Psychoanalytic theory is continually evolving, with deep and lasting changes regularly occurring in the way clinicians conceptualize psychopathology and treat patients. Intersubjective-systems Theory (otherwise known as Phenomenological Contextualism) has played a major role over the past four decades in bringing attention to the contributions of both the analyst and the patient in the clinical setting, cementing into place the two-person psychology mindset which has been concurrently (and at times conjointly) developed in the broader, contemporary, relational psychoanalytic tradition.
As developed by George Atwood, Bernard Brandchaft, Donna Orange, Robert Stolorow and many other collaborators, Intersubjective-systems Theory has evolved more recently into both a philosophically-influenced understanding of the psychoanalytic process, and a reconsideration from a contextualist and phenomenological perspective of all the major themes in psychoanalytic treatment, including unconsciousness, trauma, psychoanalytic action and affective experience.
In this webinar we will explore the theory itself, along with consideration of the practical implications for treatment. We will also take into account the broader context of the development of psychoanalytic theory, and where Intersubjective-systems Theory differs, and is similar to, other contemporary psychoanalytic models.