NOBPC | New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center

Film Series - AI and Therapeutic Action in 'HER'; Will She Replace Us? by Andrew Anson, MD
2025-05-18 14:00 - 17:45 (Asia/Karachi) | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Psychoanalysis and Cinema: This film screening explores how psychotherapists and psychoanalysts are increasingly confronted with the question of whether an AI platform (ChatGPT, therapy bots, or a future operating system) can replace the therapy relationship and to what degree it can mimic it. This talk looks at the potential and limits of AI therapy from a multi-theoretical perspective of attachment, mentalization, the depressive position, and desire and fantasy.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Screening begins at 2pm Central Time at NOBPC.
Discussion begins at 4:15pm Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
Can artificial intelligence (AI) satisfy our desire for meaningful relationships? Will AI eventually surpass and replace human psychotherapists?
Come watch Spike Jonze’s prophetic movie, “Her,” and join us for a discussion of the essential elements of therapeutic change and whether they require human-to-human interaction.
Dr. Andrew Anson, MD, will analyze the therapeutic relationship from a multi-theoretical perspective. He will draw on the concepts of attachment, mentalization, the depressive position, desire and fantasy in order to determine AI’s capacity for therapeutic action and interpersonal connection.
Learning Objectives:

Define attachment, mentalization, the depressive position, and desire and fantasy
Describe how attachment, mentalization, achieving the depressive position, and desire and fantasy each change how we think about therapeutic action in clinical practice
Analyze the degree which a relationship to AI facilitates and reciprocates (or not) attachment, mentalization, achieving the depressive position, and desire and fantasy, based on previous definitions

Dr Andrew Anson is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at Atlas Psychiatry and teaches psychoanalytic candidates at NOBPC. He also supervises psychiatric residents at Tulane. He has presented at the NOBPC film series in the past and currently serves on the Board.
Attendance is free but pre-register HERE
Please click HERE for registration with CME credits. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $10
Non-members $15

In-person space is limited so please register early.
If you wish to join only for the discussion, please watch the film prior to joining. If joining for the discussion only, please arrive at NOBPC by 4pm or join the Zoom link.
The film is available to rent on several streaming services.
Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event and is only available for the discussion portion.
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 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Cooper, S. (2016). The analyst’s experience of the depressive position. In Routledge eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315730615
Freeman, C. (2016). What is Mentalizing? An Overview. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 32(2), 189–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjp.12220
Karbowa-Płowens, M. (2021). John Bowlby and Attachment Theory. In Springer eBooks (pp. 4286–4289). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_3574

Film Series - DATE CHANGE -I Have to Think These Things Up: Imagination, Differentiation, and Defense at Grey Gardens by Jon Dimond, Phd
2025-06-21 14:00 - 17:15 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Psychoanalysis and Cinema: Elevate your clinical competence by understanding the persistent impact of fused family dynamics in adult patients. This talk addresses the gap in recognizing how defenses maintain these relationships and how cultural shifts impede separation. Learn to apply these insights to your practice, fostering deeper understanding and more effective interventions with clients navigating individuation and lifespan challenges.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Screening begins at 2pm Central Time at NOBPC.
Discussion begins at 3:45pm Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
The Maysles Brothers’ Grey Gardens (1976) is many things – a genre defining cinema verite masterpiece that inspired a Broadway musical, an HBO dramatic remake, and truly singular fashion iconography. Some call it a definitive cult classic. It is also a psychologically intense and profoundly intimate portrait of a mother/daughter struggle for dominance, independence, and love at a particularly vulnerable moment in their shared developmental trajectory. Together we will visit the real life East Hampton estate of Grey Gardens and encounter its singular inhabitants Edith “Big Edie” Bouvier Beale and Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale in media res.
We will attempt to read this documentary as a narrative representation of the imaginative world of the home’s occupants, returning to cyclical memories of loss, thwarted ambition, and an aching desire for security and love. We will also focus on the ways in which humor and intimacy create opportunities to both connect with and wound others. Participants will additionally be invited to link these observations and insights to their own work with patients contending with overly fused relationships, attempts at individuation, decay, and the precarity of the lifespan.
Learning Objectives:

Identify and describe the defenses that Big Edie and Little Edie use throughout the film
Define Jung’s concept of differentiation and determine whether Big Edie and Little Edie achieve it within their mother-daughter dyad
Assess Big and Little Edie’s respective self-concepts and how that is defended and interfered with throughout the film in the domains of seduction, loss, and decay

Dr. Jon Dimond received his doctorate in clinical psychology from The New School for Social Research in New York City. Although his practice is broadly oriented toward general adult psychotherapy, he has specialized training in treatments for severe personality disorders and trauma. Dr. Dimond additionally has an extensive research and clinical background working with individuals who identify as transgender, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary.
Attendance is free but pre-register HERE
Please click HERE for registration with CME credits. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $10
Non-members $15

