Analytic Formation
2014 Fall Semester
Clinical Workshop:
The Logic of the Case
Presentation
The Logic of the Case is a space that will be dedicated to the writing and presentation of clinical cases. To that end we encourage everyone to bring a case of their own practice that they wish to work on or we can provide the clinical material for those who don’t have a practice yet.
We will dedicate a few meetings to explore in detail what constitutes the ‘literary genre’, so to speak, of a clinical case. It is a great evidence that the writing of clinical cases is not an easy task. We will work together on individually writing a clinical case, while deriving its logic in the process. At the end of the workshop everyone will have a written case, ready for to be presented if they so desire.
The Logic of the Case meets biweekly, on Thursdays at 6pm.
Seminar 1:
The formations of the unconscious and their use in the cure I
Presentation
As Lacan mentions in his text "Position of the unconscious", "The register of the signifier is established by the fact that a signifier represents the subject for another signifier". It is the structure, dream, lapsus and witticism, of all the formations of the unconscious the one that illustrates the original división of the subject. The signifier, being produced in the place of the Other, gives rise to the subject that yet has no word, but at the price of fixing it there. Thus following the lines traced by Jacques Lacan’s teachings as a guide, this seminar will focus on the different formations of the unconscious as indexes of the subject.
Seminar 2:
The direction of the cure I: the symptom and its transformations
Presentation
We intend to provide clinical resources for the practice while setting some key concepts for the operation of an analyst. The spirit of the seminar is to question previous ideas of what is Freudian and about the ethics of psychoanalysis, aiming to convey a reading of the texts of reference sustained in the clinic… that is to introduce a Lacanian reading of Freud.
Seminar 3:
Introductory Concepts to Psychoanalysis-From Freud to Lacan
Presentation
This seminar will present the emergence of psychoanalysis parting from four axes:
- drive
- transference
- repression
- beyond the pleasure principle
We will begin with hypnosis as a pre-psychoanalytic method. Then ever since the pressure on the forehead Freud determines that he is abandoning Breuer’s method, and lastly since the appearance of resistances we could speak of psychoanalysis proper. This emphasis on resistance is fundamental. We will also go over Letter 69 to discover the point where Freud stops believing in hysterics as a strong moment where Freud leaves the position of belief, so that from here we can think the position of the analyst, that will be also frequented later on from the Direction of the cure.
Seminar 4:
Clinical Structures I - Hysteria
Presentation
During the length of the program, this seminar will dedicate a semester to hysteria, a semester to obsessive neuroses, a semester to phobias, a semester to perversion and two semesters to psychoses. The aim of this seminar is to convey the clinical structures such as they are found in the analytic experience.
This first semester the aim is to present the emergence of psychopathology, a brief historical introduction, and explore the crossroads where psychoanalysis drifts away from it. To that end we will distinguish the psychopathological models from the elective cause proper to the speaking being. Once in the terrain of the unconscious, we will start from the beginning that is to say with hysteria.