The Sándor Ferenczi Center

In this seminar series we explore many of the same theoretical constructs as Ferenczi did in his original article. We will look at the complexities of attachment, unwelcomeness in development, the effects of unwelcomeness as it appears in clinical circumstances, unwelcomeness which may be part of the experience of twins, adopted or replacement children and various vicissitudes in development. We consider the presence of serious trauma in children and its relation to unwelcomeness.

Tentative schedule:

March 13
Unwelcomeness in the context of attachment
Moderators: Adrienne Harris, Miriam Steele
Speakers: Adrienne Harris, Howard Steele, Miriam Steele

April 17
Unwelcomeness as a pervasive developmental dilemma and in the transference and countertransference: an aspect of replacement
Moderator: Adrienne Harris
Speakers: Arthur Fox, Susan Klebanoff, Heather Ferguson, Michael Feldman

May 15
Unwelcomeness in the context of migration, exile and the Pandemic
Moderator: Jennifer Hunter
Speakers: Adam Brown, Spyros Orfanos, Karen Mason-Jones

October 16
Unwelcomeness carrying/provoking other trauma
Moderator: Adrienne Harris
Speakers: Veronica Csillag, Romy Reading, Warren Spielberg

November 13
Conclusion: Ferenczi’s contributions, influences
Speakers: Adrienne Harris, Endre Koritar, Giselle Galdi

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Learning Objectives
At the end of the seminar, participants will be better able to:

March 13
–Identify and list the evidence of the impact of early trauma to attachment patterns.
–Compile and assess the evidence and theory Ferenczi uses to look at the long term effects of failures in the parent to attach and ond with a newborn.
–Use Ferenczi’s theory as a predictor of developmental outcomes from early neglect.

April 17
 –Identify somatic and behavioral expressions of Ferenczi’s death instinct in clinical practice.
–Describe how the concept of unwelcomeness can be transmitted from one generation to the next.
–Assess unwelcomeness when it is instilled early and replacement offers partial recognition later; and unwelcomeness when it emerges in development and replacement is negation of subjectivity.
–Describe how the patient’s embodied experience of unwelcomeness may emerge between the therapist and patient.

May 15
–Develop an understanding of current interventions being developed for reducing distress among adolescents and children impacted by forced displacement.
–Rate and describe the effects of migration and displacement on early and emergent attachment.
–Explain the state of child human rights and the intersection with contemporary psychoanalytic psychology in the context of USA and global policies.

October 16
–Recognize the connections among the following concepts: primary maternal preoccupation, the dead mother complex, and the unwelcome child.
–Describe and identify Ferenczi’s contribution to the study of trauma, early disruption of attachment  and psychic and somatic growth.
–Describe and compare the varieties of unwelcomeness, involving class, social categories and the history of the child’s conception within the family.

November 13
–Describe how the patient’s embodied experience of unwelcomeness may emerge between the therapist and patient.
–Compare and contrast Ferenczi’s object relations theory of the death instinct described in The Unwelcome Child and His Death Instinct, to Freud’s metapsychological conception of the death instinct described in Beyond the Pleasure Principle. 
–Compile and analyze the innovations Ferenczi made to clinical practice and to psychoanalytic technique.
–Identify and describe Ferenczi’s development of the importance of countertransference and notice the links to contemporary clinical theory.