This semester, we are pleased to provide a range of online courses tailored for clinicians and psychoanalytic students. The sessions will take place on Zoom, with instructions delivered in Farsi and all reading materials provided in English. We trust you will discover a course that captivates your interest!
Registration Deadline is 25 Shahrivar (September 15). To Register for any course, contact the course Instructor directly.
Fall 2024:
The Role of the Body in Psychoanalysis
Dr. Aslezaker
Thursdays at 18:00 -19:20 Tehran time beginning September 26 (5 Mehr) and then every other week (October 10, October 24, November 7, November 21, December 5, and December 19, and December 26 (out of sequence), 2024. For Registration in this course, please contact Dr.Aslezaker at m_aslezaker@yahoo.com
Course Description: This course examines the crucial role of the body in psychoanalytic practice and its importance in contemporary society. We will examine key topics such as family dynamics, gender and sexuality, illness, and the body’s development in infancy, all through the lens of various psychoanalytic theories. Discussions will include the sick body, the sexual body, and the body within evolving family structures, providing new perspectives on the body’s place in today’s world. Additionally, the course will focus on the body as a central object of psychoanalytic inquiry. We will explore the relationship between mind and body as seen in the works of Winnicott, Bion, and other key thinkers. Topics include the dream body, the emerging body in early object relations, the sensory experiences of the body, and the body’s representation in virtual spaces. Drawing from both classic and contemporary psychoanalytic thought, including contributions from French psychoanalysis, this course aims to deepen the understanding of body-based object relations theory, making it particularly relevant for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists.
Advanced Study of Contemporary Relational Psychoanalysis
Dr. Eftekhar
Wednesdays at 14:00 -15:20 Tehran time, beginning September 18, (28 Shahrivar), and then every other week on October 2, October 16, October 30, November 13, November 27, December 11, and December 25, 2024. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Eftekhar: mehrdad.eftekhar@gmail.com
Course Description: In this seminar, we will explore contemporary relational psychoanalysis further. This is the third course in our exploration of Interpersonal Psychoanalysis, which began with Sullivan’s work and will bring us up to the present day. We will build on the knowledge gained from the previous two courses as we examine the historical development of relational psychoanalysis, the critical theorists and their contributions to the field, the mutual influence between analyst and patient, and the concept of self-states. The focus will be on paying close attention to the clinical process to uncover how the patient and analyst unconsciously communicate aspects of their immediate experience of being together.
Embracing Mutual Vulnerability Within the Therapeutic Context Through Storytelling
Dr. Ganjavi
Thursdays at 9:00-10:20 Tehran time, beginning September 19 (29 Shahrivar) and then every other week October 3, October 17, October 31, November 14, November 28, December 12, and December 26, 2024. For Registration in this course, please email Dr. Ganjavi at: anahita.ganjavi@gmail.com
Course Description: This course focuses on exploring the creative potential of storytelling in psychoanalysis, using Lauren Levine’s book “Risking Intimacy and Creative Transformation in Psychoanalysis” (2023) as a guide. The author, a relational analyst, emphasizes the importance of shared symbolic meaning in healing psychic wounds caused by unresolved traumas. The book addresses individual and collective stories, including untold dissociated ones related to relational, intergenerational, and sociopolitical trauma. It also get into how both the patient and the analyst may confront personal and cultural inhibitions in contemporary psychoanalysis. Drawing from Levine’s work, the course aims to explore the themes of vulnerability, shame, fears, and emotional wounds in patients and analysts, and how addressing these themes can lead to a deeper sense of aliveness for both parties. The focus of the course is to identify what is missing from our narratives and how to reclaim lost elements. This course is suitable for those with prior experience in working analytically with patients. Participants are expected to study specific chapters of the book before class sessions and share their experiences as therapists or patients in the consulting room.
Continuous Clinical Case Seminar
Dr. Movahedi
Wednesdays at 18:30 -19:50 Tehran time, beginning September 18 (28 Shahrivar) and then every other week on October 2, October 16, October 30, November 13, November 27, December 11, and December 25, 2024. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Movahedi at Siamak.movahedi@umb.edu
Course Description: This eight-week clinical webinar focuses on the core feature of the psychoanalytic approach, which involves closely examining what the patient and therapist bring into the analytic situation. We will emphasize listening to what happens between the patient and therapist through transference and countertransference enactments during the session. Participants can share case descriptions and process notes of their ongoing work with a patient in psychoanalytic therapy or psychoanalysis. The feelings we experience, as we listen as a group, will be the opening context of the discussion, and we hope it will expand conceptually and clinically in ways that broaden in scope as we progress. The goal is to facilitate a group process that increases access and sensitivity to the interface between what is enacted as dissociated communication and what is simultaneously taking place between patient and therapist consciously. The aim is to deepen our understanding of healing and growth within the psychoanalytic process, influenced by our shared humanity in the analytic relationship. Readings will be assigned for each class session to address critical clinical concepts and problems, including issues surrounding the analytic frame, modes of analytical listening, formulation and timing of analytic interventions, and issues of the initial phase of analysis.
