Course Syllabus
Block 6, 2021
CO 200/PH 262
“Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy: Discovering the Unconscious”
(Fulfills one unit of the Psychoanalysis Minor)
https://coloradocollege.zoom.us/my/professordobson?pwd=MDVMV0VuL3FrSEFsa2JHRy9yTjVNdz09
Professor Marcia Dobson (ext. 6442), Cossitt 204
E Mail: MarciaW711@gmail.com, mdobson@coloradocollege.edu
Cell: 719-440-0999
CLASS TIMES:
First Monday: 9:00-11:00, Otherwise, 9:45-11:45, Standard Class Time.
Office Hours: 2:00-3:00, Monday and Wednesday. Appointments are available at other times.
Film Times TBA in the afternoons or in class
ASSIGNMENTS
1) There will be quizzes to guide your reading, and/or discussion questions that you need to be prepared to speak on in class, on which you will submit brief papers. (Readings are for the day assigned). These questions are on Canvas – hover over the questions and you will find which questions are for the day assigned.
2) There will be a midterm closed book electronic exam on the weekend between Weeks 2 and 3 on concepts/terms from the analysts read – this will consist of definitions with examples from the material read, as well as an essay on one of the films seen, weaving the pertinent theories (this will be a paper you can complete after the exam (exam will be sent electronically and due by 5:00 PM Friday. Paper will be due Friday by midnight 3) There will be another short personal paper due on your relation to “otherness” 4) There will be a longer paper due at any time during the course on the application of any theory or theories to a work of literature, a film, or your own experience (5-7 pages). This will be considered your final paper. You may also substitute a final exam for your paper.
Note on the major paper: This course is cross-listed in Comparative Literature, and Philosophy. Whereas we do not foreground literature in the class, theories and topics studied open up great possibilities for writing on literary works or films. You may also use your own personal experience as a case example to explicate the theories studied. Every one of you needs to consult with me about your papers before you write them.
CLASS RULES AND REGULATIONS
- Presence at all classes, unless you notify me personally by email. It is required for you to see all films on the day required as they are integral to the class. 2) Sensitivity, thoughtfulness and responsiveness to others in listening and class participation 3) Please avoid sexist language on papers and in conversations 4) APA or MLA style is acceptable on papers, but please be consistent 5) All papers must be sent in a Microsoft doc. to my college mail.
- Films need to be seen on your own or in small groups if you can gather safely together in your dorms or elsewhere in Colorado Springs.
- Grading: Quizzes 10%, Discussion/Participation/Short papers for class 30%, Midterm Exam, 30%, Final Paper 30% (more or less – in general, I look at your performance in all aspects of the class to give you a final grade)
Notes on Discussion:
You are expected to come to each class with the reading well-prepared for discussion. Good speaking in class can raise your grade; Engaging in class discussion with others rather than just responding to your professor’s questions will be deeply appreciated, hard as it is online. Non-attendance (w/o valid excuses), inattentiveness, surliness, etc. will lower your grade.
You must submit your papers and question answers (if asked for) by a Microsoft doc., if you want them to be edited by me. Please do not use a PDF. Submit to my college address.
REQUIRED READINGS
Christopher Bollas: The Christopher Bollas Reader
Sigmund Freud: Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis
Donald Kalsched: The Inner World of Trauma
Winnicott, D.W. Playing and Reality
Recommended: The Discovery of the Unconscious, by Henri F. Ellenberger
Basic Books (1970).
On Canvas (either uploaded or link to PEPWEB): Please note that not all canvas selections are for this class. Check your syllabus for readings.
Atwood, George, “Psychotherapy as a Human Science,” Ch. 1 of The Abyss of Madness (Canvas)
Brothers, Doris The Trauma of Uncertainty, Ch. 3: “Trauma as Exile: Terror, Shame and the Destruction of Certainty” (Canvas)
Bromberg, Philip: “Standing in the Spaces”, “Shrinking the Tsunami” “Knowing, Not Knowing and Sort of Knowing.”
