Psychoanalysis On and Off the Couch
Health & Fitness:Mental Health
“This is the first time that I really felt what is meant by cell relations. You have object relations and you have part-object relations and anxieties that are depressive and schizophrenic. But when I deal with primitive anxieties, I really felt cell relations. What I felt is that my cells were going beyond my skin and I felt that she felt that my cells were going beyond her skin. You have this diffuse transference and when you have this sort of transference it took me to prenatal life and biological life. Also, I had all those theoretical people like Tustin, Meltzer, and Bion - they were all talking about that.”
Episode Description: Shiri shares with us her journey from immunology to psychology to psychoanalysis. She brings her knowledge of immunologic processes to better grasp the internal mechanisms of the dynamic mind. She sees a relationship between the embryo's capacity to transform the mother's Natural Killer cells into a receptive matrix with later capacities for psychological maturation. We consider how this informed her work with a traumatized 4-year-old girl in a tumultuous analysis that demanded a great deal from each of them. We close with her sharing her vision for the future of psychoanalysis which hopefully will include ongoing collaboration with scientists from many disciplines.
Our Guest: Shiri Ben Bassat is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst with the Israel Psychoanalytic Society. She supervises at Franz Brill Mental Health Center (Ramat Chen, Tel Aviv) and teaches in various programs in the Studying Center of The Israel Psychoanalytic Institute. Shiri previously studied biology and holds an MA degree in immunology. She is the recipient of the 24th Frances Tustin Memorial Prize (2021).
Recommended Readings:
EPIGENETICS
Martin, S. (2014) R. Yehuda, N.P. Daskalakis, A. Lehrner, F. Desarnaud, H.N. Bader, I. Makotkine, J.D. Flory, L.M. Bierer, & M.J. Meaney (2014). Influences of maternal and paternal PTSD on epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene in Holocaust survivor offspring. American Journal of Psychiatry 171:872-880.
Karla Ramirez , Rosa Fernández , Sarah Collet , Meltem Kiyar Enrique Delgado-Zayas , Esther Gómez-Gil , Tibbert Van Den Eynde , Guy T'Sjoen , Antonio Guillamon , Sven C Mueller , Eduardo Pásaro (2021) Epigenetics Is Implicated in the Basis of Gender Incongruence: An Epigenome-Wide Association Analysis. Front Neurosci Aug 19; 15:701017
PRIMITIVE ANXIETIES
Durban, J. (2019) "“Making a person”: Clinical considerations regarding the interpretation of anxieties in the analyses of children on the autisto-psychotic spectrum" The International Journal of Psychoanalysis 100:5, 921-939.
PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL
Meltzer, D. & Williams, M. H. (1988) 2. Aesthetic Conflict: It’s Place in the Developmental Process. The Apprehension of Beauty: The Role of Aesthetic Conflict in Development, Art, and Violence 146:7-33
Bion, W. R. (1976) "On a quotation from Freud." In Clinical Seminars and Four Papers, Ed. F. Bion. Abingdon: Fleetwood Press, 1987.
Joanna Wilheim (2004) The trauma of conception. Presented at a Meeting of the Brazilian Society of Psychoanalysis of São Paulo (SBPSP) on October 7, 2004.
Trnsformation of the mother's immune system. Mandelboim, O. et al’ (2006). Decidual NK cells regulate key developmental processes at the human fetal-maternal interface. Nature Medicine 12: 1065 – 1074.
A Psychoanalyst and Magic Moments: Working with Caregivers of Traumatized Children with Alexandra Harrison, M.D. (Cambridge, Mass.)
Episode 79: Shame, Guilt, and Ruminations with Donald Carveth, Ph.D. (Toronto)
Episode 078: The Freuds in Vienna, 1933-38 with Ilana Offenberger, Ph.D.
Episode #77: The Psychoanalyst in the Business World with Kenneth Eisold, PhD (New York)
Episode 076: Torture, Rehumanization, and Psychoanalysis with Vladimir Jovic, MD, PhD
Episode 075: Unconscious Communication within the Psychoanalytic Dyad with Marsha Hewitt, PhD
Episode 074: Analyst Daughters of Famous Fathers Write Memoirs: A Conversation between Susan Mailer and Joan Wheelis, MD
Episode 073: The Social Order and a Transgressive Psychoanalysis with Stephen Frosh, PhD.
Episode 072: The Musicality of Psychoanalysis and the Psychoanalysis of Music with Roger Kennedy, MD
Episode 071: Learning Psychoanalysis in the Time of COVID with Cindi Palman, MD
Episode #70: Psychoanalysis in Times of Crisis: A Psychoanalyst-Historian's Perspective with Eran Rolnik MD (Tel Aviv)
Episode 069: A Life in Academia, Anthropology, and Psychoanalysis with Robert Paul, PhD
Episode 068: The Fate of Magic in Psychoanalysis with Joel Whitebook, PhD
Episode 067: Creativity in the Analyst and Analysand in Times of COVID with Ilany Kogan
Episode 066: Otherness, Anti-Semitism and Psychoanalysis with Dr. Werner Bohleber
Episode 065: Psychoanalysis at the Interface of the Community and the Police with Steven Marans, Ph.D.
Episode 064: From Martin Luther King to Wall Street: Transitions In the Life of a Psychoanalyst: An Interview with Kathleen Pogue White Ph.D. (New York)
Episode 063: Tiempo Especial. Un tiempo de Juego Para los Niños y Jóvenes de las Calles con Mónica Cardenal, Ph.D. (Special Time. A Time to Play for Children and Young People Living in the Street w
Episode 062: History and Psychoanalysis: Reflections with Peter Loewenberg, PhD
Episode 061: A Report from Calcutta and the Changing Role of Women in Psychoanalysis with Jhuma Basak, PhD
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Good Mood Revolution
Your Sleep Guru Podcast
Anxiety Slayer™ with Shann and Ananga
Men Do Talk Podcast
The Dr. John Delony Show
On Purpose with Jay Shetty