In-person space is limited so please register early.
If you wish to join only for the discussion, please watch the film prior to joining. If joining for the discussion only, please arrive at NOBPC by 3:40pm or join the Zoom link.
The film is available to rent on several streaming services.
Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event and is only available for the discussion portion.
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 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Chodorow, N. (2020). Women, mother, daughters: The reproduction of mothering after the second wave. International Psychoanalytical Association. https://www.ipa.world/IPA/IPA_DOCS/PDFDocuments/Chodorow%202020-%20Women%20Mother%20Daughters.pdf
Golan, M., & Bachner-Melman, R. (2021). Keep it quiet: Mother–daughter parentification and difficulties in separation–individuation shaping daughters’ authentic/true self and self-silencing: A mediation model. Journal of Adolescence, 89, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.04.002
Akhtar, S. (2022). Selected papers of Salman Akhtar. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003278736

Freud vs. Jung: A Dangerous Method film screening
2025-07-26 19:00 UTC | Studio 633, 633 Carondelet Street, New Orleans, 70130, United States
In collaboration with the C.G. Jung Society of New Orleans
Freud vs. Jung: A Dangerous Method & a Historic Dialogue
Screening begins at 7pm Central Time at Studio 633 (633 Carondelet Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130).
Participation is open to all.

Psychoanalysis and Cinema: Who was the better analyst—Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung? Which father of psychoanalysis speaks more to our times in 2025? And why did these once-close allies stop speaking altogether?
Join us for a powerful night of cinema and conversation as the New Orleans Birmingham-Psychoanalytic Center and the C.G. Jung Society of New Orleans come together for the first-ever collaborative event between the Freudian and Jungian communities in our city. We’ll screen David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method (2011), which dramatizes the intense and ultimately fractured friendship between Freud and Jung—and the influence of Sabina Spielrein, one of the first female psychoanalysts. Their entangled story raises timely questions: What caused the split between these two towering minds? And why are their followers still divided today?
Following the film, join us for a live dialogue exploring the diverging theories of the unconscious—Freud’s Oedipal insights, Jung’s collective unconscious, and the very different paths their legacies took. Let’s open the conversation that Freud and Jung never finished, and bring our communities together at last.
Let’s talk—because the founders of the talking cure aren’t.
Pre-register HERE
We look forward to seeing you there!

Hurricane Katrina: 20 Years Later – Reflections and Resilience
2025-09-13 11:00 - 12:30 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
The New Orleans Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center invites you to join us on September 13 at 11am for a morning of reflection, remembrance, and renewal.
Led by our Emeritus Faculty, this event will feature a short documentary and discussion about the shared trauma of Katrina: how the Center came together to manage the crisis and evolved as a result, personal accounts of rebuilding, and how the storm impacted their career trajectories.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the profound impact of the storm on NOBPC and those who dedicated their careers to healing and recovery.
Please join us at NOBPC or via Zoom. Participation is open to all. This presentation does not offer CME credits.
Pre-register HERE.
In-person space is limited so please register early.
To learn more about the academic research that led to the documentary, click HERE
To read Reports from the Front: The Eﬀects of Hurricane Katrina on Mental Health Professionals in New Orleans, click HERE
$15 suggested donation. If you would like to donate in advance, please use this Venmo QR code.

Psychotherapist Social Hour at Bayou Beer Garden
2025-09-18 18:30 - 20:30 UTC | Bayou Beer Garden, 326 N Norman C Francis Parkway, New Orleans, 70119, United States
Are you a psychotherapist in the New Orleans area? Do you need to build your referral network? Do you want more opportunities to connect with like-minded therapists?
We are excited to announce our second Psychotherapist Social Hour on Thursday, Sept. 18th, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Bayou Beer Garden.
The Social Hour is a casual event for psychotherapists to relax, network and enjoy a drink together every three months. Our hope is to build community, create high quality referral networks and reduce the stress and isolation that we can experience as mental health professionals.
All counselors, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists are welcome. Clinicians who are curious about psychoanalysis and our Center will have the opportunity to learn more from our members, but an interest in psychoanalysis is not required to attend.
Please join us and help us build community together!
RSVP, invite colleagues and spread the word using the link below.
RSVP HERE
We hope to see you there!

Secrets in Psychotherapy: Clinical, Somatic, and Ethical Perspectives with Kathryn J. Zerbe MD Scientific Conference In-person or Zoom
2025-10-04 11:00 - 13:00 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Secrets in Psychotherapy: Clinical, Somatic, and Ethical Perspectives
Kathryn J. Zerbe MD
11am – 1pm Central Time
2 In-person Clinical and Ethics continuing education credits available
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Participation is open to all. Attendees will receive a 2-hour CME certificate. This is a hybrid event. In-person space is limited so please register early and use the early registration discount through September 17.
Hearing secrets is part of every clinician’s practice. The impact of keeping secrets has received little attention in psychodynamic training or the analytic literature. These disclosures can exert powerful and unanticipated reactions in the therapeutic relationship. Somatic countertransference reactions and the body/mind relationship is an entry point to more fully appreciate the importance of secrets that come to light in treatment. Ethical complications can also arise when bearing witness to others’ “ghosts” and trauma. It is essential to distinguish normative but conflictual ‘professional camouflage’ from unconscious or dissociated ‘secret identities.
This presentation (based on Kathryn Zerbe’s new book Secrets in Psychotherapy: Stories that Inform Clinical Work) brings together contemporary perspectives from psychodynamic treatment, advances in cognitive science, medicine, and neuroscience to assist practitioners in working with secrets that emerge during psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. Clinical examples will illustrate and integrate the multiple perspectives from which to understand the impactful role secret keeping has on our patients’ lives and our own.
Learning Objectives:

Distinguish between the ethical complications that may arise from ‘therapist camouflage’ or less conscious, dissociated ‘secret identities’.
Recognize multiple and unanticipated impacts on the therapist-patient relationship when a warded off secret is spoken aloud.
Use somatic countertransference as an additional guide in treatment.

