CO-SPONSORED Speaker Series

Bridging Thought, Experience, and Culture

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies
in the Contemporary World

Event price: Event is free! Registration is required.

Doors Open: 5:30pm - Refreshments and Light Snacks

Parking: Free parking in lots B & C 

Note: Please ONLY enter the building (from the Green) directly to the 5th Floor 

Location:
Carlow University
University Commons Building
Gailliot Multipurpose Room, 5th Floor
3333 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

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Continued Education: 2.0 credits

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Karim G. Dajani, PsyD

September 13, 2024: Expanding the Social unconscious

  • The origins and vicissitudes of the social unconscious in psychoanalytic theory and its links to liberation psychology and theology.

    The term social unconscious was coined by Trigant Burrow, who was the first formally trained American psychoanalyst.  His conception of the unconscious as fundamentally social and subsequent theoretical elaborations of its structure and functions have been, most unfortunately, marginalized from our theories and practices.  The paper will link contemporary analytic conceptions of how the social, the group, cultures, and ideologies structure the unconscious with Burrow's original conception and early work.  I will argue for expanding our conception of the unconscious to include culture and collective. Doing so will deepen our reach and increase our competence in working across the spectrum of human differences. Finally, we will examine emerging links between psychoanalysis as a liberatory practice and the developing field of liberation psychology and theology.

  • Karim G. Dajani, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst with a specialization in working with issues related to cultural dislocation and displacement. His research and writing include publications on the links between cultural systems and the unconscious of individuals and groups. He sits on the editorial board of the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. His recent works include a special issue dedicated to the social unconscious and an upcoming chapter on race and ethnicity in contemporary psychoanalytic theories and praxis that will appear in the next edition of the textbook on Psychoanalysis.

    1. Define the term social unconscious.

    2. Distinguish between the terms social unconscious and dynamic unconscious.

    3. Define the term ego-habitus.

    4. Learn the ways culture shapes infant development.  

    5. Define interpellation. 

    6. Develop skills to explore the impact of one's culture on one's perception, comprehension and comportment.

    7. Elaborate some links between contemporary developments in social psychoanalysis and basic conceptions/findings from the emerging field of liberation psychology.

  • Click the link below to download the syllabus:

    Expanding the Social Unconscious

  • Required readings:

    1. Burrow, T. (1924). Social images versus reality. The Journal of Abnormal Psychology and Social Psychology, 19(3), 230-235. 
    https://doi.org/10.1037/h0064512

    PDF Link

    2. Guralnik, O., & Simeon, D. (2010). Depersonalization: Standing in the spaces between recognition and interpellation. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 20(4), 400-416.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10481885.2010.502501

    PDF Link

    Optional Readings:

    1. Drury, N., & Tudor, K. (2022). Trigant Burrow and the social world. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 19(2), 187–201. 
    https://doi.org/10.1002/aps.1743

    --https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aps.1743

    2. Burrow, Trigant (1928). The Social Basis of Consciousness. Humana Mente 3 (11):390-390.

    --https://archive.org/details/socialbasisofcon032260mbp/page/n7/mode/2up

    3. Martín-Baró, I. (1994). Chapter 7. Writings for a liberation psychology. (A. Aron & S. Corne, Eds.). Harvard University Press.

    --https://archive.org/details/writingsforliber00igna

Connect contemporary psychoanalytic theory to the world(s) that we individually and collectively inhabit and navigate

  • Learn about the clinical and social utility in applying contemporary psychoanalytic thought to the complexities of human experience in culture

  • Benefit from the opportunity for dialogue between nationally-recognized psychoanalytic experts and local clinicians and students in the mental health field

  • Our program welcomes students and mental health practitioners learning and working in diverse fields of psychotherapy and social service

  • We are committed to decreasing financial barriers to robust educational experiences by providing this program tuition free and offering enrolled participants access to APA- approved continuing education credits at no cost.

Series details:

The speaker series, “Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies in the Contemporary World” highlights the ongoing relevance of psychoanalytic concepts in today’s world to the broader mental health community in Western Pennsylvania. For recent generations of students and clinicians in our region, psychoanalytic ideas have often not been relevant and useful for daily clinical work. However, as psychoanalytic language and concepts become less abstract and more accessible, we see the time as ripe to explore the connections that can be drawn between contemporary psychoanalytic theory and the worlds that we individually and collectively navigate as we try to improve the practice of psychotherapy in an ever increasing complicated surround. Our aim is to bring experts in contemporary psychoanalytic theory into dialogue with clinicians and students in our Western Pennsylvania region by offering a compelling free educational program through this speaker series.