Course Description

Course Title:Klein and Early/Mid-Century Kleinians
Dates:March 29; April 5, 19, 26; May 3; 10, 17, 24, 31, 2024
Time: 9:45am – 11:15am
Location:San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
444 Natoma Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Instructor:Michael K. Smith, PhD
CME/CE:10.5 CME/CE credits are awarded for this seminar

The panoply of ideas introduced and developed by Melanie Klein and her contemporaries is remarkably diverse and extensive. Since it would be impossible to engage in a thorough consideration of all of them, we will focus on a number of important papers by Klein that reflect the arc of her thought and her contributions to psychoanalysis. In choosing the remaining papers I have attempted to achieve a balance between a number of factors, including: 1) the extent to which the paper makes an important contribution to Kleinian thought and its development over time; 2) the extent to which it reflects an important sensibility on the part of the author that is of general interest and that makes the paper important in its own right; and 3) the extent to which the paper gives an informative, Kleinian view of a central topic within psychoanalysis (e.g., transference, countertransference, technique).

The overarching goal of the seminar is to provide an opportunity for us as a seminar group to develop our understanding of the most important ideas and methods that Melanie Klein and her immediate circle introduced into the psychoanalytic discourse during the middle part of the 20th century and to develop our understanding of their clinical usefulness. I hope that by the end of the seminar you will be in a position to judge whether and how to incorporate these contributions into your personal integration of psychoanalytic theory and technique, and to understand more recent developments in Kleinian thought.

Educational Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, the learners will be able to describe:

  1. Melanie Klein’s rationale for her modification of Sigmund Freud’s Oedipal theory and her assertion that Oedipal psychodynamics are present in the first two years of life.
  2. Melanie Klein’s concept of the paranoid-schizoid position and its relevance in patients’ lives and in clinical work.
  3. Melanie Klein’s concept of the depressive position and its relevance in patients’ lives and in clinical work.
  4. The mediating role of unconscious phantasy in emotion, cognition, and behavior.
  5. The role of symbol formation in psychic development and cognition.
  6. The way that pathological organizations of the psyche, as conceptualized by Kleinian thinkers, reflect an attempt to maintain a third position that avoids the characteristic anxieties of the paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions.
  7. Paula Heimann’s reconceptualization of countertransference as useful in understanding the patient’s psyche rather than an obstacle in the psychoanalytic process.
  8. The way that Klein’s writings on envy and gratitude represent an integration and extension of her earlier ideas.
  9. Four general areas of Klein’s theorizing that have generated ongoing interest and further scholarship by more contemporary writers.

Accreditation Statement for CME/CE Sponsorship and Disclosure Statement​

APA and ACCME Accreditation Marks

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.

—Updated July 2021—

PHYSICIANS: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 10.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)â„¢. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

PSYCHOLOGISTS: The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Psychologists attending SFCP events approved for CE credits may report AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ toward their CE requirements. Psychologists self-certify the number of hours they have completed on their renewal form (whether online or paper).

LCSWs/MFTs: The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis is a continuing education provider that has been approved by the American Psychological Association, a California Board of Behavioral Sciences recognized approval agency

Psychologists, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists will be awarded AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ on an hour for hour basis; see the program description for the maximum of credits awarded for each program.

Commercial Support: None

Upcoming Events

Sunday, November 17, 2024
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Conversations
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Conversations - Module 1
David Luna, MBA, JD
Saturday, November 23, 2024
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Conversations
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Conversations - Module 1
David Luna, MBA, JD
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Substance Abuse in an Adolescent Boy—Waking the Object
Mary Brady, PhD (presenter)
Thursday, December 12, 2024
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Conversations
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Conversations - Module 1
David Luna, MBA, JD
Saturday, December 14, 2024
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Conversations
SFCP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Conversations - Module 1
David Luna, MBA, JD
Wednesdays, January 8, 2025 to May 21, 2025
Extension Education Programs
2024-2025 Coalition for Clinical Social Work Extension Division Program: Foundations of Psychodynamic Clinical Work in Community Mental Health Settings - Year TWO
Sandra Gaspar, LMFT; Elizabeth M. Simpson, LCSW; and Danny Yu, LCSW (instructors)
Wednesdays, January 8, 2025 to February 5, 2025
Psychoanalytic Student Seminars
Promoting Depth and Analytic Process in Psychotherapy With Patients in Internship and Clinical Settings
Beth Steinberg, PhD (instructor)
Thursdays, January 9, 2025 to May 8, 2025
Extension Education Programs
2024-2025 Coalition for Clinical Social Work Extension Division Program: Foundations of Psychodynamic Clinical Work in Community Mental Health Settings - Year ONE
Genevieve Vidal, LCSW; Sebastian Melo, LCSW, MPH; Julia St. George, LCSW; and Beth Kita, LCSW, PhD (instructors)
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Child Colloquium Series
Therapy and medications: How can child and adolescent clinicians work collaboratively with psychiatrists?
Ross Andelman, MD, MFA (presenter)
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Scientific Meetings
Leadership in a Time of Polarization
Harriet Wolfe, MD; and Brett Penfil, MFT, MPH (presentes)
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