Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Blue Rigi Sunrise, 1842

Seminar 

Preliminary Questions for Any Possible Treatment of Psychosis — Adriana Passini

“For psychosis to be triggered, the Name-of-the-Father — verworfen, forclosed, that is, never having come to the place of the Other — must be summoned to that place in symbolic opposition to the subject.” (Lacan, Écrits, p. 577; Norton edition, p. 481)

When the subject, at a particular moment in his history, is confronted with an enigmatic experience for which he has no means of responding from the symbolic, the real emerges in the form of delusion, shattering a subjective position achieved up to that point. How can the analyst deal with this response to the real that delusion expresses? How are we to read the trigger of psychoses in light of nodal logic? These are the main questions that will guide our readings and discussions.

Suggested Readings: Lacan: “On a Question Prior to Any Possible Treatment of Psychosis,” Ecrits, 1956; Seminar III, 1955-56, The Psychoses; Seminar XX, 1972-73, Encore, May 15, 1973; Seminar XXIII, 1975-76, The Sinthome, February 10, 1976, February 17, 1976, and May 11, 1976. Joyce: The Symptom, lecture delivered on June 16, 1975, published in Seminar XXIII, The Symptom.

Dates: Meetings will take place from 12:15 PM to 1:30 PM on the following dates: October 16, November 20, December 18, 2024 and February 19, March 19, April 16, 2025.

Fee: Attendance is free.

Location: Online via Zoom.

Registration: Prior registration is required. For more information, please contact Adriana Passini at adrianapassini@aol.com. 

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Adriana Passini is a psychoanalyst practicing in NYC and is a member and faculty member of Après-Coup Psychoanalytic Association.