Seminar on Dream and Symbolic Communication in Clinical Process
Dr. Movahedi
Wednesdays at 18:30 -19:50 Tehran time, beginning September 25 (4 Mehr) and then every other week (October 9, October 23, November 6, November 20, December 4, December 18 , and January 1, 2024. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Movahedi at Siamak.movahedi@umb.edu
Course Description: Studying dreams and their communication is an exciting and challenging part of the psychoanalytic process. Listening during analysis is a way of working with dreams and fantasies. A lot of unconscious messages during therapy sessions are expressed in a dream-like manner. Although psychoanalysis started with Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams in 1905, it has since evolved to include analyzing all communication in therapy. There has been a shift in psychoanalytic practices regarding dreams: rather than just interpreting the content, dreams are now collaboratively used to support the therapeutic process. The course begins with studying Freud’s work on dream interpretation and then compares it to more recent theories about the nature and functions of dreams and fantasy formation. The use of dreams in psychoanalysis is then studied within the context of transference, resistance, and disguised communication. Class members are invited to present personal dreams, fantasies, and clinical case materials related to the topics of discussion.
Self-Destructive Behavior and Suicide
Dr. Nohesara
Thursdays at 15:30 -16:50 Tehran time beginning September 26 (5 Mehr) and then every other week (October 10, October 24, November 7, November 21, December 5, and December 19, and January 2, 2024. For Registration in this course, please contact Dr. Nohesara at: shnohesara@gmail.com
Course Description: In this This course aims to examine the phenomena of self-destructive behaviors and suicide. Self-destructive behavior refers to when a person causes physical or emotional harm to themselves. Traumatic experiences or mental health conditions may increase the risk of these behaviors. It’s important to note that while people who have experienced trauma may self-harm, not every person who self-harms may have experienced trauma. The focus of this course is to explore the underlying conditions that may drive individuals to engage in life-threatening behaviors that can escalate the risk of suicide. The question that we will try to address in the course is: What is it that attracts the patient so much to dismantle the sense organs by self-mutilating and self-cutting and to destroy the psychic apparatus and emotional and relational reality, an operation of de-mentalization and decapitation?
A Foundation of Psychoanalytic Concepts:
Introduction to Freud I
Mr. Pouralibaba
Thursdays at 10:00 -11:20 Tehran time beginning September 26 (5 Mehr) and then every other week (October 10, October 24, November 7, November 21, December 5, and December 19, and January 2, 2024. For registration in this course, please email Mr. Pouralibaba: b.pouralibaba@gmail.com
Course Description: This course offers an overview of Sigmund Freud’s early work, starting in 1894. It will cover theoretical, clinical, and technical aspects as his thinking evolved. The focus will be on Freud’s metapsychological writings, which introduce fundamental psychoanalytic concepts and form the basis of Freud’s model of the mind. The course will also explore Freud’s concepts of the unconscious, symptom formation, dreams, intra-psychic conflict, and defense, and their role in psychopathology and symptom formation. It will not only examine the details of Freud’s early theories, but also how he observes clinical phenomena and devises methods to investigate the mind. The aim of this course is to facilitate discussion to improve participants’ understanding of Freud’s creative imagination and to appreciate the psychoanalytic thinking as articulated by Freud.
An Exploration of Femininity in Lacanian Theory
Dr. Taheri
Fridays at 17:30-18:50 Tehran time beginning September 20 (30 Shahrivar) and then every other week on October 4, October 18, November 1, November 15, November 29, December 13, and December 27, 2024. For registration in this course, please email Dr. Taheri: dr.alireza.taheri@gmail.com
Course Description: Both Freud and Lacan began their exploration of the unconscious with a focus on the feminine, whether looking at hysteria or paranoia. Freud, influenced by Charcot, worked with hysterics like Anna O., while Lacan focused on the psychotic Aimée. Freud’s early fascination with hysteria may have concealed a deeper captivation with the feminine, as seen in his later famous words: “What does a woman want?” Similarly, Lacan’s work shows ongoing interest in the feminine, with numerous feminine figures appearing in his writings. In this course, we aim to challenge the perception of Lacanian psychoanalysis as phallocentric by emphasizing the importance of the feminine in psychoanalytic theory. This is particularly crucial as contemporary discussions about sexuality and sexual identity risk overlooking the importance of preserving feminine differences in equal societies.
Theoretical and Clinical Examination of Envy and Aggression in Psychoanalysis
Dr. Zhaf
Mondays at 17:00-18:30 Tehran time beginning September 23 (2 Mehr) and then every other week, October 7, October 21, November 4, November 18, December 2, December 16, and December 30, 2024. For Registration in this course, please contact Dr. Zhaf mahrouzhaf@gmail.com
Course Description: This course explores the psychoanalytic theories of envy, providing a comprehensive understanding of the developmental origins, dynamics, and manifestations of envy within interpersonal relationships. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, Jean Laplanche, Joyce MacDougall, and Otto Kernberg, it offers an in-depth exploration of how these complex emotions and behaviors are intertwined with sadomasochism, narcissism, and perversion. Our primary task in this course is to examine the link between grandiose narcissism and malicious envy, rivalry, aggression, and sadism.
Persepolis Off the Couch
Psychoanalysts Examine Famous Films with Behzad Pouralibaba.
Once a Month on Sundays at 20:30-22:00 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 