Clinical Conference on Trauma (For Clinicians Only)

Presented by Susan P. Frankel, Ph.D.
Michael Gellert, L.C.S.W.
Sachiko Taki-Reece, Ed.D., M.F.T.
Pamela Power, Ph.D.

The Origins of Trauma: A Relational Approach

Susan P. Frankel, Ph.D., J.D.
This talk will focus on some of the ways in which early trauma develops, and how it manifests in the adult patients we frequently see in our consultation rooms. The relational aspect of trauma will be addressed in the context of the healing potential of the transference and countertransference relationship as it is embodied in both patient and analyst.

The Biblical God’s PTSD and Other Afflictions

Michael Gellert, L.C.S.W.
This talk will offer a brief overview of the biblical God’s inner journey toward greater consciousness and the profound disappointments and suffering he encountered along the way.  We will explore how these contributed toward his traumatized condition as well as other afflictions of an existential and clinical nature.  Our approach to this God will be as a figure of the religious imagination rather than as a representation of an objective Godhead.

When the Unspeakable Finds a Language:  Working with Trauma Through Sandplay

Sachiko Taki-Reece, ed.D., M.F.T.

This presentation will focus on the Sandplay of a Southeast Asian man, who had lost all will to live after years of being held in captivity and tortured.  Diagnosed with PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder, Sandplay provided a means by which he could begin to metabolize and integrate a catastrophic physical and psychological experience. Viewed through the lens of The Secret of the Golden Flower, and images of his Sandplay trays, we will follow his contact with the archetypal realm, his path towards individuation, and eventual recovery of his active life.

Distillation of Feeling in Traumatic Times

Pamela Power, Ph.D.
This presentation explores the relationship between contemporary culture and the turbulent times in which we live. For individuals, trauma can promote psychological development when worked through. Might this be true for the collective?  Exploring films, literature and music, this presenter makes a case that collective turbulence can stimulate the emergence of new ‘feeling values.’ It will also promote the view that awareness of this perspective, the intersection of collective unconscious and individual unconscious, can enhance and deepen clinical work and provide useful orientation for the analyst/therapist.

Panel Discussion

Course Objectives:

• Describe why a relational approach is indicated in working with adult patients with early trauma.
• Give an example of how the transference and countertransference relationship can support the healing process in early trauma.
• Describe the importance of a non-verbal therapeutic approach for a patient diagnosed with PTSD.
• Give an example of how Sandplay can help physical and psychological trauma Pamela.
• Describe what is meant by ‘feeling value.’
• Describe the difference between emotions and feeling.
• Identify two reasons how contemporary culture is relevant to clinical work.

Susan Frankel, J.D., Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst in practice in Century City. She practiced law for seven years before returning to graduate school in psychology. Her interests include working with trauma, infant observation and intersubjective transference/countertransference. She has lectured both locally and nationally on The Use of Infant Observation with Adult Patients.

Michael Gellert, L.C.S.W., is a Jungian analyst practicing in Los Angeles and Pasadena, and former Director of Training of the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles. He is the author of Modern Mysticism, The Fate of America, The Way of the Small, and The Divine Mind: Exploring the Psychological History of God’s Inner Journey.

Pamela Power, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst and clinical psychologist in private practice in Santa Monica, and served as Director of Training as well as Clinic Director at the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles.  Trained as a classical musician, she studied music history and theory at UCLA prior to her analytic training. She has published several papers and given numerous presentations on films and music, which include “Individuation in the Music of Beethoven” and “Melancholia and Catastrophic Change: an essay on the film Melancholia,” published in Spring Journal.

Sachiko Taki-Reece, Ed.D., M.F.T., is a Jungian Analyst, in private practice in Silver Lake where she also offers supervision. A member of the teaching faculty at the C. G Jung Institute of LA, she has published several research articles on Sandplay, as well as book chapters in both English and Japanese.