Kathryn J. Zerbe, MD is a Training and Supervising Analyst at Oregon Psychoanalytic Center and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University who has written several papers and a book on the topic of secret keeping in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Her experience in treating eating disorders for over 30 years led her to undertake a deeper dive into the topic of secrets that reside on the conscious/unconscious continuum, impact the mind/body of patient and clinician, and can create complicated ethical dilemmas in the treatment.
Registration Information (includes 2 CME credits)
Advance registration is required. Please click HERE to register online. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
VIRTUAL (ZOOM) REGISTRATION ENDS Friday, October 3 at Noon Central Time.
In person at NOBPC, 3624 Coliseum St , New Orleans, LA 70115
Early Registration Discount by September 17, 2025:
NOBPC Members: $40
Non-members: $85
Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)
AFTER September 5 and BEFORE September 27:
NOBPC Members: $55
Non-members: $100
Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)
Week of Registration Fees:
NOBPC Members: $70
Non-members: $115
Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)
Optional Readings:

Zerbe, K. (2019). The secret life of secrets: Deleterious psychosomatic effects on patient and analyst. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 67:1, 185 – 214.https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0003065119826624
Zerbe, K. (2022). Aches, pains, rumbles, and stumbles: Applying somatic countertransference and body reactivity in clinical work and teaching. Psychoanalytic Review, 109:2, 167 – 193.
Zerbe, K. (2022). The analyst’s self-care: Further reflections on cultivating resilience and the essential role of the body-mind relationship in clinical practice, Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 50:4, 603 – 621.

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)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.

Cases in Conversation: Reading and Study Group
2026-01-11 16:00 - 17:00 UTC | NOBPC, 3624 Coliseum Street, New Orleans, LA, 70115, United States
Registration is closed for the study group
The Cases in Conversation Study Group is for clinicians who are interested in psychoanalytic ideas and their application to psychotherapy. The group will be facilitated by Jeanne Cunningham, LCSW.
In this new study group, we will read psychoanalytic cases and discuss how to work concretely with psychoanalytic concepts. Therapists with an analytic background as well as those who are brand new to psychoanalysis are encouraged to join us to explore what it means to work within a psychoanalytic frame of mind, use of self, and the evolution from classical to relational psychoanalysis.
Together, we’ll read and discuss six short case studies from Dr. Beth I. Feldman’s 2025 book, Case Studies in Relational Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis: If I Could Turn Back Time. Dr. Feldman’s accessible, relational approach invites us to think deeply about the meaning of analytic work and how it unfolds in real therapy rooms.
Participants will also examine Feldman’s nuanced use of the analytic frame and self-disclosure, enhancing their theoretical grasp of psychoanalysis and supporting reflection on how relational techniques might inform their own clinical practice.
Learning Objectives:

Discuss the core tenants of contemporary psychoanalysis and how to apply them to clinical practice
Define the analytic concepts used by Feldman, including misattunements, ruptures, enactments and self-states
Examine Feldman’s use of relational techniques such as self-revelation and evaluate their effectiveness

This is an in-person study group meeting on the following Sundays at 3624 Coliseum Street from 4pm-5pm Central Time:
January 11, 2026
February 8, 2026
March 8, 2026
April 12, 2026
May 10, 2026
June 14, 2026
July 12, 2026
Attendance is free. Fee for semester-based CME credits: $50 NOBPC member / $75 non-member. Each session is a 1-hour CME offering. In its entirety, the course will offer 7 CME credits.
Please click HERE for online registration.
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 7 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Psychologists and Social Workers may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.

The I in You by Jeffry Luria, PhD
2026-01-17 11:00 - 12:30 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Psychoanalytic Explorations is a series in which faculty members and students of the NOBPC, as well as interested members of the community, present and discuss issues of current concern to them. The focus will be on clinical practice, theoretical challenges, and non-clinical applications of psychoanalytic theory; all presentations are intended to deepen attendees’ ability to think psychoanalytically. Each session will begin with a presentation followed by questions and answers and open discussion, with the intention of facilitating relaxed, informal peer exchange.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Discussion begins at 11am Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
We think about ourselves, but how much do we think about our thinking about our selves? When we do, what is the Self we think about? If I am thinking about myself, who is the I and who is the Self? We will briefly outline the history of narcissism and the Self in western culture from biblical to present days. We will explore the pervasive narcissism of our culture and attempt to re-define the concepts of Self, Narcissism and Well-Being. By redefining we may be more open to appreciating how these concepts inform and deepen our understanding of their influence on the dynamics of transference and countertransference. How much of transference and countertransference is based on the narcissistic processes of both analyst and patient? If so, is the question below a serious one? Is the psychoanalytic relationship a therapeutically necessary narcissistic fever dream progressively disrupted by transient awakenings of the patient and analyst whose successful completion depends on an enduring awakening of both?
Dr. Jeffry Luria, a clinical psychologist/psychoanalyst, began practicing in 1975. He trained as a psychoanalyst at the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health in New York City and later served as a supervising psychoanalyst at two training institutes there. He is a member of the faculty of the New Orleans Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center He is working on a book entitled The I in You, a slightly ego-centric stroll through Self and Narcissism in culture and clinical practice.
Learning Objectives:

