NCSPP and PCPG are honored to host Stanley Ruszczynski, B.Sc., at this year's 6th Annual Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Event. Mr. Ruszczynski will talk about “Couples on the Couch” — working with couples psychoanalytically. While the theory and practice of psychoanalysis has grown out of — and continues to be greatly influenced by — intensive therapeutic work with individuals, this presentation will show how the fundamentals of contemporary psychoanalysis are also practiced by the psychoanalytic couple therapist. Psychoanalytic theory emphasizes that there is always conflict and tension in human growth — between love and hate, self interest and concern for the other, the need for autonomy and for attachment, and between the wish for and fear of emotional knowledge that might lead to change. Mr. Ruszczynski will discuss how working psychoanalytically with couples leads to an understanding of the intimate couple relationship as containing significant remnants of these aspects of development. These remnants may serve as the source of both conflict and love and offer the opportunity for further growth for the couple. Dr. Rachel Cooke will serve as discussant for Mr. Ruszczynski’s paper and, in the afternoon session, Dr. Candis Counsins will present a clinical case of a couple to Mr. Ruszczynski.
- Participants will be able to explain how developmental issues can emerge in psychoanalytic work with couples.
- Participants will be able to discuss how the relationship between a couple can encompass and point to aspects of development related to conflict, and how this may inform clinical work with couples from a psychoanalytic perspective.
- Participants will be able to discuss how aspects of development expressed in the couple relationship may present as both sources of conflict and love, thus presenting the opportunity for further growth.
Rachel Cooke, Psy.D., has been teaching psychoanalytic couple therapy courses in the Bay Area since 2005, including for NCSPP and Access Institute. A member of the Bay Area’s Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Study Group, she is in private practice in Oakland and San Francisco.
Candis Cousins, Ph.D., is a psychoanalytic psychologist who has published articles on clinical work with parents and lectured on the impact of parents’ relationship on child development. Dr. Cousins recently completed the Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group three-year training program and is on the editorial board of fort da. She is in private practice in Oakland.
The Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group is dedicated to bringing modern psychoanalytic ideas to bear in working with couples. It began as a three-year training course through NCSPP with the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships in London. Some members of the original group have continued to study and train together as the PCPG, which has become a Bay Area locus for education, training, and study in psychoanalytic psychotherapy with couples.
PCPG offers an intensive study program in psychoanalytic couples psychotherapy: “Making Meaning in the Grip Of Reality.” The program features a rich array of theoretical classes, case conferences, film events, and workshops, taught by a hybrid faculty from PCPG, Tavistock Center for Couple Relationships (TCCR), and other noteworthy psychoanalytic couple psychotherapists. PCPG’s first class of nine students has just completed a three-year program of study, which included a week of classes at TCCR in London. A second class is currently beginning their second year in the program.
This course is open to NCSPP Members and psychologists; psychoanalysts; psychotherapists; physicians; MSWs; students of psychology; students of medicine; students of human development; students of sociology.
Enrollees who cancel at least SEVEN DAYS prior to the event date will receive a refund minus a $35 administrative charge. No refunds will be allowed after this time.
For program related questions contact Annice Ormiston, Psy.D. at 510-852-9322.
For questions related to enrollment, locations, CE credit, special needs, course availability and other administrative issues contact Michele McGuinness by email or 415-496-9949.