San Francisco Yearlong Program

The Direction of Treatment in Lacanian Psychoanalysis — From Symptom to Singularity

This section of the yearlong focuses on the desire, function, and act of the psychoanalyst from the perspective of the clinic of the neuroses. We will examine the status and evolution of the symptom, from its precipitation at the beginning of treatment to its reduction to the sinthome at the end of analysis. We will also study the construction of fantasy, including the circumscribing of objects a in relation to the drive and the traversal of the fantasy as one marker of the end of analysis. And, finally, we will take up the position of the analyst in relation to the unconscious, and the analytic act, which touches on the dimension of singularity. How can the desire of the analyst — which is not the same as the desire to become an analyst — orient the treatment toward the singularity of the analysand? This is the central question of the Lacanian clinic and one that informs the ethics of Lacanian psychoanalysis.

          Sydney Tan, PsyD
          Fridays, September 5, 12, 19, 26; October 10, 17, 24, 31, 2025
          (no class on October 3, 2025)

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Remembering the Future: Psychoanalysis as Asking the Question, “Who Do You Aspire to Be?”

Psychoanalysis is often considered to be a plumbing of the past, inquiring about unconscious conflicts that result from prior traumas. In this four-week course, we will consider another possible aim of psychoanalytic theory and practice, which is developing a conception of who one wishes to become. We will use a recent essay by Thomas Ogden on “ontological” psychoanalysis as a guide and incorporate clinical case material. This course aims to be a group discussion, rather than merely didactic.

          Joseph Dwaihy, MD
          Fridays, November 7, 14, 21; December 5, 2025
          (no class on November 28, 2025)

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Establishing the Pragmatic Depth of Psychoanalysis

Uniquely characterized by its indefinite timelines, accommodation of unconscious process, rich theoretical variations, and refusal to summarize an individual human life, the field of psychoanalysis can be perceived as unconcerned with or avoidant of an earnest inquiry into its own aims and outcomes.

In this course, we will take on the very first question that the Yearlong Program poses: Just what is it that we are doing in the consulting room? Anyone involved in psychoanalytic treatment or study has this question-and-answer circulating somewhere within themselves. It will be claimed that the question itself demonstrates the ethos and the aim of psychoanalysis.

In specific, we will anchor ourselves in the view of psychoanalysis as a relational practice of developing our natural human capacity to attend deeply to what it is that we are doing right here and now. From this angle, we may translate several core objects of psychoanalytic focus (including desire, development, unconscious process, transference, and metapsychology) into more “action-based” terms and try to see for ourselves the distinct manner in which a psychoanalytic approach may be accounting for its own aims and outcomes. Selected readings elucidating the pragmatic depth of psychoanalysis will be used to complement clinically grounded discussions.

          Marcus (Bo) Houston, MD, MPH
          Fridays, January 16, 23, 30; February 6, 13, 20, 27; March 6, 2026

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What Are We Doing When We Do Psychoanalysis? — Finding Personal Meaning In Troubled Times

How do we conceptualize psychic space and psychic change? Is change experienced by our patients as evolutionary, the expansion of self-knowledge, healing trauma and its after- effects, or something else? How do talking and listening  make change — and how does our shared social and cultural environment impact the analytic “play space”?

This class will consider these questions and discuss papers that examine the critical questions relevant to the psychoanalytic project in today’s climate, and illustrate current thinking on core concepts such as transference, resistance, and the interpersonal co-creation of meaning.

          Neil Talkoff, PhD
          Fridays, March 27; April 3, 10, 17, 24; May 1, 2026

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Beyond Words: Creative Approaches to Bodily Changes in the Psychoanalytic Relationship

This four-week course explores how clinicians can work creatively with patients moving through significant bodily changes often associated with female development—such as pregnancy, the postpartum period, and menopause. Readings and discussion will consider how these changes may reactivate early trauma, and how the therapist’s own body can become a site of resonance, registration, and attunement. Together, we’ll reflect on how physical change can shape psychic experience and open space for nonverbal forms of communication and connection.

          Daniela Carollo, PhD and Alexandra Farber, PhD
          Fridays, May 8, 15, 22, 29, 2026

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