Reframing Addiction: A Psychoanalytic Lens on Dependency, Desire, and the Therapeutic Relationship
Co-Chair: Cindy Sample, MSW
Date: Coming soon
Time: TBD
Location: Virtual, Online
CEs/CMEs Pending
Program Description:
Reframing Addiction: A Psychoanalytic Lens on Dependency, Desire, and the Therapeutic Relationship is a three-day, nine-hour continuing education course offered live via Zoom by the New Washington School of Psychiatry and instructed by Cindy Sample, MSW. Designed for experienced clinicians, the program examines addiction not merely as maladaptive behavior, but as an expression of unconscious conflict, trauma, and failed attempts at self-regulation. Through lectures, discussion, case vignettes, and experiential learning, participants will integrate classical and contemporary psychoanalytic theory with clinical practice, developing deeper insight, ethical sensitivity, and enhanced therapeutic presence in working with patients struggling with dependency.
Learning Objectives
1. Describe psychoanalytic theories relevant to understanding addiction.
2. Identify unconscious dynamics and defense mechanisms common in addicted patients.
3. Differentiate psychoanalytic addiction treatment from traditional behavioral approaches.
4. Apply clinical tools such as transference analysis and containment in the therapeutic relationship.
5. Formulate treatment plans that integrate psychodynamic and ethical perspectives.
