May 21, 2010 "The Piano Teacher"

Where: Southern Rep
When: 7pm May 21st

2nd Annual New Orleans Psychoanalytic Center's Theater event--The Piano Teacher
We have reserved the entire theater for the play and it will be a thought-provoking and fun evening.

The tickets prices are a very affordable $30 ($35 at the door), and we will have a wine and cheese reception starting at 7. Make checks payable to the NOBPC and mail them to me at the address below.

Judy Barnes-Cochran
1426 Amelia St.
NOLA 70115

Announcing: The showing of a two part documentary describing the importation of Freud’s ideas into the US government and corporations from the BBC documentary “Century of the Self” March 12th and 26th at 7:30, followed by a discussion.

No Neutrality: The Abduction of Psychoanalysis by Corporate America

The American application of the discoveries of psychoanalysis comes under heavy scrutiny in Adam Curtis’ acclaimed BBC series, “The Century of the Self.”

The story begins with the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate consumer behavior. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires.

Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. It was a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and docile and thereby remain conformist and politically harmless.

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized." - Edward Bernays

A (hopefully) lively discussion will follow each film.

We will be meeting at the New Orleans Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center at
3624  Coliseum St. New Orleans. Questions can be directed to David at 473-7194.

Music and Psychoanalysis at the Trinity Artist Series
(view flyer)

February 28, 2010

Program: Lecture-Recital, Melodies of the Mind: A Psychoanalytic and Musical Perspective on Mozart in 1778, presented by Dr. Julie Jaffee Nagel and Dr. Louis Nagel.
Date and Time: 2/28/10, 5:00 - 6:30 pm followed by complimentary reception
Place: Trinity Episcopal Church, 1329 Jackson Avenue, NOLA
Cost: Free and open to the public,
Contacts: NOBPC – Kathryn Nathan, Ph. D., kathrynnathan3@gmail.com, or Diane B. Hammer, M.D., 504-444-6381. Trinity Artist Series: Albines Prizgintas, Music Director, Trinity Episcopal Church, 504-522-0276, email Aprizgintas@Trinitynola.com
Sponsors: Trinity Artist Series and the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center

Program Description:
In the summer of 1778, Mozart suffered “writer’s block” and depression while traveling in Paris with his mother.  On that trip his mother died, and Mozart’s father blamed him for her death.  These emotionally charged events led to the composition of the A Minor Piano Sonata, K. 310, Mozart’s only piano sonata in a minor key, marked by its sense of gravity and departure from his own and others’ compositional style.  On Sunday, February 28, 2010, Dr. Julie Jaffee Nagel, Ph.D., distinguished pianist and psychoanalyst, will discuss this unique piece from an intrapsychic and musical point of view.  The event will be capped by a performance of the full K.310 by Dr. Louis Nagel, internationally renowned concert pianist and music educator.

This program is part of the Trinity Artist Series. It is free and open to the public.  It is made possible by a grant from the American Psychoanalytic Foundation and support from the New Orleans-Birmingham Center’s Ernest O. Svenson Fund for Psychoanalysis and the Arts.

***

Julie Jaffee Nagel, Ph.D. holds BM and MS degrees in piano performance from The Juilliard School, and the MSW, MA (psychology) and Ph.D. (in psychology and social work) from The University of Michigan.  A graduate of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute, she is certified in adult psychoanalysis by the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA).  She was awarded the Ernst and Gertrude Ticho Lectureship in 2009 for her work on the intersection of music and psychoanalysis.  She is in private practice in Ann Arbor, MI.

Louis Nagel, DMA holds 3 degrees from the Juilliard School.  He is a Professor of Piano and Director of the Outreach Program at the University of Michigan’s School of Music.  A Steinway Artist, he combines an active concert and teaching schedule and is noted for his lecture-recitals by musicians and non-musicians alike.  He has performed in highly acclaimed solo recitals and concerto concerts in major American and European cities, and is a sought-after teacher, presenter and artist performer at state, national, and international conferences and festivals

Nov 4, 2009

"Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Adult-Onset Trauma" (view flyer)
A four-session discussion group

Drs. Randolph Harper and Kathryn Nathan will co-facilitate a discussion of selected chapters from Dr. Ghislaine Boulanger’s book, Wounded by Reality: Understanding and Treating Adult Onset Trauma (Analytic Press, 2002) and recent lecture, “I Don’t Want This Knowledge: Understanding the Effects of Hurricane Katrina on Therapists and Therapy in New Orleans” (presented in New Orleans through the FAR Fund Project and NOBPC on 2/5/09).

