Chicago Psychoanalytic Society

Co-Sponsored by the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

Saturday, December 8th, 2-4 pm

Location: National Louis University, Second Floor, 122 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago

Admission is free

A Relational Winnicottian Casts a

Critical Eye on Her Own Theory

Presenter: Joyce Slochower, PhD, ABPP

In this presentation Joyce Slochower does something unusual:  she explores the downside of her own theory of relational (Winnicottian) holding.  After reviewing the evolution of that model and how it was designed in part as a corrective to the relational approach, Slochower describes her theoretical regrets–what she wishes she had formulated differently.  Those regrets, both theoretically and personally derived, invite us to consider the limitations and problematic edges of our own preferred way of conceptualizing analytic work.

Joyce Slochower, Ph.D., ABPP, is Professor Emerita of Psychology at CUNY; Faculty, NYU Postdoctoral Program, Steven Mitchell Center, Philadelphia Center for Relational Studies, National Training Program of NIP & PINC in San Francisco.  Second Editions of her 1999 and 2006 books, Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective and Psychoanalytic Collisions were released in 2014.  Joyce is co-Editor, with Lew Aron and Sue Grand, of “De-idealizing Relational theory: a Critique from Within” and “Decentering Relational Theory: a Comparative Critique,” both published this year. She is in private practice in New York City.

Educational objectives:
After the presentation, the participant will be able to:

1. Describe key advantages and disadvantages of Winnicott’s clinical approach;
2. Describe key advantages and disadvantages of the Relational approach
3. Describe key advantages and disadvantages of Slochower’s clinical approach.

Admission is free. There are no reservations, but those who come late should know that seating is limited. Continuing Education Credits are offered exclusively to Society members in all membership categories.