2019 Class
Welcome students. On this page you will find course descriptions and syllabi for your class, as well as links to the required readings. Future courses and readings will be updated.
Fall Semester 2019: Foundations – Critical Therapy
This course will introduce students to fundamental concepts of critical therapy. Students will learn about basic tenants of: psychoanalysis, critical psychology, critical pedagogy and liberation psychology. Students will also familiarize themselves with the three stages of critical therapy. Further, this course conceptualizes the therapeutic process in the context of changing perspectives about the therapeutic relationship and orients students to the rich curriculum to follow. Clinical issues that students might face in the beginning of treatment with patients, will be addressed, as well as basic definitions central to critical therapy, including: assessment, transference, countertransference, the analytic stance, and power.
Spring 2020: Transference and Countertransference: Therapy’s Playground
Transference is a central concept in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, the bedrock of our work with patients. This course provides an in depth study of the concepts of transference and countertransference and transference and countertransference resistances with readings from the current and historical literature. We will explore the usefulness of working with transference for understanding the past and helping to create therapeutic change in the present. We will look at different kinds of transferences and different ways of working with transference. We will also consider the relationship between transference and countertransference, touching on related concepts of: projective identification, enactment, the therapist’s use of self, and the question of therapist self-disclosure. We will also discuss the use of transference in critical therapy and the concept of “paying in the sandbox” with your patient. Patient material and class process will be used to illustrate concepts of transference and countertransference and resistances.
Summer 2020: Practicing Critical Therapy
This course will focus on practical applications of theory in the beginning phases of critical therapy. We will analyze and discuss the relationship between therapist and patient(s), with a deep focus on transference, intimacy and self-disclosure. An interactive and intensive course, a great part of our time together will focus on case presentations, and introspection.
Fall 2020: Construction of Identities: The role of power and privilege in the therapeutic relationship
What is identity? Is it a construct, a narrative? How do categories such as: race, class, gender and religion (to name a few) shape and construct one’s identity? As therapists, what are the blind spots that may occur in the countertransference when working with patients who are generally considered “other” to us? This course will start with a theoretical exploration of the notion of identity, and move towards a deep analysis and exploration of ways culture, color, gender identification and ableness, impact the clinical hour, for both patient and therapist. Through our discussions and case presentations, we hope to increase our awareness of the multiplicity of our own context-dependent identification process. In some contexts, for instance, our gender renders us as marginal. In another context our color may render us as dominant. When placed in a dominant position, a therapist suffers the most severe limits on awareness of the clinical (and social) implications of their place. We have blind spots. We will also explore and reflect on our own privilege and power within and outside the clinical hour.
Spring 2021: Building Blocks of Critical Therapy
This course introduces different theoretical traditions that shaped and influenced the creation of critical therapy. We will look at the writings of: Freire, Holloway, Butler, hooks, Fanon, and Martin-Baro, while paying particular attention to the application of different theories to psychotherapy, and clinical praxis. We will discuss postcolonial theory, poststructuralism, deconstruction, feminism, zen philosophy, liberation theology, liberation psychology and queer theory as they inform the clinical hour and case conceptualization. Particular attention will be given to ways these theories inform our path towards liberation.
Summer 2021: Colonialism, Oppression and Psychotherapy
Aiming to increase awareness and develop understanding of different type of oppression, we will study and focus on the impact of colonialism and oppression of the psyche and mental health. A primary goal of this course is to encourage and aid the development of critical thinking and analysis of the messages we all receive about race, racism, colonialism, and power, while questioning our own privilege(s).
Fall 2021: Power and Psychotherapy
What is power? How do people get and use power within and outside the consulting room? Can power ever be equalized in the therapeutic relationship? Power will be the topic of our discussions as we will analyze and interrogate our understanding and usage of it in psychotherapy. This course will focus on power dynamics within human relationships and society, and how those dynamics influence and present themselves in the consulting room.
Spring 2022: Beyond the Individual
This course introduces students to various theoretical approaches and interventions in couples, group and family therapy. Participants will develop a fundamental knowledge of key concepts and processes in couples, group and family therapy. Particular focus will be on ways these various theories have informed, and are being used in critical therapy with couples, groups and families.
Fall 2022: Advanced Clinical Seminar I
This year long course, broken into three sections, will expand students’ fundamental skills relevant to clinical psychology in many areas, including: case conceptualization, treatment planning, evaluating treatment progress/efficacy, and clinical writing. Students will deepen their understanding of the working alliance, while learning to locate and appraise evidence relevant to clinical care. Students will also explore their professional identities and blind spots. This course will emphasize application of knowledge and skills in students’ current practice settings. We will focus on group presentation, and discussion of practicum cases at an advanced level. Particular emphasis is placed on integration of theory and practice and in-depth examination of the treatment process.
Spring 2023: Advanced Clinical Seminar II
Summer 2023: Advanced Clinical Seminar III