As noted by Boulanger, when catastrophic events overtake adult lives, they can scar the psyche in ways psychodynamic clinicians struggle to understand.  The adult survivor of a catastrophe, be it a life-threatening assault or natural disaster, experiences a near-fatal disruption of fundamental aspects of self experience.  Many who have physically survived are uncertain of their psychological survival. Dr. Boulanger’s book represents the culmination of three decades of studying and treating survivors of adult onset trauma and is the first systematic attempt to differentiate adult onset trauma from childhood trauma. Her lecture draws on personal interviews with New Orleans mental health clinicians three years after Katrina. Group participants will learn of recent findings in the neurobiology of stress and developmental psychology, and relational psychoanalytic concepts. Psychodynamic clinicians will learn to recognize symptoms, understand dynamics and work productively with survivors of adult trauma.

The group will be held biweekly on Wednesdays starting 11/4/09 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center, 3624 Coliseum Street. The fee is $60.00 for Center members and non-members, and includes CE credits. Fees do not include copies of Dr. Boulanger’s book, which must be purchased by participants; Center has order forms available for reduced price of $36.00. Missed groups will not be reimbursed. Maximum 12 participants; early registration is recommended.

For further information, call the NOBPC at 504-899-5815, or email info@ffpnola.com. To learn about the NOBPC, visit www.nobpc.org. For more about the FAR Fund Project, visit www.farfundprojectnola.com, where Dr. Boulanger’s recent New Orleans lecture is available in its entirety and can be downloaded.

CLASS SCHEDULE:
Nov. 4, 2009    Chapters 2 & 3: “Catastrophic Dissociation and Childhood Trauma: Some Distinctions” and “The Cost of Survival: Historical Perspectives on Adult Onset Trauma”
Nov. 18, 2009     Chapters 4, 5 and 6: “Wounded by Reality: The Relational Turn;” “The Core Self in Crisis:  Deconstructing Catastrophic Dissociation,” and “The Relational Self in Crisis: Further Deconstructing Catastrophic Dissociation”
Dec. 2, 2009          Chapters 7, 8, & 9:  “From Voyeur to Witness:  The Crisis in Symbolic Functioning During Catastrophic Dissociation;” “The Ancient’s Mariner’s Dilemma: Constructing a Trauma Narrative,” and “The Strength Found in Innocence: Resistance to Working Psychodynamically with Survivors of Adult Onset Trauma”
Dec. 16, 2009        Chapter 10, “The Psychological Politics of Catastrophe: Local, Personal, and Professional,” and NOLA lecture:  I Don’t Want This Knowledge: Understanding the Effects of Hurricane Katrina on Therapists and Therapy in New Orleans”

Nov 13, 2009

"An introduction to Slavoj Zizek" 7:30 - 9:30

Come join us at the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center for an introduction to the ideas of Slavoj Zizek, a Slovenian psychoanalytic philosopher, at 7:30 on Friday November 13th.  Refreshments will be provided.

Slavoj Zizek is probably the most widely read psychoanalytic, political and social philosopher on the planet, according to New Orleans analyst, Molly Rothenberg. He is coming to New Orleans to give a free public lecture at Loyola on November 17th   “Uses and Misuses of Violence.” The center would like to offer an introductory evening to help participants become a bit more familiar with this complex thinker’s ideas. We will begin with some introductory remarks and view the film “Zizek!” and then open the floor to reaction and discussion. David O’Donaghue, Psy.D. , who has a background in philosophy and psychoanalysis, will tie some of Zizek’s ideas into Hegel and the critical theory of the Frankfort School. The work of French analyst Jacques Lacan, is the foundation for much of  Zizek’s work and we will make an attempt to grapple with some of  his ideas as well.

Oct. 31, 2009

"The Exonerated," (view flyer)

Film and discussion by Jessica Blank, Screenwriter, and Carolyn A. Weyand, PhD, Psychologist/Psychoanalyst;

Funded by The Ernest O Svenson, MD Fund for Psychoanalysis and the Arts.  Admission for attendee who do not want continuing education credits will be $ 10 for the film screening and discussion.   Admission for mental health professionals who would like the 2.75  continuing education credits available from the Center will  be $30 for Center member and $40 for non-members.   The event will be 8:30am to Noon at the Prytania Theatre, 5339 Prytania St, New Orleans

The film shows us the real life experience of innocent people sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. Later, their innocence discovered, they were exonerated and released from prison. Discussion will explore the process of researching, then writing, this nightmare come to life; and discover what can be learned about super-ego, persistence in the of trauma, and hope