtfully and sensitively, will protect the practitioner from the excesses of ‘wild analysis’ or narcissistic distractions, and keep the treatment on the right ethical and therapeutic track.”
Or…
“Technique is an outmoded and discredited distraction from the fundamental goal of establishing a strong therapeutic relationship, being fully open to the other without preconceptions and without using theory as a defense against not knowing.”
What status, if any, should we give Freud’s papers on technique? Might they offer a useful compass, or are they relics to be enjoyed and ignored by analysts today? And if there is a place for technique, what are the ethical implications of doing this or not doing that?
We will be addressing these questions and others to explore what a contemporary psychoanalysis has to say about technique.
Andie Newman is a psychoanalyst working in private practice in both central and north London. She trained at The SITE for Contemporary Psychoanalysis and is also a member of the College of Psychoanalysts UK. www.andienewman.com
‘LIKE A HAND-GRENADE GOING OFF’: THE IMPACT OF SUICIDE ON FAMILY, FRIENDS & THERAPISTS A clinical workshop with Paul Gurney
A medical colleague, who had experienced suicide in the family, referred to its impact as being ‘like a hand-grenade going off’, ie: the damage can be wide-ranging, unpredictable and devastating. Through discussion of personal and professional experiences of suicide, we will be exploring a number of issues, including the effect suicide and its aftermath may have on professionals involved with the person who has died. We will also be drawing on participants’ own experiences in this area, attempting to address clinical, theoretical and ethico-legal matters.
Paul Gurney has a background in philosophy and subsequently trained in counselling at Goldsmith’s College and then in psychotherapy at the Philadelphia Association, qualifying in 1998. He has been in clinical practice since 1987. Between 1995 and 2014 he worked in in the NHS in primary care in south London. He is currently in private practice -also in south London- and teaches on various psychotherapy trainings.
THE RESPONSIBLE SUPERVISOR with Jim O’Neill
“(T)he responsibility of the supervisor is not to the patient whose case is ‘under’ supervision, nor to the supervisee, but to psychoanalysis itself.” Darian Leader, 2006.
Recently the responsibility of the clinical supervisor has been cast in the role of an inspector monitoring the safety and outcome of their supervisee’s work. She is also called upon or happily assumes the role of an “older and wiser” practitioner, in effect teaching and treating more junior, less experienced, colleagues, whether they have asked or wish for it, or not. What is often lost in the compulsion to comply and to explain is the very practice of psychoanalysis itself. In this workshop we will be trying to re-define and re-claim the role of the supervisor’s responsibility back to the discipline of psychoanalysis and in doing so making ample opportunity to engage in the artful and expressive practice of giving an account.
Jim O’Neill is a member of the Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis and has a practice in South London.
PSYCHOANALYSIS & TRUTH with Angela Kreeger
Sometimes truth trumps accuracy. Reality, facts, lies – what is the truth, and whose truth is it? Elie Wiesel said, “some stories are true that never happened, and some words remain true even if their meaning evolves”.
Angela Kreeger is a founder member of The Site. She has had a number of roles there, including being on the Training Committee. She trained at the Philadelphia Association, completing that in 1997. For the past 15 years she has been supervising in various organisations, and privately. Since 1997 she has worked mainly in private practice with individuals and couples.
WORKING WITH PSYCHOSIS with Dorothée Bonnigal-Katz
This workshop offers an introduction into the psychoanalytic treatment of psychosis and it is suitable for anyone with a theoretical and clinical interest in psychosis, including trainees and practising therapists. Underlying this workshop is a specialist therapy project (Psychosis Therapy Project) which Dorothée Bonnigal-Katz launched at Islington Mind a few years ago, with a view to furthering the development of effective psychotherapeutic interventions in the area of psychosis. Psychosis is a very common and widespread phenomenon and more and more individuals experiencing psychosis rightfully turn to talk therapy for help. Yet, therapists do not always feel equipped to work with psychosis; they often assume that this kind of work is especially challenging, if not impossible. By combining theoretical clarifications and clinical illustrations, this workshop will discuss the challenges, the pitfalls and the undeniable successes of the psychoanalytic treatment of psychosis. Its wish is to promote the accessibility of psychoanalysis in the treatment of psychosis and to contribute to the de-stigmatisation of psychosis as hopeless and untreatable.