Ellenberger, Henri: Ch. I, “The Ancestry of Dynamic Psychiatry”; Ch 2, “The Emergence of Dynamic Psychiatry” (Notes from first class).
Freud, Sigmund: “On the Uncanny,” “On Narcissism," “Mourning and Melancholia” (Canvas)
Geist, Richard:“Connectedness, Permeable Boundaries, and the Development of the Self”“ (Canvas)
Green, Arie: “I Shall Not Hate: On the Transformation of Hate in the Human Mind”
Hoffman, E.T.S.: “The Sandman” (google address)
Kalsched, D. “The Intersection of Collective vs. Personal Trauma in the Corona Virus Pandemic and racial “othering” in America
Segal, H. An Introduction to Melanie Klein, Chs. 1-8 (On Canvas)
Ogden, T., “The Analytic Third” (Canvas)
Ogden, T, “Projective Identification
Riker, J. “Self Psychology and the Problem of the Other” (PEPWEB)
Swartz, Sally: “The Broken Mirror: Difference and Shame in South African Psychotherapy”*(On PEPWEB)
Wolf, E.S.: "Disorders and Treatment of the Self" (Canvas and PEPWEB)
Recommended and Required* Films:
The Last Wave (Australian film on spirit possession)
Sybil (with Sally Field, Joanne Woodward, on Dissociative Identity Disorder-Multiple Personality*)
Ordinary People (with Don Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore, on melancholia/trauma)*
Shine (with Jeffrey Rush, on Bipolar Disorder)*
Fatal Attraction (with Glenn Close, on Borderline Personality Disorder)
A Beautiful Mind (with Russell Crowe, on schizophrenia)
As Good As It Gets (with Jack Nicholson, on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Equus (with Richard Burton – a psychotherapeutic study of a boy who blinds horses- oedipal conflicts)
Muriel’s Wedding (on self disorder narcissism)
Gaslight (1950s black and white with Ingrid Bergman – a husband tries to drive his wife insane)
Analyze This (with Billy Crystal and Robert de Niro – a spoof on psychotherapy and gangsters)
Freud: A Secret Passion (with Montgomery Clift – a biography)*
Matter of Heart (on the life and work of C.G. Jung with Jung and many of his patients who became Jungian Analysts)
Lars and the Real Girl (on Relational Empathy)*
Silver Linings (on Bipolar Disorder and Empathy)
Fight Club
Shelter Island (on Paranoid Schizophrenia)
CLASS MEETINGS
Readings are for the day assigned
FILM LINKS:
Sybil (Week I)
Ordinary People (Week 2)
Lars and the Real Girl (Week 4)
SYLLABUS PROPER
Week I
M. Introduction to the course and to one another. In class assignment. Beginning of lecture on the origins of psychoanalysis. READING #1: Review: The “Unconscious” before the advent of psychoanalysis (Ellenberger, Chs. 1 (and 2)* Kalsched: “The Intersection of Personal and Collective Trauma.”
T. Lecture and student questions on the unconscious before the advent of psychoanalysis. Reading #2 Hoffman, E.T.A. “The Sandman.* Please google at address: art3idea.psu.edu/metalepsis/texts/sandman.pdf
W. Begin discussing E.T.A. Hoffman: “The Sandman.”(prepare question answers) Reading: Freud:” The Uncanny.”(prepare question answers)
Th. Discussion of Freud and Hoffman Prepare in advance with groups Reading: Freud: Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis (Prepare question answers)
F. Discussion of Hysteria. Film: Freud: The Secret Passion, w. Montgomery Clift. On line and in person. Reading: Freud “On Narcissism.”
Film recommended for the week: “The Last Wave.”
Week 2
M. Begin discussing Freud’s “On Narcissism”. Reading: Freud: “Mourning and Melancholia.”
T. Continue Discussion of “On Narcissism in relation to “Mourning and Melancholia.” Reading: Segal:“Notes on Symbol Formation”(PEPWEB) *, Chapters 1-8 of Segal on Klein. Group presentations with discussions of cases in chapters.
