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UPCOMING EVENTSIf you have any questions or concerns about upcoming events, please contact Membership & Events Coordinator Julia Seixas at [email protected].Upcoming Events
Presenter: Andrew Smolar, MD Date: Saturday, September 6th, 2025 Time: 10:00 - 12:00 PM EDT Location: In-Person - Rockland – East Fairmount Park 2 CE/CME's Available
Program Flyer – Click here to learn more about the program & RSVP!Program Description In this presentation, the author, Andrew Smolar, MD, considers long-term psychodynamic treatments: How do they develop? In what circumstances are they an outgrowth of treatments that should have ended? When is it beneficial for the patient to continue working with the same therapist for a long period of time? And what are indications for return to therapy during the lifecycle? The author reviews pertinent literature on termination, stalemates, and effectiveness of long-term treatments. He describes the therapist confronting five clinical situations that raise questions about how and whether to end treatment. He concludes with several guiding principles: (1) paying attention to treatment goals and certain transferences prevents impasses; (2) self-analytic capacity is necessary but not sufficient for readiness to end; and (3) the patient’s forming an intimate primary relationship with a person other than the therapist facilitates ending.
About the Speaker Andrew I. Smolar MD, is Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine. He has been in the private practice of adolescent and adult psychiatry in Wynnewood, PA since 1998. Dr. Smolar served as President of the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia from 2015-2017; he has also served here as Chairman of the Education Committee, Training and Supervising Analyst Committee, co-Chair of the Supervision Study Group for Supervising Analysts, and is co-Director of the Developmental Pathway for recent graduates. Dr. Smolar has contributed to the academic literature by writing on the following subjects: analytic work with an immigrant analysand, group therapy in various clinical settings, combining analytic treatment with group therapy techniques, and most recently, psychotherapy during this era of political turmoil, contributions of group fragmentation toward national discord, the role of group identifications during normative development, and the impact of bullying on adolescent development with our own Fred Baurer. He is co-editor of a book in press, with Salman Akhtar and Ann Eichen, on marriage. He is co-investigator of research of American citizens suffering from conspiracy thinking. He has also published op-eds on mental health subjects in the Philadelphia Inquirer and in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
Date: Wednesday, September 17th, 2025 Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT Location: In-Person - Rockland – East Fairmount Park 2 CE/CME's Available
Program Flyer – Click here to learn more about the program & RSVP!Program Description Dr. Anderson’s book on psychobiography explores how the authors’ relationships with and feelings about the people written about impact the biographical account. From a psychoanalytic perspective, then, the author’s countertransference infiltrates the biographical account.For example, Sigmund Freud co-authored a psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson, whom Freud admitted he hated. One can only imagine how this was reflected in this particular psychobiography. Or, in his writing about Gandhi, Erik Erikson started out idealizing him but suffered from writer’s block when he encountered some of Gandhi’s hypocritical, mean behaviors. Margot Duxler knew and liked Anaïs Nin, but after the diarist’s death she learned that Nin had often lied to her and others. Duxler wrote a psychobiography of Nin in large part to come to grips with her feelings about this deception. Dr. Anderson will discuss how his studies of various psychobiographies enlivened and deepened his insight and appreciation of countertransference, and helped refine his work with patients in psychotherapy. In this presentation, Dr. Anderson will help us to understand how to use our countertransference, to better understand our patients. He will underscore the ways that countertransference can be both our greatest ally and our greatest challenge in conducting psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.
About the Speaker
James W. Anderson, PhD, is a former President of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society and a faculty member of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute. A Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University, Dr. Anderson specializes in psychobiography, using a psychological perspective, of historical, political, literary, and artistic figures. His book, Psychobiography: In Search of the Inner Life (Oxford University Press), was published last year.
Date: Sunday, October 12, 2025 Time: 2:00 - 4:00 pm Location: Rockland - East Fairmount Park 3810 Mt Pleasant Dr. Philadelphia, PA We look forward to celebrating with PCOP members and both new and returning students at our upcoming Welcome Back Party! Join us for a lively afternoon of meeting new students, reconnecting with fellow members, and celebrating the start of the new academic year. Snacks and refreshments will be provided! Click here for the event flyer & to RSVP!Attendees MUST register in advance. Presenter: Steve Axelrod, PhD Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT Program Flyer – Click here to learn more about the program & RSVP!Program Description Steven D. Axelrod, PhD, has created a revised model of adult development and he reconsiders Erikson’s original epigenetic scheme of the psychological stages of development in adulthood. Further, his model integrates the observational work of Anna Freud and the recent theorist, Anne Hurry. In his presentation, Dr. Axelrod will elaborate a developmental scheme of tasks and emerging capacities. He will discuss the drivers for individual growth and vitality. His concept of “the drivers of individual growth” includes, but is not limited to, object finding and object usage in both treatment and in the wild. In explicating this concept, he will pay special attention to what has been termed the “developmental object” by Anne Hurry and others. Dr. Axelrod will also discuss psychotherapy research and outcome studies to offer a window into the processes of growth in adulthood. He will discuss research evidence that points to the existence of a group of psychotherapy/psychoanalytic patients who show continuing improvement and better adjustment over time post-termination, referred to as “the “sleeper effect.” He will discuss the factors in treatment and the processes that occur during the post treatment period, that promote and sustain psychological growth.
About the Speaker
Dr. Steve Axelrod is a psychoanalyst in independent practice in New York City. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, where he is Co-Chair of the Independent Track, working to foster innovation and improve the intellectual experience for all members of the Postdoc community. He is a Principal in the Boswell Group of psychodynamic management consultants and is on the board of the Psychotherapy Action Network. Dr. Axelrod is the author of books and articles on adult development, the psychology of work (Work and the Evolving Self (Analytic Press, 1999)), leadership and management, male development, and hospital-based psychiatric treatment. He is the co-editor of Progress in Psychoanalysis: Envisioning the Future of the Profession (Routledge, 2018). This presentation is based in part on his recent article “Growth in adulthood: A revised psychoanalytic framework for adult development” in the 2024 Psychoanalytic Study of the Child.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact PCOP Membership & Events Coordinator, Julia Seixas, at [email protected] for questions or assistance with registration! |
