Joan Miro, The Birth of the World
Writing Dream Formations
In this seminar participants will practice unraveling the logic of the dream through writing elaborations. Following Freud and Lacan, we will consider the dream as a rupture of the unconscious from an Other scene, not as a narrative with a hidden meaning. Dreams embody the perpetual writing of the unconscious on the drives of the body, the Real of language, and the transformation of symptoms.
We invite participants to present dream sequences across multiple sessions. What rupture may have constructed the dream? What signifiers already present in the analysis did it evoke or elaborate? If there is a navel in the dream, what is the navel? If the dream is a nightmare, where was it interrupted? Is there a second navel created around the associations? What drives of the body may have been mobilized?
The case we are exploring here is not a case study of the patient, but the case of the-analyst-in training working under constraints of the Lacanian clinic and transference. Is it possible to articulate dream logic in a way that races a tiny bit ahead of the Real? This seminar aims to give a space to participants to play with impressions and experiences that can be so difficult to wrap our minds around. Writing can be employed as a scaffolding to develop a sense for the effects of our interventions. Our writings will develop from experiences we aim to provoke in class. Respecting the limits of language and the unknown unsayable that comes with dreams, we will listen to the presenter in the place of the analyst speaking to the logic that is at work in her or his interventions. The aim of the seminar is to develop a condensed 10-minute writing that highlights the dream logic.
Readings will introduce you to the central importance of work with dreams in the Lacanian clinic.
As a condition of joining the seminar, everyone will sign a confidentiality agreement. Limited to 8 participants presenting, but others may join to learn about the clinic of the dream.
We ask seminar participants to read or re-read the following foundational texts prior to our first meeting. Additional readings may be added during the year.
Freud, S. (1915-16). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XV: Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (Part II).
Freud, S. (1933). New Introductory Lectures On Psycho-Analysis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XXII (1932-1936): New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis and Other Works, Lecture XXIX Revision of the Theory of Dreams (pages 6-29).
2 APA CE credits are available for an extra $25 per class. At the end of each seminar meeting I will email a link that participants can follow to fill out a brief survey. The receipt for payment will serve as the CE certificate.
Faculty: Diana Cuello, PhD, Analyst of the School; Annie Rogers, PhD, Analyst of the School
Dates and Times: Monthly, September to May, 1st Fridays, 9-11am Pacific Time
Location: Online via Zoom, by invitation
Fee: $500.00 or LSP Tuition
Contact: Diana Cuello at dianacuellophd@gmail.com, Annie Rogers at anniegrogers@gmail.com
Diana C. Cuello, Ph.D. is an Analyst of the School and Faculty member of the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis. She completed her PhD at Duquesne University in 2011 and has a private practice in Mountain Top Pennsylvania since 2013. Dr. Cuello offers psychoanalysis remotely via video and phone.
Annie Rogers, Ph.D. is Analyst, Faculty and Supervising Analyst of the Lacanian School of San Francisco. She is also Associate Member of the Association for Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy in Ireland and Professor Emerita of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Psychology at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Dr. Rogers has a psychoanalytic practice in Amherst, Massachusetts. A recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University; a Whiting Fellowship at Hampshire College; and an Erikson Scholar at Austen Riggs; she is the author of A Shining Affliction (Penguin Viking, 1995) and The Unsayable (Random House, 2006), in addition to numerous scholarly articles, short fiction, and poetry. Her most recent book is Incandescent Alphabets: Psychosis and the Enigma of Language (Karnac Books in 2016).
Greater Pittsburgh Psychological Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Greater Pittsburgh Psychological Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
