The evolution of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the direction of treating more primitive pre-oedipal and psychosomatic disorders has challenged therapists to think differently about how to address these anxieties effectively. Some of our usual styles of interpretation—such as empathetic responses, genetic reconstruction, and relational observations—do not sufficiently address these anxieties. This course is designed to help clinicians work more effectively in the presence of early mental states by applying Bion’s ideas about thinking and containment of anxiety. We will also learn to distinguish between projective and introjective identification and how to judiciously use each of these to facilitate addressing these primitive anxieties.

Dori Obadia Dubin, Psy.D., LCSW, BCD-P, is a graduate of the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC), where she is also a training and supervising analyst, an instructor and the chair of the Psy.D. program. She is also a member of the clinical faculty at the Wright Institute and at The Psychotherapy Institute. She teaches about contemporary psychoanalysis and psychosomatic issues throughout the Bay Area, and leads a weekly ongoing psychoanalytic consultation group. She maintains a practice in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and couple's therapy in the Rockridge area of Oakland.