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UPCOMING EVENTS

If 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:

Rockland - East Fairmount Park

3810 Mt Pleasant Dr. Philadelphia, PA &  Virtual via Zoom

2 CE/CMEs Available 

 

Program Flyer – Click here to learn more about the program & RSVP!

 

ADMISSION

  • $80 for Non-Members Seeking CE Credit

  • $40 for Non-Members Not Seeking CE Credit

  • Free Admission for Students & PCOP Members

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.

Presenter: James W. Anderson, PhD
Date: Wednesday, September 17th, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Location: In-Person - Rockland – East Fairmount Park
3810 Mt Pleasant Dr., Philadelphia, PA  & Virtual via Zoom 

2 CE/CME's Available

  • $80 for Non-Members Seeking CE Credit
  • $40 for Non-Members not Seeking CE Credit 
  • FREE for Students & PCOP Members

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.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact PCOP Membership & Events Coordinator, Julia Seixas, at [email protected] for questions or assistance with registration!