Does Psychoanalysis Have Something to Contribute to Our Reflections on Our Present Cultural, Societal, and Political Crises?

Presenter: Dominique Scarfone, MD

Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at 7:00 – 9:00 PM Central time

By Zoom

Topic:  Does Psychoanalysis Have Something to Contribute to Our Reflections on Our Present Cultural, Societal, and Political Crises? 

Presenter: Dominique Scarfone, M.D., is honorary professor at the Université de Montréal, member emeritus of the Montreal Psychoanalytic Society (French branch of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society), and honorary member of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society. He was for many years an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. The author of numerous journal articles and book chapters, he also published several books, including:  Laplanche: An introduction and The Unpast: The Actual Unconscious (both New York: 2015, UIT-The Unconscious in Translation. He co-edited with Howard B. Levine and Gail Reed, Unrepresented States and the Construction of Meaning (Karnac, 2013). A new book is in preparation, with the provisional title: The Reality of the Message. Seduction, trauma and transference (New York: UIT).

Talk Description:  The many faces of the present world crisis (climate change, war, sexual violence, racism, exploitation of children, slavery, and other) pose a challenge to psychoanalytic thinking. Freud in his time wrote Civilization and its Discontents which ended with the uncertain hope that Eros would intervene against the drive for self-destruction whose effects he saw piling up and which resulted in catastrophe. Confronted with similar ominous signs, can we, with our knowledge of psychoanalysis, only reiterate Freud’s diagnosis or can we say more? The present paper tries to offer a more granular description of the destructive forces at work in the individual and in society at large. It is suggested that the drives at work in the individual mind and the forces operating at the social and economic level, though clearly different, share a common type of dynamics and reinforce each other resulting in a deadly spiral. The question remains if becoming aware of these dynamics can play a role in the effort to avert disaster.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees will be able to:

1. describe the psychological dynamics that lead to violence and oppression;
2. describe how these dynamics interact with destructive social forces.

Admission is free. Continuing Education Credits are offered exclusively to Society members in all membership categories and those intending to join.

Physicians: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category I Credit(s) ^TM . Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Psychologists: The Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute is approved as a continuing education sponsor for Psychologists by the State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The Institute designates this continuing education activity as earning 2.0 hours of Continuing Education Credit. CE Sponsor License #268.000091

Professional Counselors: The Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute is approved as a continuing education sponsor for Professional Counselors by the State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The Institute designates this continuing education activity as earning 2.0 hours of Continuing Education Credit. CE Sponsor License #197-000202.

Social Workers: The Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute is approved as a continuing education sponsor for Social Workers by the State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The Institute designates this continuing education activity as earning 2.0 hours of Continuing Education Credit. CE Sponsor License #159-000122.

Marriage and Family Therapists: The Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute is approved as a continuing education sponsor for Marriage and Family Therapists by the State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The Institute designates this continuing education activity as earning 2.0 hours of Continuing Education Credit. CE Sponsor License #168-000204.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. *Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.