Fridays@CCP December 4, 2020 

Lynne Zeavin, Psy.D
(New York, NY)

The Elusive Good Object

7-9pm (CST): ZOOM Presentation and discussion

About the presentation:  Melanie Klein discussed  idealization in two distinct ways.  In the first instance she maintained that "The whole of [the infant's] instinctual desires and his unconscious phantasies imbue the breast with qualities going far beyond the actual nourishment it affords," and she emphasized that the libidinally invested breast, when introjected, forms 'the core of the ego',  Klein theorizes that the original good object must be experienced as ideal.  But she also  asserted that idealization serves as a  defensive exaggeration of the object's goodness: "Idealization is bound up with the splitting of the object, for the good aspects of the breast are exaggerated as a safeguard against the fear of the persecuting breast";  that is, idealization affords a defense against persecutory anxieties arising from the infant's projection of hateful impulses and hate-filled parts of the self into the mother.  The author argues that when idealization is operating in this way it makes the good object an elusive one. A detailed clinical example  will be used to describe idealization as it permeates and governs the analytic relationship.  The analyst's eventual capacity to discern the workings of idealization, in the second sense in which Klein means it, brought about significant change for the patient and allowed for beginning consolidation of a good object.

Dr. Lynne Zeavin is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst in full-time private practice in New York City.  She is a Training and Supervising Analyst at The New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute  where she teaches Melanie Klein and the Contemporary Kleinians and a course on Mourning.    An Associate Editor at JAPA and a member of the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Quarterly, she has published widely on a variety of subjects but  has a particular interest in Kleinian theory and the nature of the object in psychical experience.  She is a co-founder and instructor of the Rita Frankiel Memorial Fellowship sponsored by the Melanie Klein Trust.  In addition, along with three colleagues, she has co- founded Green Gang, a group devoted to the study of psychoanalysis and our human relationship with the natural world.  She is co-editor of a forthcoming book (with Donald Moss) on Expressions of Hatred in Contemporary Social Life.

Learning objectives:

1. Explain the Kleinian notion of the good object and how it is foundational to the health of the ego and object relationships.

2. Identify the differences between paranoid schizoid and depressive functioning in Kleinian theory, the oscillations between them and the role idealization plays in helping to keep more primitive fantasies and anxieties at bay.

3. Discern the workings of idealization in the transference/countertransference relationship.

This is an all level presentation
Fees
CCP members: free with annual $175 membership, payable at registration.
Students:free with annual $125 membership, payable at registration.
Fellows: free with annual $150 membership, payable at registration.
Non-CCP members, single admission: $50
Student non-members, single admission: $15

Continuing Education
This program is sponsored for Continuing Education Credits by the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis. There is no commercial support for this program, nor are there any relationships between the continuing education sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding that could be construed as conflicts of interest. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If the program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CCP is licensed by the state of Illinois to sponsor continuing education credits for Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Counselors and Licensed Clinical Psychologists (license no. 159.000941 and 268.000020 and 168.000238 Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation).

Professionals holding the aforementioned credentials will receive 2.0 continuing education credits for attending the entire program. To receive these credits a completed evaluation form must be turned in at the end of the presentation and licensed psychologists must first complete a brief exam on the subject matter. No continuing education credit will be given for attending part of the presentation. Refunds for CE credit after the program begins will not be honored. If a participant has special needs or concerns about the program, s/he should contact Toula Kourliouros Kalven by December 3, 2020 at tkalven@ccpsa.org

References/Suggested Reading

FELDMAN, M. (2009). Doubt, Conviction and The Psychoanalytic Process. New York: Routledge. 
(Read especially The Dynamics of Reassurance and the papers on Projective Identification and The Use of History)
KLEIN, M. (1932). “The Psychoanalysis of Children” in The Writings of Melanie 
Klein, Vol 1.,London: Hogarth Press.
———. (1935). A contribution to the psychogenesis of manic-depressive states, Int. J. Psychoanal. 16: 145–174.
———. (1940). “Mourning and its Relation to Manic-Depressive States” In The Writings of Melanie Klein, Vol. 2., London: Hogarth Press.
———. (1946). “Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms” in The Writings of Klein, Vol. 3., London: Hogarth Press.
———. (1957). Envy and Gratitude, London: Hogarth Press.
O’SHAUGHNESSY, E. (1992) Enclaves and excursions, Int. J. Psychoanal, 73: 603–611.
———. (2015) On gratitude. In Inquiries in Psychoanalyis: The Collected Papers of Edna O'Shaughnessy, RUSBRIDGER, RICHARD eds. London: New Library of Psychoanalysis.
SODRE, I. (2015) Imaginary Existences: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of phantasy, fiction, dreams and daydreams. New York: Routledge.  (Read especially  Non Vixit Chapter; Imparadised in Hell Chapter)
STEINER, J. (1992). "The equilibrium between the paranoid-schizoid and the depressive positions" in ROBIN ANDERSON ed., Clinical Lectures on Klein and Bion. New York:Routledge.

Presented by
The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis/CCP Program Committee: Carol Ganzer, PhD, Toula Kourliouros Kalven,  Adina Bayuk Keesom, PsyD

The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis is an IRS 501(C)(3) charitable organization, and expenses may be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and your personal tax situation.