Describe the origin, definition, and role of Self in human experience and behavior and increase their awareness of the role of Self in human behavior
Examine the social and cultural influences that reflect and exacerbate the role of Self in individuals
Explain the role of Self in transference and countertransference and how it expands the efficacy of psychoanalytic treatment

Please join us at NOBPC or via Zoom. Participation is open to all. In-person space is limited so please register early.
Please click HERE for online registration. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $25
Non-members $35

Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event.

Optional Readings:

Fischman, L. G. (2019). Seeing without self: Discovering new meaning with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Neuropsychoanalysis, 21(2), 53–78.
“A Neural Signature of the Bias Toward Self-Focus” by Danika Geisler et al. Journal of Neuroscience August 25, 2025
Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Progress in Understanding and Treatment Am Psychiatr Publ. 2022 Oct;20(4):368-377

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 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program Virtual Open House and Informational Q&A
2026-02-26 19:00 - 20:00 UTC | Virtual Event via Zoom, LA
We’re excited to welcome you to an engaging open house and discussion with the Chair of our Psychoanalytic Education Committee, Molly Rothenberg, PhD, about our upcoming Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program, launching in Fall 2026. The virtual event will take place on February 26, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. CST via Zoom,
An in-person event will take place at the Center on February 28, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. CST, lasting approximately 30–45 minutes.
Please click HERE for online registration.
The Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program offers a rich learning experience for mental health professionals eager to deepen their understanding of psychoanalytic principles and elevate their skills in conducting intensive psychotherapy. The curriculum features 26 classes each academic year, including psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theory and clinical case presentations, meeting once a week in the evening. This is a stand-alone program and is not part of the training track for psychoanalytic candidates. Applications are due April 15, 2026, and full program details—including the application—are available on our website. Whether you are considering training now or in the future, all are welcome to attend.
We look forward to seeing you!

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program In-Person Open House and Informational Q&A
2026-02-28 10:00 - 10:45 UTC | NOBPC, 3624 Coliseum Street, New Orleans, LA, 70115, United States

Rehabilitating the Heart: A Jungian Psychoanalytic Exploration of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tale The Snow Queen by Elizabeth Colistra, PhD
2026-02-28 11:00 - 12:30 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Psychoanalytic Explorations is a series in which faculty members and students of the NOBPC, as well as interested members of the community, present and discuss issues of current concern to them. The focus will be on clinical practice, theoretical challenges, and non-clinical applications of psychoanalytic theory; all presentations are intended to deepen attendees’ ability to think psychoanalytically. Each session will begin with a presentation followed by questions and answers and open discussion, with the intention of facilitating relaxed, informal peer exchange.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Discussion begins at 11am Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
According to Bruno Bettelheim, “Psychoanalysis was created to enable man to accept the problematic nature of life without being defeated by it, or giving in to escapism. Freud’s prescription is that only be struggling courageously against what seem like overwhelming odds can man succeed in wringing meaning out of his existence.” This is also the message that fairy tales deliver: that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable, archetypal, and an intrinsic part of human existence. However, if one engages consciously in the struggle, one may discover that it is a meaningful suffering, not simply a meaningless one.
Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, The Snow Queen, follows the story of a young girl and boy and the trouble they both get into regarding their hearts. It is the heart which allows us to experience feeling values of love, empathy, compassion, and relatedness. In Jungian psychology, is is the realm of the archetypal feminine principle. The Snow Queen teaches us the dangers of being too one-sided, either too naively in the heart, or too cooly in the mind. Separated and eventually conjoined, the heart and mind both require distillation and refinement. If we can submit to his process, not only does it lead to the rehabilitation of the heart, but a chance for love and insight to reign together equally and powerfully in the psyche of individuals and the larger collective consciousness
Elizabeth Colistra, PhD is a certified Jungian psychoanalyst in New Orleans who offers a unique perspective on psychoanalytic discourse given her Jungian training and clinical practice.
Learning Objectives:

Describe the clinical relevance for use of fairy tales in psychoanalytic practice
Demonstrate the ways in which fairy tales help make internal processes more comprehensible and meaningful by externalizing these processes in the figures of the story and its events
Describe the process of development out of an original undifferentiated state into one of integration of opposites within the personality through the use of the fairy tale

Please join us at NOBPC or via Zoom. Participation is open to all. In-person space is limited so please register early.
Please click HERE for online registration. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $25
Non-members $35
Students $10

Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event.
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 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Cunha, I. (2021). The Jaguar, The Fire, The Man: A Jungian Interpretation of a Brazilian Indigenous Tale. Psychological Perspectives, Vol. 64, issue 3, (pp. 369-382).
Newton, L. (2019). Resolving a Split in Feminine Development: The Pretty and the Ugly Maidens. Psychological Perspectives, Vol. 62, issue 1, (pp. 79-88).
Takenaka, N. (2016). The Realization of Absolute Beauty: an interpretation of the fairytale Snow White. Journal of Analytical Psychology, Vol 61, issue 4, (pp. 497-514).

