57th ATPPP Scientific Session: The Disabling Object

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
Hybrid Event
Presenter: Jay Crosby, PhD
Discussant: Kristine Klement, PhD, RP, FIPA
Saturday, November 9, 2024: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT
Open to all by registration.
Fee: $100
Registration deadline: November 1, 2024
Preregistration is required.
** HYBRID EVENT: Offered via Zoom or in person. In person registration is limited to 50 participants.
In person location: Toronto Psychoanalytic Society – 40 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 203 – Toronto, ON M4T 1M9
There has been preliminary although important work done in recent years to address aporias and blind spots of psychoanalytic inquiry in regard to gender, sexuality, race, and class, and to understand the damage done by insidiously normalizing tendencies presented under the guise of theory, treatment and cure. Despite these advances, psychoanalytic thinkers have been slow to engage disability and disabled persons with the same reparative and progressive spirit. In this paper, Jay Crosby presents a theory of the internal disabling object. Linked to the idea of “secondary disability,” developed by Valerie Sinason where the destructive aspects of the self find a home in the disability, Crosby shows how psychic mechanisms and processes involving superego function and masochism are related to the internalization of ableist norms. Crosby maps out a theory of an internal disabler that is not strictly tied to a disabling condition, but can occur in a range of subjects who exist or identify across the spectrum from disabled or neurodivergent to non-disabled or neurotypical. Clinical examples from long term psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic work will be used to illustrate this idea along with examples from the author’s personal experience.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this presentation participants will be able to:
- Understand the concept of “internal object.”
- Develop a basic understanding of the processes of internalization from the perspectives of both psychoanalytic and critical disability theory.
- Enhance clinical listening and technique to better account for social and historical pressures.
Jay Crosby, PhD
Jay Crosby is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York. He is on the faculty at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research where he trained as a psychoanalyst, and is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. He has written, published, and presented papers on a range of topics including early psychosis, the psychodynamics of overstimulation, and messianism and object use. He has a Ph.D. from the Derner Institute at Adelphi University, received additional clinical training from the Melanie Klein Trust and has an A.M. in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago.
Kristine Klement, PhD, RP, FIPA
Kristine Klement is a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist in private practice in Toronto. She is faculty in the School of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at York University, and the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society & Institute. She has written on psychoanalytic supervision, the aesthetic and political histories of hysteria, psychoanalysis and #MeToo, and intersectional feminist pedagogy.
This event is eligible for Section 1 CME credits (0.5 credits/hour). This event is an accredited group learning activity (section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certificate Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, approved by the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA). The specific opinions and content of this event are not necessarily those of the CPA, and are the responsibility of the organizer(s) alone. As per the Royal College standard, each presentation provides a minimum of 25% interactive learning.
Refunds must be requested in writing two weeks prior to the beginning of the event, after which fees cannot be returned. A handling fee of $30 will be retained.
For more information about and for registration in the tps&i Extension Programs, Scientific Meetings, Training Programs, Study and Supervision groups and Special Presentations, please visit our website: torontopsychoanalysis.com or email info@torontopsychoanalysis.com.