Dorothée Bonnigal-Katz is a psychoanalyst and a translator in the field of psychoanalytic theory. She is a member of the SITE for Contemporary Psychoanalysis and one of the editors of Sitegeist: A Journal of Psychoanalysis and Philosophy. She is the founder of the Psychosis Therapy Project, a specialist therapy service for people experiencing psychosis at Islington Mind and she has a special interest in promoting the psychoanalytic treatment of psychosis in theory as well as in practice.
PSYCHOANALYSIS & CLASS with Barry Watt
Is thinking about class an important issue for clinical work? Many would say no. Class has never been properly considered a clinical or theoretical category in psychoanalysis, being regarded as belonging to the domain of the cultural or sociological. At a time of prolonged austerity economics and a growing crisis in our mental health services, is it time to rethink the relationship between the psychoanalytical and the sociological and, if so, how might we make use of a renewed dialogue between the two disciplines, in what we do in the consulting room? Through clinical vignettes and an exploration of the thoughts and experiences of participants, this workshop will introduce a critique of psychoanalysis as a class based practice, with the aim of clearing a space for thinking about a more socially inclusive and self-critically aware psychoanalytic practice.
Barry Watt is a member of The Site, a senior psychotherapist for the Psychosis Therapy Project at Islington Mind and a community activist. He has previously worked in south London for many years with marginalised young people trying to escape cycles of homelessness and street violence. Currently, he is undertaking doctoral research into the so-called Controversial Discussions at the British Psychoanalytical Society.
WORKING WITH DRUG & ALCOHOL ADDICTION with Eric Harper
What does psychoanalysis do when faced with somebody who presents with addiction? This workshop will consider what psychoanalysis brings to the field of addiction, bearing in mind that the founding scene of psychoanalysis is a repression of Freud’s addiction. Freud underwent disfigurement and died as a result of a nicotine addiction. Does this warrant consideration in what a psychoanalytic approach to addiction might look like? The current political idiom is ‘building recovery capital’. Is this what psychoanalysis wants to sign up to? Can psychoanalysis be a cure to addiction and/or should the analyst consider a partnership approach with addiction services? In considering these questions we will also consider what those struggling to become free of a life consumed by addiction use as coping strategies, teaching and support.
Dr Eric Harper is a psychotherapist, social worker and human rights activist, currently working in London with homeless persons presenting with both mental health and addiction challenges. Prior to this he managed a Mental Health Crisis Centre and Drug and Alcohol structured day rehab program. He has worked in Africa and the USA with war trauma and torture survivors and also assisted with the founding of the African Sex Worker Health and Human Rights Alliance.
WORKING WITH COUPLES with Haya Oakley
‘’Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated, Often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them’’
Sidney Smith; Lady Holland’s Memoirs (1855. Vol I, Ch. 11)
This workshop will explore the reasons couples come to therapy and how to avoid coming between couples whilst working with that which is between them, the couple’s dynamic. It will be based on my own clinical experience of working with a diversity of couples spanning four decades as well as examples from TV series In Treatment (HBO. Dir Rodrigo Garcia from the Israeli original Betipul) and Scenes from a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman).
Haya Oakley has been practising psychoanalysis in London since 1968. After a brief spell at the David Cooper ‘anti-university’ group she joined the Philadelphia Association where she worked with R.D. Laing and colleagues, training psychotherapists and working in ‘therapeutic households’. In 1997 she set up, with others, The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. She has been a member of the Guild of Psychotherapists since 1982 and is a founder member of The College of Psychoanalysts UK and Honorary Fellow of UKCP. Haya’s interests include the politics of psychotherapeutic organisations, the issues surrounding State regulation of the ‘impossible profession’, the comparative study of psychoanalytic theories and the question of psychosis.