Language Strangeness at the Core of Psychoanalysis: The Educator, The Artist, and The Hiker Scientific Conference In-person or Zoom by John Rosegrant, PhD
2026-03-21 10:30 - 12:30 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Language Strangeness at the Core of Psychoanalysis: The Educator, The Artist, and The Hiker
John Rosegrant, PhD
10:30am – 12:30pm Central Time
2 In-person Clinical continuing education credits available
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Participation is open to all. Attendees will receive a 2-hour CME certificate. This is a hybrid event. In-person space is limited so please register early and use the early registration discount through March 4.
The “talking” part of the talking cure is strange. Often we encounter patients who want to hear from us but don’t like what we say, or want us to stop talking when they seem most in need of our help. And often patients wish we would understand them but don’t want to say anything, or at least not anything about what they most want us to understand.
We will look at clinical material with the help of an imaginary educator, an imaginary artist, and an imaginary hiker, to explore how Freud, infant researchers, and Lacan understand this strangeness. We will identify a fundamental uneasiness and alienation between language and nonverbal parts of the mind, and think about how to address clinically the problems this creates.
Learning Objectives:

Examine the fears that make it difficult for patients to talk about what is most important to them
Examine what makes patients afraid to hear from their therapists about what is most important to them
Summarize how Freud, infant researchers, and Lacan understand these fears

John Rosegrant, Ph.D. trained in Adult and Child & Adolescent Psychoanalysis at the Contemporary Freudian Society in New York City and is on the Faculty and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center. He is a highly experienced clinician who has published and presented on psychoanalytic technique, psychoanalytic theory, play therapy, dreams, fairy tales, and fantasy literature, including a psychoanalytic investigation of the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien, “Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss”. Dr. Rosegrant is on the Editorial Boards of The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Psychanalytic Psychology, and The Journal of Ursula K. LeGuin Studies, and is the Reviews Editor of Mythlore, a journal of fantasy literature.
Registration Information (includes 2 CME credits)
Advance registration is required. Please click HERE to register online. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
VIRTUAL (ZOOM) REGISTRATION ENDS Friday, March 20 at Noon Central Time.
In person at NOBPC, 3624 Coliseum St , New Orleans, LA 70115
Early Registration Discount by March 4, 2026:
NOBPC Members: $40
Non-members: $85
Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)
AFTER March 4 and BEFORE March 14:
NOBPC Members: $55
Non-members: $100
Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)
Week of Registration Fees:
NOBPC Members: $70
Non-members: $115
Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)
Optional Readings:

Bucci, W. (2018) The Primary Process as a Transitional Concept: New Perspectives from Cognitive Psychology and Affective Neuroscience. Psychoanalytic Inquiry 38:198-209
Busch, F. (2016) Methods of Understanding: Revisions to a Freudian Method. Psychoanalytic Inquiry 36:548-557
Fink, B. (2019) On the value of the Lacanian approach to analytic practice. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 100:315-332

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)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.

Film Series: Phantom Thread by Jon Dimond, PhD
2026-06-27 14:00 - 18:00 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Maybe He’s the Most Demanding Man:
Authoritarian Ambivalence and The Wounded Patriarch
Psychoanalysis and Cinema: Many psychotherapists struggle to understand the dynamics of power and control that emerge with their obsessive clients. Other therapists recognize these dynamics but fail to see the defensive operations, destructive pleasures and hidden vulnerabilities within these complex games of control. A psychoanalytic account of the authoritarian personality can help clinicians understand both the conflicted minds of their patients and the pathologies of our political moment.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Screening begins at 2pm Central Time at NOBPC.
Discussion begins at 4:30pm Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread (2017) is a taught psychological drama surrounding a meticulous couturier, Reynolds Woodcock, whose need for absolute control over his life, art, and relationships is disrupted when Alma enters his world and refuses to follow the leader. Their relationship unfolds as a battle of power and dependency, with rituals, manipulation, and emotional bids used to secure dominance and intimacy. The film examines how control can be both thrilling and destructive, revealing the compromises and corrosive obsessions that sustain their singular bond.
Drawing from the works of Sigmund Freud (Civilization and its Discontents), Wilhelm Reich (The Mass Psychology of Fascism), David Shapiro (Neurotic Styles), and Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Strongmen: How They Rise, Why They Succeed, How They Fall), we will review Phantom Thread as an illustration of the confounding phenomenology of The Strongman. Through this discussion, participants will be invited to apply psychoanalytic principles to better understand how a character structure organized around obsessiveness, dominance, and relentless control can at the same time be so vulnerable, emotionally reactive, and prone to surrender. Utilizing this lens, the dramatic reversal depicted in the film’s finale may be more inevitable than shocking.
Learning Objectives:

