In our group discussion, we will consider a Winnicottian formulation of the analytic field in order to understand the often unspoken, implicit erotic dimensions of analytic work. Material from an analysis with a very inhibited, emotionally-constricted man shows both patient and analyst encountering difficulty in “locating” one another within the analytic field. Movement in the treatment requires a sensing in the body for the “feel” of the analytic dyad, a kinetic reading of emotional closeness or distance, indicating subtle, and shifting, tones of the relationship. Emphasis will be placed on bodily experience in a subjective registering of the erotic, both as sexuality and as a more general experience of passion, vitality and creativity.
We will next explore the relationship between solace and lament through my conceptualization of the solacing function of the analyst: This active, yet gentle, approach toward a patient can locate unrepresented experiences of loss in order to stimulate lament and a process of mourning. Grievance, as a protracted state, will be discussed as a pseudo ‘lament’ that, as a static stance, forms an impenetrable barrier to a registering of grief. Clinical material illustrates challenges of foreclosed mourning.
Date and Time: Saturday, September 12th, 2026 | 10:00AM - 12:30PM PST
Location: Virtual via Zoom (Your link to join will be sent to you upon completion of this registration form to the email address you use below).