W. Discussion and presentations on Klein/Segal. Reading: Klein, “Mourning and its Relation to Manic-Depressive states.Homework: Film, Ordinary People. Prepare notes on film in relation to Freudian and Kleinian theories of mourning.
Th. Finish up Klein/Segal, and Klein Discussion. Reading: Bromberg: “Standing in the Spaces.” “Knowing, Not Knowing, and Sort of Knowing.” “The Mirror and the Mask.”
Fr. Discussion of Bromberg, Sybil, Dissociation. MIDTERM EXAM (due Friday at midnight )Reading for Monday: From Atwood: Ch. 1 “Psychotherapy is a Human Science.” (Canvas) Doris Brothers: “Trauma as Exile.” Stolorow. “A Phenomenological-Contextual, Existential and Ethical Perspective on Emotional Trauma.” (Canvas)
Recommended Film for the week: Sybil, This is a recommended film on Dissociative Identification Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder), but involves raw scenes of mother-daughter abuse.
Week 3
- Discuss the film Sybil, and the readings of Atwood, Brothers, Stolorow. Reading: Winnicott: Playing and Reality (Chs. 1-4). Prepare Group Presentations out of class.
- Presentations. Reading: Winnicott: Chs. 5 (to p. 96, Ch. 6 and Ch.7; Bollas, from The Christopher Bollas Reader: Ch 1 “The Transformational Object,” "The Shadow of the Object," The Destiny Drive”.
- Winnicott and Bollas. Reading: Ogden,“The Analytic Third.” "Projective Identification"(optional), Bollas "The Fascist State of Mind."
- Discussion of Ogden and Bollas. Reading: Wolf/Kohut" The Treatment and Disorders of the Self" (Canvas).
- Self Psychology.. Reading: Geist “Connectedness, Permeable Boundaries and the Development of the Self.” (Canvas). Arie Green. “I Shall not Hate,” Rachel Kella. “Can I Wash off my Skin Color?” Gita Zarnagar: “Amputated Selfhood.” Sallly Swartz. Riker: “Self Psychology and The Problem of the Other” (recommended). Writing: Short journal paragraph due Monday on your own response to being “other” to others. (not to be graded)/
Week 4
M. Self Psychology, Empathy, Connectedness. Reading: Kalsched: The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit. Part I: Chs. 1-2 (11-62) Film: “Lars and the Real Girl”
T. Discuss contemporary forms of therapy to heal. Reading: Kalsched. Part II, Chs. 7-8 (141-161): “Rapunzel and the Self-Care System.“
W. Group presentations on Rapunzel or other chapters in book.
FINAL PAPERS DUE BY 6:00 PM Wednesday. You may also complete the course by taking a final open book examination (extensions allowed, but tell me)
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The Meaning of Trauma and Trauma Theory
The discovery of the unconscious lies in recognition of the unrecognized and unformulated mental material that causes upset in daily life. This is indicated through dreams, jokes, unintentional "mistakes," splitting, repression, multiple personalities, general defenses (protections) and so forth.
What causes what we call mental disturbance? Anything that interrupts the flow of everyday life, preventing a sense of underlying cohesiveness or vitality.
What is health? Each theorist we study will have a different answer. The ability to love and work as a member of society, the ability to “repair” through healthy ambivalence and acceptance, sheer vitality of existence and the ability to play, integrity and a sense of self wholeness by developing the skills of empathy, humor, a sense of transience, and wisdom, the ability to be fully “connected with others,” and with the “transcendent.”
Trauma arises from:
General developmental failures
Death of loved ones
Sexual abuse
War/disaster/terrorist abuse
Existential trauma is the awareness that we will all die –– which we all are to some degree aware of, but to most of us it is dissociated.
How do we heal?
By transcending and recuperating from trauma to build a truly rich, full self through the hard work of self-knowledge
Through empathy, relationship, telling one’s story, bringing it to the surface and being able to regain lost affect.
Course Summary:
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