MAKING MEANING IN THE GRIP OF REALITY: 

FIRST YEAR INTENSIVE STUDY PROGRAM 2020-2021

PSYCHOANALYTIC COUPLE PSYCHOTHERAPY

The Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group is very pleased to once again invite applications for our intensive study program in the Tavistock method of psychoanalytic psychotherapy with couples. 

PCPG’s program offers an immersion in the foundations of Tavistock and other psychoanalytic thinking about and working with couples. The theories developed by Tavistock Relationships since the 1940’s have sought to deepen understanding of the pressures and dynamics that affect couple relationships by extending the thinking of Bion, Klein, Britton and other British Object Relations theorists. Currently, clinicians using this model conceptualize couple functioning in a way that is scholarly and complex, offering a spacious, dynamic, mobile, and creative view of the problems and potentials of couple life. Tavistock couple theory explores a wide range of issues, including the implications of Oedipal development regarding couple functioning, unconscious object choice and shared unconscious anxieties, the role of projection in structuring couple relationships, sexuality, technical application of theory, and transference and countertransference in work with couples.

The 2020-2021 year will feature a rich array of theoretical classes, case conferences, and film events. Classes will be taught by clinicians from the Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group (PCPG), with adjunct seminars taught by other psychoanalytic couple psychotherapists from around the country and by clinicians associated with Tavistock Relationships in London.   

The program is designed as a three-year curriculum. The second year of study will allow participants to continue deepening their understanding of psychoanalytic work with couples, but no advance commitment for the second year is required. In the past most participants have elected to continue in the program, and most have also opted to continue in a third year.  The third year has been structured differently, with the participants forming a study group, and has included a retreat with PCPG and a visiting scholar, as well as a customized weeklong program of study at Tavistock Relationships in London. 

The program will include:

  • Weekly classes and case conferences taught by a hybrid faculty, including clinicians from PCPG, from Tavistock Relationships, and other psychoanalytic couple psychotherapists from around the country

  • In person and video conference seminars

  • Films relevant to understanding couples will be viewed and discussed by faculty of PCPG

  • The program will meet on Friday afternoons from September 2020 to June 2021 in Berkeley. The afternoons will include a theoretical class from 1:30 to 2:40, and a case conference from 2:50 to 4:00.

  • Please note several component events are held on Saturdays or Sundays.

  • Concurrent consultation is offered at a reduced rate and is strongly recommended as a crucial component of the program.

The first year curriculum will include the following courses:

Theoretical Foundations of the Tavistock Method
The Frame
Difficult Couples and Narcissistic Relating
Oedipus, the Couple, and the Third
Listening to Couples
Weekly Case Conferences
Film Seminars
Courses with visiting faculty, on topics to be arranged

We update the curriculum regularly, so as to reflect current theoretical developments in the field of psychoanalytic psychotherapy with couples. We also attend in all our courses, wherever possible, to the relevance of psychosocial diversity, including gender and sexual identification, ethnicity and race, class and SES.

Application:

Please email the following, in two separate attachments, to the Admissions Committee Chair, Sandra Seidlitz, LCSW at sseidlitz@mindspring.com:

● A statement describing your experience with couples and your interest in this study program.

● Your CV, including your license information, address, phone number and email address.

Please also provide two letters of recommendation, written by clinicians who are familiar with your clinical work. These should each be emailed directly to Sandra Seidlitz by the person writing the letter, and should be received by the application deadline.

In our small community of therapists and analysts, there may be conflicts of interest. If this is the case, please contact the admissions chair and the program director, and discuss this conflict with the person involved.

Application Due Date: March 1, 2020.

Cost of program: $3,200, including a $500 deposit due upon acceptance to secure a spot for the year for all PCPG classes, case conferences, video events, and in person events with Bay Area and London faculty. The cost includes CEUs. The fee does not include the price of books and readings, or the October NCSPP/PCPG event. The balance of payment is due as follows: $1350 is due on June 15, 2020, and the remaining $1350 is due on August 31, 2020. Costs are subject to change.

Please send check to:

PCPG, c/o Michele McGuinness

12 Hampton Avenue

San Anselmo, CA 94960

Cancellation Policy: $500 deposit is non-refundable. Second payment of $1350 is 50% refundable up until 30 days before the start of the program. Final payment of $1350 not refundable. No refunds after the start of the program. Please address any questions to Julie Friend at 510-527-9750 or by email at juliefriendlcsw@gmail.com.

The program does not include individual consultation, which is strongly recommended.

Target Audience & Level:   This course is for licensed mental health clinicians of all experience levels in clinical work with some background in the principles of psychoanalytic approaches.

Course Goals:

  • Students will understand and appreciate the importance of holding a 'couple state of mind' in working with couples.

  • Students will understand the importance of Bion’s concepts of container/contained in work with couples and in holding a “couple state of mind”.

  • Students will understand the distinctions between defensive and communicative projective identification in couples.

  • Students will describe Britton’s concepts of triangular space and how it is relevant to the idea of the internal parental couple.

  • Students will apply these ideas of triangular space and the internal parental couple to the understanding and working with some unconscious aspects of the couple. Students will use these ideas to assess the couple’s capacity for observation, reflection, thinking, flexibility, and creativity.

  • Students will be able to list the characteristics of creative couples.

  • Students will be able to describe the qualities necessary for mature sexual love.

  • Students will describe the importance of the balance between aggression and libido necessary for mature sexual intimacy.

Overall Goal:

  • Students will be able to make use of psychoanalytic theories of psychological development and functioning, by applying these ideas to gain a deeper understanding of couple relationships and to help couples understand and communicate with each other more fully and constructively.

Continuing Education for Psychologists: Psychoanalytic CoupIe Psychotherapy Group (PCPG) is approved by the CPA OPD to sponsor continuing professional education for psychologists. Please note the BBS recognizes and accepts CPA CE credit for their licensees. PCPG maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.

BBS: The Board of Behavioral Science (BBS) recognizes CPA’s CE credits for use by their licensees, which includes LCSWs and MFTs licensed in California.

 

ADMINISTRATION

Program Chair: Julie Friend, LCSW, BCD
Admissions Committee: Sandra Seidlitz, Chair, Leora Benioff, PhD, Rachel Cooke, PsyD
Curriculum Committee: Julie Friend, LCSW, Chair; Leora Benioff, PhD, Rachel Cooke, PsyD, Sandra Seidlitz, LCSW
Student Liaison:  Sandra Seidlitz, LCSW
CEU Coordinators:  Michele McGuinness and Julie Friend, LCSW
Budget and Treasurer:  Leora Benioff, PhD and Shelley Nathans, PhD, Co-Chairs
Technology: Rachel Cooke, PsyD
Professional Development and Integration: Leora Benioff, PhD, Chair

The Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group is dedicated to bringing modern psychoanalytic ideas to bear in working with couples.  It began as a three year study course through NCSPP with the Tavistock Center for Couple Relationships in London.  Some members of the original group have continued to study and train together for more than a decade.  The PCPG aims to be a Bay Area locus for education, training and study in psychoanalytic psychotherapy with couples.