Chicago Psychoanalytic Society

Co-Sponsored by the Institute for Clinical Social Work

Thursday, September 20, 2018 – 7:00 PM-8:50 PM

Location: Robert Morris University – 401 S. State Street, 8th floor auditorium

Admission is free

The Analyst’s State of Mind and Growth

in the Psychoanalytical Process

Presenter: Alberto Hahn, MD

Discussant: Ann Kaplan, PhD

Focusing on the internal world of the analyst we will think about the intricate difficulties built into our work with our patients.  To address some of the technical and personal elements that operate in all clinical encounters, we must first acknowledge that we all have to settle for a rhythm, depth and style of work that falls within our comfort zone.  I will clarify the ways in which the intimacy and turbulence of the analytic relationship is and is not like mother-baby relationship,  the model to which it is often compared.  Then  I will  focus on receptivity as a quality of the mind of the analyst.  We bring very personal characteristics, which require careful scrutiny and which I will enumerate.  This forms the backdrop for intuition, for empathy, for self-analysis of the countertransference, and then for verbal thought in the form of interpretation.  Saying what we mean with authenticity and sincerity bridges the space between two minds and creates a new space in which intimacy can prosper.  We will also discuss what happens when there is a failure to use our intuition in the creation of intimacy and some of the technical errors that are frequently met in our practice.

Presenter: Alberto Hahn, MD, is a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society, where he trained in the Kleinian tradition.   He has been in full-time practice as a psychoanalyst for 45 years, and he is a Training and Supervising Analyst for the Tavistock Child Psychotherapy program, where he teaches Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice.Dr. Hahn’s approach follows the post-Kleinian line developed by W. Bion and D. Meltzer.  He is much sought after as a supervisor, lecturer, and teacher in Europe ( e.g., Barcelona, Sofia, Florence, Venice, Madrid, Salzburg, Rome, Paris, and  St. Petersburg);  South America (Chile, Peru, Buenos Aires), and Asia (Tokyo, Mumbai).  In these centers he reads papers, supervises, teaches in postgraduate seminars and gives Master classes on psychopathology and technique.  He has lectured extensively on the psychoanalytic process, narcissism, dreams, autism, thought disorders, and psychoses. 

Discussant: Ann Kaplan, PhD, is a member of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society and a faculty member at the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute.  At the Institute she is Chair of the Child Analysis Committee and teaches the history of psychoanalysis and object relations theories, with an emphasis on Kleinian theory.  She trained in Child Analysis at the Tavistock in London and has maintained strong ties with the Kleinian group there.  It is through her recommendation that the Society and Institute brought Dr. Hahn to Chicago.