Following a two-year personally driven immersive odyssey into the works of French Psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva, Nancy M. Kulish, PhD has arrived at a particular understanding of the concept of the abject. Dr. Kulish will guide us on her journey to show us a new way to understand the way the very early conflictual engagement between mother and infant can shape the development of one’s subjective sense of the female body. Specifically, she will discuss the nature of the abject: the abject pertains to the developmental moment when the infant first separates from the mother, and it is in this moment when feelings of desire and fear directed toward the ‘feminine’ or maternal body are born. Dr. Kulish will discuss how the qualitative nature of this early experience can lead to the development of misogyny, both in men who simultaneously loathe and desire the female body and in women who harbor hatred toward themselves and their female bodies. Dr. Kulish will discuss case material to illustrate this concept.

CE Credit.