Stop in and say hello.

Kathleen Lyon, MD is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst practicing in NYC since 1991, and a student and practitioner of Buddhism for more than 20 years. A training analyst at PANY, she has taught courses on theory and technique in the psychoanalytic program there, and has taught and supervised at the NYU Medical Center Psychiatry residency program. She has also taught mindfulness meditation and compassion cultivation meditation programs in NYC and elsewhere. She is a member of the Contemplative Studies Project in NYC.

Meditation, Psychotherapy, and Spiritual Bypassing:
In recent years, mindfulness has become a popular and useful therapeutic tool. Distinctions between secular mindfulness and meditation as a part of a spiritual practice have become blurred, leading to inappropriate use of meditation as a substitute for necessary psychological growth. This “spiritual bypassing”, as it has been termed, can be challenging recognize and work with in therapy.
A young adult with a history of early deprivation presented for therapy after disappointing personal and academic setbacks. Through treatment, it was discovered this patient used spiritual bypassing to defend against social contact and achievement of appropriate young adult life goals. Join us for a discussion of how spiritual bypassing, a defensive use of spiritual pursuit/identity to avoid psychological difficulties or growth, manifests in this case, various other ways it can present, and how it can be approached and worked with in treatment.

Self-defeating behaviors are present to some degree in every psychodynamic treatment. We will explore ways in which sadomasochism manifests, particularly in the transference/countertransference arena. The developmental roots and psychodynamic underpinnings will be illuminated through clinical examples. The goal will be to fortify practitioners for what are often long and difficult treatments.

Ira Brenner, MD

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College Training and Supervising Analyst at Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia

The phenomenon of dissociation has been in the shadows of our psychoanalytic understanding of the mind since Freud’s early days. Dr. Brenner will discuss his views on the ubiquitous but elusive nature of dissociation and dissociative identity disorder, illustrated by clinical material which includes a profound case that became evident during the course of analysis. Dr Brenner will also describe an approach to transference-based treatment that's informed by an integration of classical andcontemporary models of the mind.

Participants will be able to:

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For many years, the construct of therapeutic action has been somewhat elusive. Much of the controversy has arisen from the debate around whether or not the therapist's interpretation is the key to improvement in the treatment, or, simply the therapist's way of relating to the patient. This debate has now become far more complicated as we have learned that there are many factors contributing to improvement, including dissociation, projective identification, analyst self-disclosure, and patient-therapist match.

Participants will be able to:

 1. To understand the current controversy regarding therapeutic action
2. To be able to identify various forms of therapeutic action in the process of treatment
3. To be able to articulate a definition of the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis

Danielle Knafo, PhD, is a professor at LIU, NYU, and Adelphi Universities. She is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst who has written and lectured extensively on the topics of gender, sexuality, and technology. Her recent books include: The Age of Perversion: Desire and Technology in Psychoanalysis and Culture and The New Sexual Landscape in Contemporary Psychoanalysis. Recent papers include: Guys and Dolls: Relational Life in a Technological Era and Digital Desire and the Cyber Imposter.

Sex and technology have always partnered for pleasure, novelty, transcendence, and perversion. The tech enterprise is rooted in original anxiety about limitation and how it might be transcended. Tools and machines help us with our battle against threat while making possible new modes of pleasure. The internet and associated technologies (AI) have enabled the creation of an alternative adult world of sex dolls and sex robots, cybersex, teledildonics, sexting, catfishing, internet porn, and more in the widespread deployment of omnipotent fantasy. This paper explores the intimate connection between sex and technology, discusses the massive sea change in the new sexual landscape, and offers several clinical vignettes, including one of a man who loved a synthetic doll, to illustrate this connection.

1. Attendees will learn about the intimate relationship that exists between technology and sexuality
2. Attendees will understand the existential and psychoanalytic explanations for some of the technological advances
3. Attendees will become conversant with novel technological advancements that are driven by sexual desire