The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas offers a rich set of presentations by local and out-of-state speakers. These Scientific Programs, which are generally open to PCC members and other mental health professionals and trainees, are designed to broaden and deepen awareness and understanding of the application of psychoanalytic concepts to clinical work.
Free admission for PCC members, full-time students with ID, and trainees in the departments of social work, psychology, psychiatry, and mental health counseling.
2023 Scientific Programs (partial list)
The Rosenblitt Lecture Series Presents:
“This boy is autistic”: Misinterpretation of defensive avoidance in a six-year-old boy
Presented by Leon Hoffman, MD Saturday, June 10, 2023 10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST Virtual via Zoom Fee: $45* Registration Closes Wednesday, June 7 at 10 p.m.
This presentation will discuss the importance of the therapeutic intervention “interpretation of defenses against painful affects.” This technique, developed by Berta Bornstein, has been indispensable in child and adolescent psychoanalysis. This paper describes in detail the defensive function of a child’s oppositional behavior, negativism, and avoidance. These issues were examined and interpreted in an in-depth treatment (including two years of four-time-a-week psychoanalysis). This was one of the treatments that served as a model for developing the Manual of Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C) with Externalizing Behaviors: A Psychodynamic Approach and the development of the first empirical study of a psychodynamic treatment for children with disruptive disorders. The Triangle of Conflict will be highlighted as a heuristic to conceptualize the development of symptoms. The value of empirical research will be discussed.
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Describe the theoretical and clinical underpinnings of defenses against painful emotions
Describe the value of addressing children’s defense mechanisms against painful emotions to address disruptive symptoms
Apply the Triangle of Conflict in clinical work
Explain the value of systematic empirical work for the progression of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic ideas
Leon Hoffman, MD, a Psychiatrist and Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, is a Training and Supervising Analyst in adult, child, and adolescent analysis, co-Director, of Pacella Research Center at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; Faculty, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Chief Psychiatrist/Psychoanalyst, West End Day School in NYC. In 2022 he delivered the American Academy of Child Psychiatry’s Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Award Lecture; the Paulina Kernberg Memorial Grand Rounds at the Weill Cornell Medicine Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Grand Rounds; and the Bruce A. Gibbard Lectureship in Psychiatry, the University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
He is co-author, along with Timothy Rice and Tracy Prout, of Manual for Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children with Externalizing Behaviors (RFP-C): A Psychodynamic Approach. A Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach, published in Psychotherapy Research. The manual has been translated into Italian. Other publications include theoretical and clinical papers on child and adolescent development and psychotherapy; on the application of linguistic measures to the evaluation of psychotherapy and psychoanalytic sessions; the impact of teletherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic; and papers and book essays discussing various social problems, including populism and the evolution of racism in the Western world. In 2007, he published Do Children Get Better When We Interpret Their Defenses Against Painful Feelings? in the Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. This clinical paper was the antecedent of the Manual.
This program is intended for psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, and other clinicians interested in the subject.
*Free admission and CE/CME credits for PCC members, LDC staff & board, full-time students with ID, and trainees in the Departments of Social Work, Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental Health Counseling.
CME credits: 2 / CE credits: 2 / NBCC: 2 clock hours All others: Letter of attendance
The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6518. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
Social workers will receive a letter of attendance documenting 2 hours of continuing education. This certificate may not be acceptable verification in all states.
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the American Psychoanalytic Association and Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company. -Updated July 2021
Hoffman, L., Rice, T. R., & Prout, T. A. (2016). Manual of Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for children (RFP-C) with externalizing behaviors: A psychodynamic approach. Routledge.
Prout, T. A., Rice, T., Chung, H., Gorokhovsky, Y., Murphy, S., & Hoffman, L. (2022). Randomized controlled trial of Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for children: A manualized psychodynamic treatment for externalizing behaviors.Psychotherapy Research: Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, 32(5), 555–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1980626
Rice, T. R., & Hoffman, L. (2014). Defense mechanisms and implicit emotion regulation: A comparison of a psychodynamic construct with one from contemporary neuroscience. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 62(4), 693-708. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065114546746
The Rosenblitt Lecture was established by the Lucy Daniels Center in 2019 in honor of Don Rosenblitt, M.D. to spotlight topics relevant to child and adolescent psychoanalytic treatment through an annual lecture presented by a child psychoanalyst.
Dr. Rosenblitt is a child and adult psychoanalyst, and the founding Clinical and Executive Director of the Lucy Daniels Center. In August 2019, Dr. Rosenblitt retired from his position of 27 years as Executive and Clinical Director and transitioned into a part-time role at the Center, where he continues his vital life’s work of serving children and families through in-depth evaluation and treatment.
He is on the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas (PCC). He is a Training and Supervising Analyst in the psychoanalytic training program of the PCC and is Past Director of the Psychoanalytic Institute of the Carolinas, now the psychoanalytic training program of the PCC. He has written and lectured extensively on topics related to early childhood development.
Theoretical and Clinical Perspectives on Analyst Boredom: Deadness, Aliveness, and the Spaces in Between
Presented by Steven Kuchuck, DSW Saturday, April 22, 2023 10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST Virtual via Zoom Fee: $45* Registration Closes Wednesday, April 19 at 10 p.m.
This presentation will explore traditional as well as much more contemporary thinking about the meaning of clinician boredom. Dr. Kuchuck argues that boredom can of course indicate dissociated or otherwise inaccessible patient and/or therapist affect. But there may be something about the normative clinical encounter that engenders these states more often than we care to admit. The deadened analyst’s resultant shame, guilt and other complex feelings will be explored via extensive theory and clinical material.