Examine the power dynamics between Alma and Reynolds Woodcock utilizing Reich’s conceptualization of authoritarian character structure
Apply Freud’s concept of the Pleasure Principle to an enhanced understanding of the ambivalent unconscious psychodynamics of authoritarian character structure
Explain the allure of the Strongman and its relationship to the obsessive personality

Dr. Jon Dimond received his doctorate in clinical psychology from The New School for Social Research in New York City. Although his practice is broadly oriented toward general adult psychotherapy, he has specialized training in treatments for severe personality disorders and trauma. Dr. Dimond additionally has an extensive research and clinical background working with individuals who identify as transgender, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary.
Attendance is free but pre-register HERE
Please click HERE for registration with CME credits. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $10
Non-members $15

In-person space is limited so please register early.
If you wish to join only for the discussion, please watch the film prior to joining. If joining for the discussion only, please arrive at NOBPC by 4:20pm or join the Zoom link.
The film is available to rent on several streaming services.
Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event and is only available for the discussion portion.
ACCME Accreditation Statement
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.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Disclosure Statement
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Bergstein, A. (2016). Obsessionality. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 64(5), 969–996.
Funk, R. (2024) On the Psychodynamics of Right-Wing Populism: A Frommian Perspective. Psychoanalytic Inquiry 44:37-44
Rizzolo, G. (2023). Obsessions and compulsions: A lifespan perspective. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 71(3), 445–487

Nomen est Omen: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Names by Mikita Brottman, D.Phil
2026-07-11 11:00 - 12:30 UTC
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Discussion begins at 11am Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
Psychotherapists do not always consider the importance of names in their work. Yet a name can carry secret wishes, internal conflicts, transgenerational traumas, and hidden identifications.
Mikita Brottman, PhD, will present on her paper, “Nomen Est Omen: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Names.” She will discuss how personal names and naming are shaped by unconscious dynamics, implicit associations, cultural influences, and relationships to parents. Dr. Brottman will also analyze associations with certain names, names in relation to the structure of the ego, and the use of names in clinical practice.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the significance of names within psychoanalysis and in the inner lives of their patients.
Mikita Brottman is Professor of Literature at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. She has a D.Phil from Oxford University in English Language and Literature and is an NAAP certified psychoanalyst. She performs forensic evaluations for the National Institute for the study, prevention and treatment of sexual trauma. She is also the author of 15 nonfiction books, the latest of which, Guilty Creatures (Simon & Schuster, 2024) was described by the New York Times as “an unputdownable read”.
Learning Objectives:

Describe the relevance and significance of naming in clinical practice
Analyze how personal naming choices and resistance to naming conventions can reflect unconscious conflicts, desires, and cultural identifications
Identify opportunities within clinical practice to explore naming as a symbolic act that reveals transgenerational themes, identity formation, and relational dynamics

Please join us at NOBPC or via Zoom. Participation is open to all. In-person space is limited so please register early.
Please click HERE for online registration. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $25
Non-members $35
Students $10

Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event.
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 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Knight, Z. G. (2018). “Speaking the names” of family as “speaking a place.” British Journal of Psychotherapy, 34(3), 428–442.
Yadin, Z. S. (2016). Analyzing the patient’s first name in the search for identity. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 52(4), 547–577.
Waska, R. (2025). Name it, claim it, tame it: Modern Kleinian therapy and the challenge of change. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 85, 454–474.

Film Series: Mommie Dearest by Laura McMaster, LMFT
2026-07-25 14:00 - 18:00 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Joan’s Wire Hangers:
Reconciling that Recollection is the Best Fake We Have on Hand
Psychoanalysis and Cinema: Many psychotherapists struggle to reconstruct patients’ early life stories and parse external reality from unconscious phantasies. This challenge is further complicated by pervasive images, prejudices, and power dynamics that imbue even the most private traumas with cultural meanings. To bridge this gap, clinicians look to cinema and culture to see how macro-level dynamics reshape internal psychic reality. A psychoanalytic account of the authoritarian personality helps move beyond traditional intrapsychic models to understand how societal trauma intertwines with private trauma. This program helps practitioners develop clinical skills to deconstruct how these broader cultural narratives dictate what a patient remembers, represses, or replicates within the transference relationship.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Screening begins at 2pm Central Time at NOBPC
Discussion begins at 4:30pm Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
Mommie Dearest (1981), the outrageous and ill-fated biopic, takes a bold, haphazard stab at portraying the career and private life of Joan Crawford. Based on the Hollywood tell-all of the same name written by Joan’s reportedly abused eldest daughter Christina Crawford, viewers are concurrently introduced to a cinematic plot and a series of what we might gently call artistic misfires. Joan Crawford (1906—1977) likely had a lot to say about standing up to authoritarianism, having pushed ahead a career and a personal life when studio executives and McCarthy-era politics would have had it otherwise. Over the course of the biopic, we get a rare opportunity to examine a fundamentally interesting woman portrayed by an artistic team who might have loved and hated her at the same time, not so different from the author of the source material.
In Freud’s 1896 letter to Fleiss Freud wrote “Memory is present not once but several times over, that it is laid down in various kinds of indications,” a remark which builds the bridge to the film’s second life. Mommie Dearest entered the cultural lexicon of drag, and a love for Joan was re-born through the lens of gay male spectators, who portrayed the power and the persona of an actress, a mother, and a diva in clubs, on stage, and even recently in a drag musical. By re-working the film’s most memorable scenes, drag brings the viewer back to affection for this challenging story by turning the 1981 film into a point of reference, less of a perfectly reliable source of what really happened.
Learning Objectives:

