62nd Annual Conference

Workshop 23

Haunting Experiences:  Ghostly Matters Throughout our Lives
 

Chair:     

Bruce H. Bernstein, Ph.D., ABPP, CGP, FAGPA, Independent Practice, Great

Barrington, MA

We will look at the differing role of ghosts and ancestors from our birth into an undifferentiated primal density, through our normal adaptation to a scientific, hyper technological world, and finally with our maturation as therapists realizing that the unknown is a constant and that we must find ways to keep alert and imaginative. We will consider how ghosts are formed, and the necessity of transforming them into ancestors.

sharing of work experiences-didactic-experiential-demonstration
 
Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Critique the need for fantasy and reality to be dialectically connected, rather than divorced.

2. Appraise the significance of transgenerational transmission of trauma

3. Consider the place of fantasy and ghosts in one's ongoing groups

References:

1.  Mitchell, Stephen A. "From Ghosts to Ancestors: the psychoanalytic vision of Hans Loewald. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 8 (6): 825-855, 1998.

2.  Selected Writings of Selma Fraiberg. Chapter 4, Ghosts in the Nursery: A Psychoanalytic Approach to the Problems of Impaired Infant-Mother Relationships. Ohio State U. Press 1987.

3.  Schutzenberger, Anne. The Ancestor Syndrome. Routledge, 1998