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:
List one cause of clinician boredom
Identify at least one way in which an incidence of boredom directly impacted a clinical intervention
Dr. Kuchuck is former Editor-in-Chief of Psychoanalytic Perspectives, where he currently serves as Senior Consulting Editor, Co-Editor; Routledge Relational Perspectives Book Series, Immediate Past President of IARPP, faculty, NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, NIP National Training Program, and other institutes. His book, The Relational Revolution in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, was nominated for a Gradiva Award for best psychoanalytic book of 2021. He won the Gradiva Awards for best book of 2015; Clinical Implications of the Psychoanalyst’s Life Experience and 2016; The Legacy of Sandor Ferenczi: From Ghost to Ancestor (co-edited with Adrienne Harris). The Workbooks of Masud Khan: Diary of a Fallen Psychoanalyst (co-edited with Linda Hopkins) is being published by Karnac Books in November 2022.
This program is intended for psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, and other clinicians who want to increase their competencies in the concept of clinician boredom through theoretical and clinical perspectives.
*Free admission and CE/CME credits for PCC members, LDC staff & board, full-time students with ID, and trainees in the Departments of Social Work, Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental Health Counseling.
CME credits: 2 / CE credits: 2 / NBCC: 2 clock hours All others: Letter of attendance
The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6518. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
Social workers will receive a letter of attendance documenting 2 hours of continuing education. This certificate may not be acceptable verification in all states.
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the American Psychoanalytic Association and Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company. -Updated July 2021
Kuchuck, S. (2021). The relational revolution in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Confer Books.
Kuchuck, S. (2018). The analyst’s subjectivity: On the impact of inadvertent, deliberate and silent disclosure. Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 15(3), 265-274.
Phillips, A. (1998). On kissing, tickling, and being bored. Harvard University Press.
How does trauma get “under the skin,” and what do we do about it?:
Neurobiological mechanisms of trauma and adversity & basic tenets of
trauma-focused treatments
Presented by Ilana S. Berman, PhD Saturday, February 25, 2023 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. EST Virtual via Zoom Fee: $45* Registration Closes Wednesday, February 22 at 10 p.m.
Dr. Ilana S. Berman specializes in understanding the mechanisms of trauma and adversity and trauma-focused treatments for individuals across the lifespan, couples/partners, and families. In this program, she will highlight research findings on the neurobiology of trauma, including the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP; McLaughlin & Sheridan) to understand how experiences of threat may manifest differently than experiences of deprivation (e.g., neglect, cognitive under-stimulation). Dr. Berman will share her work implementing and evaluating a novel group treatment for sexual assault recovery in a women’s prison (SHARE; Karlsson, Zielinski, & Bridges) as well as explain the common, central features of trauma-focused treatments such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT; Cohen, Mannarino, & Deblinger), Prolonged Exposure (PE; Foa & Rothbaum) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT; Resick).
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Explain how experiences of threat and deprivation differentially impact individuals, according to the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP)
Discuss how research on mechanisms on the impact of trauma are applied and targeted via the central features of trauma-focused treatments (e.g., TF-CBT, PE, CPT)
Summarize core components of evidence-based trauma-focused treatments
Dr. Berman earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arkansas in 2020, after completing a clinical psychology internship with a concentration in child trauma at Duke University Medical Center. Her research interests are on trauma-related outcomes and effective interventions for children and families affected by traumatic experiences, using family-systems, intergenerational, and lifespan perspectives. She works with traditionally underserved populations and aims to expand access to culturally sensitive treatments, informed by program evaluation and dissemination/implementation research.
Berman is currently an adjunct assistant professor in the Psychology & Neuroscience department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, supervising clinical psychology PhD graduate students in providing therapy at our community clinic, as well as teaching undergraduate- and graduate-level courses, and conducting research in the Child Imaging Research on Cognition and Life Experiences Lab (CIRCLE Lab; PI: Margaret Sheridan). With an eye on larger-scale prevention and information dissemination, Dr. Berman contracts with the non-profit community agency, Center for Child and Family Health in Durham, to provide trauma-informed education to community college faculty to educate early childhood care & education providers across the state of North Carolina. Dr. Berman also provides direct therapy services to individuals, partners, and families via Peak City Psychology.
This program is intended for psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, and other clinicians who want to increase their competencies in the concept of the neurobiological mechanisms of trauma and adversity and trauma-focused treatments for individuals across the lifespan, couples/partners, and families.
*Free admission and CE/CME credits for PCC members, LDC staff & board, full-time students with ID, and trainees in the Departments of Social Work, Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental Health Counseling.
CME credits: 2 / CE credits: 2 / NBCC: 2 clock hours All others: Letter of attendance
The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6518. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
Social workers will receive a letter of attendance documenting 2 hours of continuing education. This certificate may not be acceptable verification in all states.
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the American Psychoanalytic Association and Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company. -Updated July 2021
McLaughlin, K. A., & Sheridan, M. A. (2016). Beyond cumulative risk: A dimensional approach to childhood adversity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(4), 239-245.
Berman, I. S., Pane Seifert, H. T., & Briggs, E. C. (2021). Treatment considerations for youth exposed to interpersonal violence. Handbook of interpersonal violence and abuse across the lifespan: A project of the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan (pp. 1629-1660). Springer International Publishing.
Silverman, W. K., Ortiz, C. D., Viswesvaran, C., Burns, B. J., Kolko, D. J., Putnam, F. W., & Amaya-Jackson, L. (2008). Evidence-based psychosocial treatments for children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 37(1), 156-183.
