Contemporary Freudian Society, NY Division, Scientific Program
Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 8:30 – 10:00 pm, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Hatch Auditorium, Madison Avenue & 100th Street, Free admission.
Psychoanalysis and Meditation: Partners in Healing
Jeffrey Rubin, PhD, presenter
Edward Kenny, MD, discussant
We live in a universe in which psychoanalysts meditate, and meditators—including Buddhist teachers—avail themselves of therapy. In this presentation, we will explore the burgeoning interest in the potential interface between psychoanalysis and meditation, and why they need each other. Therapy and meditation not only compensate for blind spots in each other, but also, when practiced together, can provide a richer experience than either discipline alone. To this end, we will discuss how psychoanalysis/psychodynamic psychotherapy and meditation can be productively integrated. In addition, after considering how meditation cultivates heightened attentiveness, refines sensory clarity, lessens self-criticism, and increases affect tolerance, thereby deepening psychoanalytic listening, we will examine how psychoanalytic understandings of unconscious communication and meaning illuminate and transform the near-sightedness of meditation. In the concluding section, Dr. Rubin will delineate ‘meditative psychoanalysis’, his own integration of meditation and psychoanalysis. Meditative exercises and clinical material will illustrate his theoretical reflections.
Jeffrey B. Rubin, PhD, is a practicing psychoanalyst and teacher of meditation in New York City and Bedford Hills, New York. He is considered one of the leading integrators of the Western psychotherapeutic and Eastern meditative traditions. The creator of ‘meditative psychoanalysis’, a practice that he developed through insights gained from decades of study, teaching and helping hundreds of people flourish, Dr. Rubin is the author of the new ebook, Meditative Psychotherapy, as well as the critically acclaimed books, The Art of Flourishing; Psychotherapy and Buddhism; The Good Life; and A Psychoanalysis for Our Time. Dr. Rubin has taught at various universities, psychoanalytic institutes and Buddhist and yoga centers. He lectures around the country and has given workshops at the United Nations, the Esalen Institute, the Open Center and the 92nd Street Y. A blogger for Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and Elephant Journal, his pioneering approach to psychotherapy and Buddhism has been featured in The New York Times Magazine. His website is drjeffreyrubin.com.
Edward Kenny, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with a strong interest in the points of convergence between psychoanalysis and the Buddhist disciplines, in particular the practices of Zen meditation. He chairs the study group on Buddhism and Psychoanalysis at the American Psychoanalytic Association meetings and is on the faculty of the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.
Learning Objectives:
1. Explain how psychoanalysis and meditation complement one another.
2. Describe how psychoanalysis/psychotherapy and meditative practices can be integrated.
3. Illustrate the integration of therapy and meditation as applied to clinical cases.
4. Delineate key elements of Dr. Rubin’s ‘meditative psychoanalysis’ approach.
Who Should Attend:
Mental Health Professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, licensed mental health practitioners, eg, LP’s, LCAT’s, pastoral counselors), and people with an interest in psychodynamic and psychoanalytic thinking and clinical applications.
CE Credits:
Psychologists: The Contemporary Freudian Society is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education programs for psychologists. CFS maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CE credits are granted to participants with documented attendance and completed evaluation forms. Attendance is monitored. Credit will not be granted to registrants who arrive late, or depart early. It is the responsibility of participants seeking CE credits to comply with the requirements outlined below. Upon completion of these requirements, participants will be given 1.5 CE credits.
Registration Fees, Certificates of Attendance and CE Credit Information:
There is no fee for attending this program.
Basic Certification of Attendance forms will be emailed to ATR-BC’s and others at no charge if requested on the sign-in sheet.
The fee for 1.5 CE Credits for Members of CFS and Candidates of the PTI of CFS is $15, and for all others it is $30. If you would like CE credit, please check the appropriate box on the sign-in sheet. An evaluation form will be emailed to you. You will receive a PDF via email of your CE credits upon receipt of a hard copy of the completed evaluation form and your check (written to CFS).
Important disclosure information:
None of the planners and presenters of this CE program have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Vivian Eskin, PhD, at veskinphd@gmail.com
CFS-NY Scientific Program Committee:
Vivian Eskin, Chair; Ani Buk, Kristina MacGaffin, Batya Monder, Gloria Demby, Jill Alberts
The Psychoanalytic Training Institute of CFS offers a variety of programs in both New York City and Washington, DC for students interested in adult psychoanalysis, child/adolescent psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and parent-infant treatment. Our NY Adult Psychoanalysis Program is registered as licensure qualifying by the NYSED. All Masters-level and Doctoral-level professionals are welcome to apply. Please visit instituteofcfs.org for further information.