Discuss the psychotherapeutic dilemma of not being able to access the original truth of any report, despite a collective want to stand up to oppressive powers and to meet guidelines for ethical practice.
Examine Brett Farmer’s remarks from Spectacular Passions: Cinema, Fantasy, Gay Male Spectatorship in which the author explores pre-Oedipal states achieved from identifying with strong female movie stars
Summarize how certain tropes and images transmute over time from real life to drag and what the art form has the potential to advance through spectacle

Laura McMaster, Msc, LMFT works as a psychotherapist for individuals and couples. She holds a Masters in Anthropology and has been a lifelong patron of the arts. She has appreciated developing personal interests in French culture and language for the past 10 years. Laura and her family have relocated to New Orleans where they have enjoyed a warm and vibrant welcome.
Attendance is free but pre-register HERE
Please click HERE for registration with CME credits. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $10
Non-members $15

In-person space is limited so please register early.
If you wish to join only for the discussion, please watch the film prior to joining. If joining for the discussion only, please arrive at NOBPC by 4:20pm or join the Zoom link.
The film is available to rent on several streaming services.
Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event and is only available for the discussion portion.
ACCME Accreditation Statement
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.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Disclosure Statement
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Laufer, B. (2024). Shadow maternal subjectivities. Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 21(3), 349–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/1551806X.2024.2375974
Gherovici, P., & Steinkoler, M. (Eds.). (2023). Psychoanalysis, gender, and sexualities: From feminism to trans*. Routledge
Leavitt, J. (2020). The bad enough mother. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 21(1), 58–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/15240657.2020.1721141

Film Series: The Lost Daughter by Liora Diamond, LPC
2026-08-29 14:00 - 18:00 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
The Lost Daughter :
If Autonomy Is Reactive, What Do We Do?
Psychoanalysis and Cinema: uses the immersive power of cinema to explore the complex interplay between internal psychic life and external social structures. Although patients routinely grapple with authoritarian social demands, theory alone can mistakenly reduce them to passive objects of social control. Cinema bridges this gap by bringing the intricate, messy realities of human agency to life. Through this cinematic lens, mental health professionals can better analyze the psychological underpinnings of aggression and control, helping us understand where true freedom and psychological traps reside within the unique particularities of a patient’s life.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Screening begins at 2pm Central Time at NOBPC
Discussion begins at 4:20pm Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
One of the mains aims of psychoanalytic therapy is to help our clients achieve autonomy and self-determination. As clinicians we tend to be sensitive to the oppressive, even authoritarian, demands that constrain our patients’ lives. And yet, theories of social control can make our clients seem more passive and less complex than they are. Psychoanalytic theory reminds us that people can be oppressed by rigid social demands in one area, like mothering a child or navigating a career, while seeing threats to their autonomy where they are less likely to exist.
The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 2021 directorial debut, depicts a few days in a woman’s vacation threaded with flashbacks to her earlier life as a mother of two young daughters. As we follow this character through a hazy, sometimes disturbing, sometimes amusing sequence of events, the director explores themes of aggression, maternal ambivalence, and transgressive acts.
The main character, Leda, defies categorization and seems to be morally ambiguous. Refusing to paint her as a victim or an aggressor, Gyllenhaal guides us toward the open-ended questions we might ask a new patient: In what context do her actions make sense? What is she evoking? What is she repeating? Where is her freedom? What are her traps?
Learning Objectives:

Discuss the psychological underpinnings of aggression, rebellion, control and nurturance from a psychodynamic perspective.
Apply sociopolitical context and theories about power, patriarchy, social roles and the rule of law.
Examine ideas related to subjugation, autonomy, reaction formation situated within the particularities of an individual’s unique life and choices .

