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SCIENTIFIC MEETING – From Social Condition to Human Event: A Plea for Unknowability

SCIENTIFIC MEETING - From Social Condition to Human Event: A Plea for Unknowability

Presenter: Oren Gozlan, Psy.D, C.Psych., ABPP, FIPA

Wednesday, February 21, 2024: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm (no break)

TPS Scientific Meeting: Open to All (*Fee may apply. See below.)

** DISTANCE PARTICIPATION ONLY – Registration deadline is one week prior to the meeting. Preregistration is required.

Since Freud’s all-encompassing reflection on social life in Civilization and its Discontent, the significance of cultural, social, and political events and their bearing on psychical life has preoccupied analysts. We see this in Jung’s conceptualizing of archaic and universal elements operating in culture, Adler’s concept of social interest, and Loewald’s concept of internalization, to name a few. We are, perhaps, again at a moment where these questions have come to the fore and assumptions are being re-evaluated. Questions about the ways in which dominant ideologies unconsciously come into play in the therapeutic encounter are now being raised, however, particularly in North America, through notions such as the “social unconscious” (Layton, 2020, p. xviii), denoting internalized mechanisms of inequality. In our attempt to deeply grasp the emotional situation of others I wonder if it is truly possible to speak of a “social unconscious,” without getting caught in the very defense that animates this concept. To the idea that the social world matters to our work, we must therefore also raise some question: To which world are we listening—the material, the emotional, or the world of ideals and certitude? Or the world subject to unconscious time? How would these questions change our technical structure?

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this presentation participants will be able to:

  1. Explore the tension between the social/cultural and the clinical.
  2. Consider dilemmas associated with the contemporary notion of a “social unconscious.”
  3. Consider the role of negative capability in listening to clinical material.

* Registration/RSVP

Please note that there is a $35.00 fee for participants who are not CPS members, TPS Affiliate/Guests or TIP Candidates.

CPS members, TPS Affiliate/Guests or TIP Candidates – Please RSVP by email to info@torontopsychoanalysis.com.

Oren Gozlan, Psy.D, C.Psych., ABPP, FIPA

Oren Gozlan, Psy.D, C.Psych., ABPP, FIPA, is a clinical psychologist and a psychoanalyst in Toronto. He is Chair of the scientific committee at the Toronto Institute for Psychoanalysis and a member of the Committee for Gender and Sexuality of the IPA. He is faculty at the University of Toronto (Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development), the Toronto Institute for Psychoanalysis, the Toronto Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, and the Canadian Institute for Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. His book Transsexuality and the Art of Transitioning: A Lacanian Approach won the American Academy & Board of Psychoanalysis’ annual book prize for books published in 2015. He is the winner of the Symonds Prize (2016). His edited collection titled: Critical Debates in the Transsexual Studies Field: In Transition (Routledge) was a runner up for the 2019 Gradiva Award. He is also the winner of the 2022 Ralph Roughton Award.

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.

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

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