This program will introduce Jean Laplanche’s contributions to psychoanalytic theory and practice in accessible terms. Topics will include the historical context of and influences on Laplanche’s life and thought, Laplanche’s research method of “reading Freud (with) Freud”, and Laplanche’s paradigmatic renovation of psychoanalytic theory, the General Theory of Seduction, a framework that offers a new and highly integrated account of the origins of the unconscious, infantile sexuality, the differentiation and organization of the internal world, and the dynamics and aims psychoanalytic treatment. Finally, we will explore Laplanche’s work on special psychoanalytic topics, including mourning, temporality, sublimation, and gender.

Presented by Dr. Mike Levin, Psy.D.