This term we are delighted to offer a variety of courses for clinicians and psychoanalytic students online. Courses will be held on Zoom. All instructions will be in Farsi and all reading materials will be in English. We hope you will find something that interests you!
We Are Pleased to Announce Our Fall Terms Seminars. Registration Deadline for Fall Term Will End on September 16, 2023 (25 Shahrivar). For Registration in Any Courses, Please Contact the Course Instructor. Registration Fee for Each Course is 800,000 Toman.
FALL 2023
Psychoanalytic Theory: Basic Concepts
Dr. Aslezaker
Thursdays at 17:00 -18:20 Tehran time beginning September 28 (6 Mehr) and then every other week (October 12, October 26, November 9, November 23, December 7, and December 21, and December 28 (out of sequence), 2023. For Registration in this course, please contact Dr. Aslezaker at m_aslezaker@yahoo.com
Course Description: This eight-week course introduces psychoanalysis for those interested in getting into this academic or clinical study area in pursuit of their professional or scholarly work. The course explores Freud’s discovery of psychoanalysis as a theory of unconscious motivation and a clinical method for treating psychopathology. The course introduces the basic concepts of psychoanalysis, exploring the unconscious psychic processes of anxiety, defenses, repetition compulsion, transference and countertransference, and the basics of technique. These complex issues are explored by studying Freud’s conceptions and examining modifications by more recent authors.
Analysis of Defense in Clinical Practice
Mr. Pouralibaba
Thursdays at 12:00-13:20 Tehran time, beginning September 21 (30 Shahrivar) and then every other week October 5, October 19, November 2, November 16, November 30, December 7, and December 21, 2023. For registration in this course, please email Mr. Pouralibaba: b.pouralibaba@gmail.com
Course Description: This course continues our analysis of ego defenses, emphasizing clinically relevant models and concepts. We will examine how practitioners in the psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic tradition think about working with different defensive modes in therapy. The class will function as a clinical laboratory, generating observations about both content and process in the session. Most of our readings in this course will come from George E. Vaillant’s (1998) The Wisdom of the Ego, Harvard University Press.
Revisiting Winnicott Through Other Writers
Dr. Nohesara
Thursdays at 15:30 -16:50 Tehran time beginning September 28 (6 Mehr) and then every other week (October 12, October 26, November 9, November 23, December 7, and December 21, and January 4, 2024. For Registration in this course, please contact Dr. Nohesara at: shnohesara@gmail.com
Course Description: In this course, we will read Winnicott’s thinking and contribution to current psychoanalytic theory and practice through papers written by other writers who have referred to Winnicott’s ideas on child development based on the mother-child relationship and link this theory to clinical work. We will begin by reading Ogden as a theorist who talks about the interdependence of the life of the ideas being developed and the life of the writing in Winnicott’s papers.
Looking at psychoanalysis through Thomas Ogden’s Lens
Dr. Ganjavi
Thursdays at 9:00-10:20 Tehran time, beginning September 21 (30 Shahrivar) and then every other week October 5, October 19, November 2, November 16, November 30, December 14, and December 28, 2023. For Registration in this course, please email Dr. Ganjavi at: anahita.ganjavi@gmail.com
Course Description: This course addresses Ogden’s latest views regarding the movement in contemporary psychoanalysis from an epistemological (knowing and understanding) vantage point towards a more ontological (being and becoming) one. In his book “Coming to Life in the Consulting Room” (2022), which will be covered throughout this course, using two of Winnicott’s seminal papers and the notions of Bion as well as clinical case descriptions, Ogden illustrates the goal of ontological psychoanalysis as facilitating the patient’s experience of creatively discovering being and becoming more fully alive. Basic knowledge of Winnicott’s and Bion’s fundamental theoretical concepts is a pre-requisite for attending this course, along with an experience of working clinically with patients. Participants are expected to study given book chapters before the sessions and share their life experiences and experiences in the consulting room.
Contribution of Harry Stack Sullivan to Interpersonal Psychoanalysis
Dr. Eftekhar
Tuesdays 14:30-15:50 Tehran time, beginning September 19, (28 Shahrivar), and then every other week on October 3, October 17, October 31, November 14, November 28, December 12, and December 16, 2023. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Eftekhar: mehrdad.eftekhar@gmail.com
Course Description: This seminar is a continuation of our voyage into the world of interpersonal psychoanalysis, where we delve into the groundbreaking contributions of Harry Stack Sullivan. In this course, we will embark on a comprehensive exploration of Sullivan’s influential theories and their profound implications for clinical practice. Harry Stack Sullivan, a prominent figure in psychoanalysis, revolutionized our understanding of human relationships and their significance in shaping individual psyches. With a keen focus on the dynamic interplay between self and others, Sullivan emphasized the crucial role of social interactions in developing personality and mental well-being. Throughout this course, we will closely examine Sullivan’s key concepts, such as the “self-system” and “interpersonal security,” uncovering how these ideas intertwine to shape one’s sense of self and their ability to navigate the complexities of social connections. Understanding these foundational principles will give participants valuable insights into the intricate human interactions underlying personal growth and therapeutic processes. Moreover, they can hopefully integrate interpersonal theory into their understanding of psychoanalysis and working with patients.
Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Depression and Melancholia
Dr. Movahedi
Wednesdays at 18:30 -19:50 Tehran time, beginning September 27 (5 Mehr) and then every other week (October 11, October 25, November 8, November 22, December 6, and December 20, and January 3, 2024. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Movahedi at Siamak.movahedi@umb.edu
Course Description: Depression and melancholia seem to be the existential problem of all times. Most people self-diagnose themselves as depressed, and most clinicians feel empowered by making that diagnosis which puts the pharmaceutical solutions at their disposal. The discourse of chemistry has replaced the existential address of human suffering. Today, “depression” is a catchall term for all conditions of loneliness, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, or despair. The core of psychoanalytic research and practice is the analysis of object loss, trauma, narcissistic wounds, anger, remorse, regret, and guilt. Interestingly, Freud’s paper on “Mourning and Melancholia,” along with its revision, re-interpretation, and modification by other analysts since his time, is the foundation of our current understanding of that psychic malaise. In this seminar, we intend to explore different psychoanalytic perspectives on melancholia and depression and address the social and cultural ambiance that has been the precursor of the medicalization of the human’s complex subjective response to the conditions of living.
Continuous Clinical Case Seminar
Dr. Movahedi
Wednesdays at 18:30 -19:50 Tehran time, beginning September 20 (29 Shahrivar) and then every other week on October 4, October 18, November 1, November 15, November 29, December 13, and December 27, 2023. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Movahedi at Siamak.movahedi@umb.edu
Course Description: This course is the continuation of the previous semesters’ Clinical Case Seminars. As in the earlier semesters, our primary focus is to improve your clinical psychoanalytic skill through ongoing case presentations with the help of process notes. Based on knowledge gained in the course through readings and analyses and your clinical experience, you can discuss the clinical situation as it unfolds actively. Therefore, you are expected to present one of the cases with which you experience some difficulties.To help facilitate our clinical discussions, I have prepared a reading list. In the first part of course, we will discuss the initial encounter with a patient in the session. Subsequently, we will discuss the problem therapists may face when they don’t know how to proceed or when the therapist’s training, along with their own clinical experience, fails to provide much guidance about how to respond to a patient’s demand or how to intervene in a risky situation. An inadequate intervention may rapture the therapeutic relationship and may run the risk of losing the patient. Maintaining one’s emotional composure and thinking analytically when under fire is the hallmark of an experienced and well-analyzed therapist.
Psychoanalysis and Philosophy
Dr. Taheri
Fridays at 16:30-17:50 Tehran time beginning September 22 (21 Mehr) and then every other week on October 6, October 20, November 3, November 17, December 1, December 15, and December 29, 2023. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Taheri: dr.alireza.taheri@gmail.com
Course Description: In this seminar, we will consider the intricate relationship between philosophy and psychoanalysis, focusing on Lacanian theory. This exploration will consider the various philosophical influences on Lacan and the impacts Lacan’s thought has had on contemporary philosophy. The course will begin by reflecting on the kinship between Hegelian dialectics and Lacanian theory by considering the different overlapping central ideas of the two traditions, such as the symbolic Other, world Spirit, abstract universality, the Absolute, and the symptom, among many others. We will also explore the contemporary debates around notions of kinship with particular emphasis on Derrida and Butler’s critique of Lacan and Lévi-Strauss’s structural anthropological approach. The various readings of Antigone from Hegel to Lacan, Butler, and Žižek will inform this inquiry which will spill on to considerations regarding the relationship between psychoanalysis and contemporary queer theory. We will then move on to questions regarding the relationship between psychoanalysis and the philosophy of science. Here we will explore the advent of modern science and its relation to the birth of psychoanalysis. The work of Koyré, Lacan, and Milner will guide our thinking through this section as we conceptualize the radical epistemological break of psychoanalysis through which Lacan takes us beyond Kantian transcendental aesthetics. Badiou’s reflections on psychoanalysis as “anti-philosophy” will also be considered in some detail. We will also attempt to reflect on the contemporary debates around the philosophical interpretations of quantum theory, focusing on the work of Žižek and Karen Barad. Finally, we will take an in-depth look at Lacan’s development of psychoanalytic topology with his work on surfaces and knots. This exploration will help us understand the non-empirical materialism brought forth by the most recent developments in psychoanalytic theory.
Theatre of the Absurd in Time of Social Crises
Mr. Yeganeh
Tuesdays 19:30-20:50 beginning September 19, (28 Shahrivar), and then every other week on October 3, October 17, October 31, November 14, November 28, December 5, and December 19, 2023. For registration in this course, please email Mr. Yeganeh at: vahdat_yeganeh@harvard.edu
Course Description: These workshops aim to explore the historical antecedents of the Avant-guard Theatre, inspired by psychoanalysis in a historical and ideological context in Europe like ours today in Iran, which promoted dogmatism and totalitarianism. We will discuss relationships between artists and spectators and the author’s concept as performer/spectator. Strongly inspired by the theatre of Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski, and Peter Brook, emphasis will be placed on the influences of foundational theatrical giants set against realism. We will examine the work of influential theatre practitioners-playwrights, designers, directors, producers, theorists, and performers-whose work falls outside of the canon. In all our discussions, psychoanalytic readings and interpretations from the participants are encouraged.
Persepolis Off the Couch
Psychoanalysts Examine Famous Films with Behzad Pouralibaba.
Once a Month onSundays at 20:00-21:20 Tehran Time.(75,000 Toman for each session). For registration, please email Mr. Pouralibaba: b.pouralibaba@gmail.com
Description: Every month, we will select a film for you to watch and discuss and try to examine it from a psychoanalytic perspective. We will try to understand the unconscious of the film’s writer, director and what they project on fictional characters and subjects. Analyzing the unconscious and desires of the film’s audience is another aim of our monthly webinar. In addition to the course instructor, we will often have other faulty members as a part of our critics for our analysis and interpretation of a movie.
Persepolis Psychoanalytic 