Neuropsychoanalysis (907)
Instructor: David M. Moore, Ph.D.

via Zoom

Neuropsychoanalysis is an interdisciplinary effort to integrate psychoanalysis with neuroscience which was first attempted by Freud in The Project for a Scientific Psychology (1895). In this course, we will study Neuropsychoanalytic themes and concepts by reading The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness (2021) by Mark Solms, Ph.D., a psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist. Neuropsychoanalysis does not seek to be a new school of psychoanalysis but rather links to and grounds psychoanalysis. “The brain is the organ of the mind. If we want to fully understand mental life, we must integrate the findings of neuroscience with all levels of the mind Neuropsychoanalysis is interested in the neurobiological underpinnings of how we act, think, and feel.  As we begin to link brain activity with a psychoanalytic model of the mind, even at the deepest levels, a truly dynamic understanding can emerge” (https://npsa-ssociation.org).

 The course is open to psychoanalysts, candidates, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy students in the PCC and other analytic institutes, as well as other clinicians and academicians by permission of the instructor.

Format: This class will combine lecture and seminar formats; student participation is encouraged. All PCC courses require participants to read and synthesize the materials presented. 

Where:    via Zoom
When:     Thursdays, September 9 and 23, October 14 and 28, November 11, and December 9, 2021
Time:       5:30pm - 7:30pm
CME Credits: 12 / CE Credits: 12 clock hours / NBCC: 12 clock hours / All others: Letter of Attendance

At the end of the course, participants must complete the Evaluation Form to receive continuing education credit.

About the Instructor:

David Moore initially co-led a neuropsychoanalysis discussion group in the PCC. He has taught this material to fourth-year Duke Psychiatry residents over the past ten years, and also to students in China by Zoom. Dr. Moore serves and has served for many years on the APsaA Board of Directors (and its Institute Requirements and Review Committee), has been president of our Society, and currently serves on the APsaA Committee on Psychoanalytic Education’s Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis Study Group. He is a TA/SA and has taught led Adult Continuous Case Conferences many times.

Required Text: 

Solms, M. (2021). The Hidden spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness. W. W. Norton & Company.  

 

Course Syllabus: to be added 

Registration and Tuition Deadline deadline is August 31.  
$25 Registration Fee is due at the time of application.
Tuition: $315
$235 for students matriculated in the training programs 
$290 for residents and graduate students
Payment plans can be arranged with the Administrator
Matriculated students aren't charged a course registration fee.  Students who register for more than one course in a semester pay only one registration fee.  In special circumstances, we may accept registrations after the registration deadline, but there will be an additional $20 late registration fee.
Course Cancellation Policy

Course Learning Objectives: Class participants will be able to:

 Participants in this course will be able to: 

1) Describe the concepts and theories in Neuropsychoanalysis: Role of body needs, brain stem mechanisms, reticular activating system, periaqueductal grey, superior colliculi, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in the cortex, memory, perception (cortical and brainstem), hormones, and peptides in the bloodstream, Freud’s Project, Panksepp’s basic emotions, Friston’s free energy theory and the problem of consciousness. 

2 ) Explain how the course helped you discard, revise, or enhance your ideas related to Freud’s theory. 

3) Explain how the course helped you discard, revise, or enhance your ideas about current psychoanalytic models of the mind. 

4) Discuss how the concepts of Neuropsychoanalysis might impact how you think about or experience your work with your clients.  

5) Describe any new ways of working with patients you may implement based on Neuropsychoanalysis.

 CE & CME Information: