SCIENTIFIC MEETING - On the Failure to Use Countertransference Productively
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
Online Meeting
Presenter: Irwin Hirsch, PhD, ABPP
Moderator: Shawn Thomson, RP, FIPA
Wednesday, February 18, 2026: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm (no break)
TPS Scientific Meeting: Open to All (*Fee may apply. See below.)
Deadline for RSVP/registration is one week prior to the meeting.
Preregistration is required.
** DISTANCE PARTICIPATION ONLY: Offered via Zoom.
* RSVP/Registration
CPS members, TPS Affiliate/Guests or TIP Candidates – Please RSVP by email to info@torontopsychoanalysis.com.
Please note that there is a $40 fee for participants who are NOT CPS members, TPS Affiliate/Guests or TIP Candidates.
I believe that the single biggest reason for compromised analyses rests with the failure of analysts to use uncomfortable countertransference experience to address key unspoken, yet key themes, in the transference-countertransference matrix, including the patients internalized relational configurations. I also suggest that patient and analyst often remain too long in a state of comfortable mutual enactments.
Recommended Readings:
- Hirsch (2018) “From familiar and familial repetition to the anxiety of living differently”. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 54: 290-298.
- Hirsch (2021) “Mutative action: From insight to productive use of uncomfortable countertransference experience”. Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 31:674-683.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this presentation participants will be able:
- Be more likely to productively use uncomfortable countertransference experience.
Irwin Hirsch PhD, ABPP
Irwin Hirsch PhD, ABPP, supervises and teaches at the NYU Postdoctoral Program, the William Alanson White Institute and the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis. He has written or coedited six books and over 90 journal articles and book chapters.
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.