Liora Diamond, M.S., LPC, works as a therapist for individuals and couples in New Orleans. Her professional interests include systems, the unconscious, and culture as related to the individual experience. She has loved high and low-brow films and TV for as long as she can remember.
Attendance is free but pre-register HERE
Please click HERE for registration with CME credits. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $10
Non-members $15

In-person space is limited so please register early.
If you wish to join only for the discussion, please watch the film prior to joining. If joining for the discussion only, please arrive at NOBPC by 4:10pm or join the Zoom link.
The film is available to rent on several streaming services.
Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event and is only available for the discussion portion.
ACCME Accreditation Statement
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.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Disclosure Statement
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Fritsch, E. (2021) Maternal Desire: On Children, Love, and the Inner Life. 2nd ed. By Daphne de Marneffe. New York: Scribner, 2019, xiv + 291 pp., $18.00 paperback.. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 69:1223-1228
Galioto, E. D. (2019) Maternal ambivalence in the novel and film We Need to Talk About Kevin. Psychoanalysis Culture and Society 24:132-150
Zuckerman, J. R. (2019) Nasty Women: Toward a New Narrative on Female Aggression. Contemporary Psychoanalysis 55:214-251

The I in You Part II Beyond Pathology: Clinical Practice and the Narcissism-Self Paradigmby Jeffry Luria, Phd
2026-09-19 11:00 - 13:00 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Psychoanalytic Explorations is a series in which faculty members and students of the NOBPC, as well as interested members of the community, present and discuss issues of current concern to them. The focus will be on clinical practice, theoretical challenges, and non-clinical applications of psychoanalytic theory; all presentations are intended to deepen attendees’ ability to think psychoanalytically. Each session will begin with a presentation followed by questions and answers and open discussion, with the intention of facilitating relaxed, informal peer exchange.
Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.
Discussion begins at 11am Central Time at NOBPC or Zoom
We’ve discussed the Narcissistic-Self paradigm in our lives previously. Part II is designed to complement the gap between the previous talk’s emphasis on theory with an emphasis on clinical practice. The DSM-5 offers a constricted, pathology-based view of narcissism, while psychoanalytic practice reveals a far more nuanced reality.
We will cover the following questions: How do we use this new understanding to improve our work with patients? How does the Narcissistic-Self process create conflict-ridden quandaries in our patient’s lives and in the psychoanalytic treatment? Can we use this understanding in the framework of transference and countertransference?
These questions require us to move into the interior of the psychoanalytic experience, paying special attention to current language, specifically current semantics in psychoanalytic discourse. Through clinical examples, Dr Luria expands on the etiology of Narcissistic-Self drives and fantasies, exploring the delicate yin and yang of Self-Hatred and Self-Love. Recognizing these narcissistic ideals as operating in both the clinician and the patient, we hope to view these meanings differently, enabling us to reflect, inform, and offer openings to a deepening psychoanalytic process. Seeing conflict and interpersonal suffering through this lens can help us choose specific language and interventions to ameliorate them.
The goal is to attenuate Narcissism-Self; to shrink it. So “shrink”—used in the hitherto as an historical and defensive invective to describe psychoanalysis turns out to be both ironic and accurate.
Is the psychoanalytic relationship an intermittent but therapeutically necessary narcissistic-self fever dream transiently interrupted by awakenings of both patient and analyst? If so, is a successful analysis defined by more enduring awakenings?
Dr. Jeffry Luria, a clinical psychologist/psychoanalyst, began practicing in 1975. He trained as a psychoanalyst at the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health in New York City and later served as a supervising psychoanalyst at two training institutes there. He is a member of the faculty of the New Orleans Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center He is working on a book entitled The I in You, a slightly ego-centric stroll through Self and Narcissism in culture and clinical practice.
Learning Objectives:

Examine Narcissism and Self processes and how it restricts human functioning and exacerbates conflicts in the psychoanalytic process .
Analyze, expand and refine the specific connotative and denotative language clinicians use interventions designed to interpret and clarify Self and Narcissistic processes emerging in psychoanalytic treatment.
Apply the framework of Narcissism and Self to broaden the clinician’s approach enabling a more open and deepening between them and their patients. Specifically, using the Narcissism-Self paradigm the transferential and counter-transferential process will be further explicated enabling a more deep and positive resolution of same.

Please join us at NOBPC or via Zoom. Participation is open to all. In-person space is limited so please register early.
Please click HERE for online registration. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.
Fee for 1.5 CME credits:

NOBPC members $25
Non-members $35

Zoom registration ends 24 hours before the event.
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 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.
Optional Readings:

Development of narcissism across the life span: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies. Orth, Ulrich , Krauss , Samantha , & Back, Mitja D. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 150(6), Jun 2024, 643-66.
Kesman, E., Masoumi, S., De Amicis, M., Mucci, C., & Scalabrini, A. (2026) . The vulnerability to shame for the narcissistic self. Psychoanalytic Psychology. Advance online publication. Journal Article #3.
The mediating role of maladaptive perfectionism between grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Reis, Lais Costa dos Santos Pereira , Rocha , Rafael Moreton Alves da , & Lim a-Costa, Ariela Raissa Personality and Individual Differences, Vol 248, Jan 2026, 1-7 Article 113487.

Psychoanalysis, Authoritarianism and the Arts - Symposium with Tulane University
2026-10-17 09:30 - 13:00 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
Tentative discussion topic. More details coming soon.

SAVE THE DATE: Scientific Presentation -Tentative Topic Sexuality and Erotic Transference by J. Unterberg, PhD
2027-02-28 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | NOBPC or Zoom, 3624 Coliseum St., New Orleans, 70115, United States
More details to follow.
