63rd Annual Conference

Friday, February 24

Afternoon Workshops

2:45-6:00 P.M.

Workshop 67

The Internalized Father

Chair:         

Isaac Youcha, LCSW, Senior Training Analyst and Supervisor Group Therapy Department, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, New York, New York

Our internalized father is woven into the fabric of our being and effects us in our roles as therapists, fathers, husbands, wives and lovers in ways we may not recognize. In order to discover how this internalized presence functions within us a mild relaxation method is used to regress the group to a preverbal state. Each member emerges as his or her own father. The leader who also becomes his father conducts a father’s group. No one with a history of a severe emotional disorder should participate.

sharing of work experiences-demonstration-didactic- -experiential

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Study the ways parents are internalized and how they operate psychologically.

2. Explore the processed of identification and incorporation of internalized objects.

3. Learn how children who grow up without one of their parents is effected by this

extreme deficit.

4. Discover the dynamics of conflict with internal objects

Course References:

1. Pruett, K., The Nuturing Father.

2. Pruett, K, FatherNeed: Why fathers are as essential as mother care for your child.

3. Blankenhorn, D. Fatherless America: Confronting our most urgent social problem. Amazon Books.