A call for an expanded self psychology: Incorporating socio–cultural perspectives in teaching and clinical practice

ABSTRACT

Recognizing that psychoanalysis needs to change to meet the challenges described by the Holmes Report on American Psychoanalysis, the authors describe their journey to include socio-cultural perspectives in their teaching activities. To widen the lens of course content, they include topics of race, racial trauma, and inequality by bringing additional voices into their Self Psychology course materials including Beverly Stoute and Franz Fanon. Further, they discuss these authors’ contributions in relation to Heinz Kohut’s foundational ideas about development and clinical practice. They describe the features of an anti-racist pedagogical approach to teaching which supports encouraging and appreciating the contributions of all participants in the learning process. They provide several vignettes from their teaching experiences and argue that self psychologically-informed clinicians are particularly well-suited to meet the challenge of expanding psychoanalytic thinking to incorporate socio-cultural perspectives.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-racism pedagogy
• Fanon
• Holmes commission
• Kohut
• self psychology teaching
• socio-cultural

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Notes

¹ Because of space constraints, we are unable to discuss the outreach we made to the teacher.

² We are grateful to Amanda Kottler for her discussion of what she calls “the unbearability of race talk.” IAPSP Conference, May 11, 2024.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth M Carr

Elizabeth M. Carr, A.P.R.N., M.S.N., B.C. is Director Emeritus and Co-Chair of the Psychoanalytic Training Program at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (ICP+P) in Washington, DC. She is a training and supervising analyst at ICP+P and an associate editor at Psychoanalytic Inquiry. Elizabeth Chairs the IAPSP Teaching Interest Group and serves on the IAPSP Executive Board. She is in private practice in Silver Spring, MD,

Ruth Migler

Ruth B. Migler, M.A., M.S.W., is a graduate of the Psychoanalytic Training program at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (ICP+P) in Washington, DC. She is Co-Director Emeritus of ICP+P and on the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Training Program and the Contemporary Approaches to Psychotherapy Program at ICP+P. She is in private practice in Washington, DC and Rockville, MD where she sees people remotely and in person.