Lost in the Mirror: Parent-Child Psychotherapy in the Context of Assisted Reproductive Technology and Unresolved Mourning–Norka T. Malberg, PsyD–Scientific Program

Fee to attend: $30 for NOBPC members; $50 non-members; and $15 student rate. All attendees will receive a 2 hour CME certificate. This meeting is virtual. Pre-registration is required.

The emotional pain of infertility often brings about a reactivation of old losses and narcissistic vulnerabilities, along with a sense of great helplessness, inadequacy, and frustration. In this context, a supportive and facilitating environment is vital. In this presentation, we explore the role of additional stressors like the process leading to choosing ART and the unexpected loss of the father which represent additional relational risk factors and challenge the mother’s parental reflective function. We look together at the therapist’s experience working with a mother and her young son trying to find each other amidst the fog of projections, ghosts and unresolved mourning. The presentation seeks to reflect on both the inter-subjective and intra-psychic ramifications of the multiple experiences of loss and grief experienced by this dyad while using a developmental psychoanalytic lens to guide my understanding.

Learning objectives:

• To understand the concept of parental reflective function in the context of trauma

• To explore, understand and learn about the technical ramifications of contemporary developmental psychoanalysis

• To learn about the importance of mentalizing clients from a culture and trauma lens when constructing clinical formulations

REGISTRATION

If you prefer to pay via check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.

Norka T. Malberg, PsyD. is a certified child psychoanalyst. She trained at the Anna Freud Centre in London and obtained her clinical doctorate from University College London under the supervision of Dr. Peter Fonagy for her work on clinical applications of attachment theory to working clinically with chronically ill adolescents. She is currently in private practice in Barcelona Spain (since Spring, 2020) and Connecticut (online) where she is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale Child Study Center where she conducts an early childhood seminar for child psychiatric residents amongst her main duties. She is a member of the Western New England Psychoanalytic Society’s and the Contemporary Freudian Society in New York City.

Dr. Malberg is co-editor a book of the Lines of Development Book Series for which she co-edited the first book: The Anna Freudian Tradition. She is in the editorial board for the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child and the Journal of Infant, Child And Adolescent Psychotherapy. Dr. Malberg is the co-editor of the Child and Adolescent Sections of the PDM-2 (Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual). She is one of five authors of the book: Time limited MBT-C published by the American Psychological Association Press in 2017 and recently featured as guest master clinician in the APA Video Series illustrating MBT techniques and most recently in a series of videos on Working with emotions in psychotherapy alongside Les Greenberg (EFT) and Michael Tompkins (CBT).

Dr. Malberg is originally from Puerto Rico. She teaches and lectures regularly in Latin America and Europe in the areas of attachment, play, developmental psychoanalysis, children and trauma and their management and understanding in the context of school, hospitals and legal contexts.

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 NOBPC. 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 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM;. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

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. -Updated July 2021-

PSYCHOLOGISTS AND SOCIAL WORKERS MAY RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS ACTIVITY WITH A CME CERTIFICATE.