"Desire must be taken literally" J. Lacan

READING SEMINARS

Freud’s Studies on Hysteria - a reading of female hysteria and the invention of psychoanalysis
Last Saturday of the month 11.00am-1.00pm

Lacan’s Seminar XX - Encore On Feminine Sexuality, The Limits of Love and Knowledge 1972-1973
Last Saturday of the month 3.00-5.00pm

These Seminars involve a close reading of foundational texts of Freud and Lacan with discussion of related clinical and theoretical topics.

Convenor: Linda Clifton,
9509 9396

 

SEMINARS

Psychoanalysis, philosophy & theology
First Saturday of the month 3.30pm-5.00pm

An appraisal of certain fundamental concepts in psychoanalysis and the way in which they are informed by and inform recurring questions in philosophy and theology across the realms of metaphysics, ontology, logic and ethics. - Detailed outline available on request.

Convenor: David Pereira, Analyst of the School,
9690 3515



Psychoanalysis and the Child
Re-convening Tuesday 3rd February2009

When Oedipus confronts the sphinx and solves her riddle, he responds that the being who has at times two feet, at others three, at others four, is Man as an adult, an old man and as an infant. But this attempt to answer the enigma of sexuality with the proposition of the three ages of life poses a difficulty: we cannot speak of the ‘child’ in reference to psychoanalysis without opening the question of how we might conceive of the very notion of childhood and in what manner it might or might not constitute a theoretical category for psychoanalysis.

We can see, moreover, in the history of child psychoanalysis, a division between the two sides of Oedipus’ struggle: on the one hand, a confrontation with the enigma of sexuality for the child and an attempt to give it meaning; on the other, a turning away from this riddle through a recourse to a developmental insistence on ages and stages. We might pose a question of what articulation between these two sides, that of the riddle and of its solution, is possible. That is, we might attempt to keep the enigma alive, but without throwing out the child with the bathwater. For to speak about a field of child psychoanalysis is to put forward that the child might be able to be structurally defined in relation to the enigma of sex. The writings of both Freud and Lacan, as well as those of other analysts will be taken up in order to discern what in psychoanalysis has shaped the path of the conceptualisation of childhood and the infantile factor of sexuality.

It is proposed to take up these questions in 2009 by examining more closely, and from different fields, the way in which the various concepts of ‘child’ permeate discourse. Indeed the particular notions held of childhood shape approaches to upbringing, education, pedagogy and related areas such as paediatrics, child psychology and psychiatry. These considerations have a significant bearing upon psychoanalysis in reference to the child. Hence the seminar will study, amongst other things, the writings of Philippe Ariès, in particular the important work Centuries of Childhood; Michel Foucault and the History of Sexuality; and Jean Jacques Rousseau and his Émile, or Treatise on Education.

We would like to invite those interested, regardless of ages and stages, to participate in the seminar to investigate the intersection of these two terms ‘psychoanalysis’ and ‘child’. Such discussions will of course involve reference to clinical material.

The seminar will take place on the first Tuesday of each month from 8 to 9.30 pm. In order to express interest or to participate please contact one of the convenors.

Convenors:
Tine Norregaard Arroyo, 9690 9597
Michael Plastow, 9347 1486

 

Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry:
Limits and Edges
Commencing 3rd Monday of March 2009.

I propose to start a study group comprising readings and clinical discussions about the borders around Psychiatry and around Psychoanalysis and between them.
In my view, these borders are not gaps. They both separate and unite the two fields. But the conditions for each practice to be possible are not the same. And one has to choose one field or another.
The aim of this group would be to explore those limits and edges from both sides and to define the conditions which would render possible a clinical use of them.
It is open to clinicians in Public Service and/or in Private Practice.


For more details and registration, call Francoise Muller-Robbie:
(03) 9399 8259

Reading:
Freud, S; Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry, lecture 16, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis.

CLINICAL SEMINAR

Method and Technique in Clinical Practice
First Saturday of the month 11.30am -1.00pm.

With reference to a functional differentiation between the notions of method and technique this seminar will examine and discuss certain impasses in clinical practice. Reference will be made to clinical material and to selected clinical texts.

Convenors:
Linda Clifton, 9509 9396
David Pereira, 9690 3515