Materials for the pleasure of psychoanalysis

The Workshop is conceived as a non-institutional apparatus for thinking – as close as possible to the analytical communities of the origins that were structured around the passion for pioneering research and discovery, and were continuously and creatively confronted with the obscurity and incommensurability of the unconscious mind that was explored with the limited, flickering but enduring and resilient light of consciousness.

The Workshop is meant to gather trained professionals in the field of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology and psychodynamic psychotherapy working with children, adolescents and young adults, who find continuous inspiration in the study of psychoanalytic theory and are supported by the desire of preserving the spirit of pleasure and passion in the art of the psychoanalytic method.

The Workshop is organised as an ongoing laboratory, where theoretical topics regarding adolescence as a developmental stage and as a ‘state of mind’ are explored with the aim to bridge the classical psychoanalytical writings with contemporary developments. The Workshop is organized in two separate moments: the monthly Wednesday meetings exclusively focused on theory, and the once-a-term Saturday morning meetings on clinical discussions.

Organization and method of the Wednesday meetings

The focus of the monthly Wednesday meetings is always on theory, where clinical examples or vignettes may be used to support or clarify theory, but with no supervision purposes. The workshop leader indicates the topic to be studied over the academic year, and provides the list of recommended readings. The suggested topics for 2023 and 2024, still to be confirmed and specified in details are:

“Lose and gain: anxiety, mourning and depression(s)”.

“On loving oneself: the narcissistic conundrum”.

The active role of all participants is an essential part of the work method. Participants rotate in presenting a synthesis of the reading(s) that are discussed in each meeting. This presentation may take about 45 minutes and serves as an introduction to the general discussion.

The role of the workshop leader is to enrich the initial presentation with further reflections and contributions in order to stimulate in-depth discussion. 

The meetings take place via Zoom on the second Wednesdays of each month except August, from 7pm until 10pm UK time, starting early 2023 (when the minimum number of participants is reached).

Organization and method of the Saturday meetings

The three-hour once-a-term clinical meetings are focused on detailed clinical material, presented by the seminar leader or by participants. The presentation of one case in each meeting will allow in-depth understanding of structures, transference-countertransference dynamics and technical aspects. Again, this is not at all meant to be a group supervision.

The Saturday mornings will take place once every three months approximately, from 9am until 12 noon UK time.

Residential weekends

In-person meetings (in the form of residential seminars) can be organized every other year, either in the UK or in Italy.  Extending a Saturday meeting to the whole weekend to be spent in a stimulating location can increase the pleasure of learning and of being together as a group.

Methodological note

It is of course recommendable that participants guarantee – as much as it is reasonably possible – their constant presence and a long-term commitment, the creation of a group mind and of a strong sense of belonging to a community being the founding principles of the Workshop.

Official language of the Workshop is English, in order to stimulate the active participation of colleagues living in different Countries. We strongly encourage the international identity of the group.