NYPSI’s 1037th Scientific Program Meeting:  The Legacy of Margaret Mahler: Its Relevance to Current Analytic Practice with Children and Adults with panelists: Patricia Nachman, Ph.D., Wendy Olesker, Ph.D., Fred Pine, Ph.D., and  Susan P. Sherkow, M.D. (moderator)

Panelists: Patricia Nachman, Ph.D., Wendy Olesker, Ph.D.,  Fred Pine, Ph.D., and Susan P. Sherkow, M.D. (moderator) Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 8:00 – 10:00 pm New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute 247 East 82nd Street, NYC (btwn 2nd and 3rd Aves) $30 – General Admission $20 – Student Admission (non-NYPSI) No charge for NYPSI members and students Register HERE, visit
 nypsi.org or call 212.879.6900

This panel will consider the usefulness today of the key contributions of Margaret Mahler and her co-workers John McDevitt, Manuel Furer, Anni Bergman, and Fred Pine. How does the empirical model of separation-individuation inform our current analytic thinking and practice? How do we view that model in the face of recent research on attachment? Have the findings of this research influenced the way we think about Mahler’s observations? Do they confirm or conflict with her model of development? What do we know about the relative attachment of a baby raised primarily by a parent caretaker as compared with one raised by a parent and a nanny or one in full-time daycare? How have “anxiety about separation” and “anxiety about separateness” come to be confused with “separation anxiety?” These and other questions will be addressed at a roundtable discussion among the panelists.

2 CME/CE credits offered. 

References of Interest:
1. Beebe, B. Lachmann, F. (2017). Maternal Self-Critical and Dependent Personality Styles and Mother-Infant Communication. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 65(3):491-508.
2. Olesker, W. (2012). Aggression and Impulse Control in the Analysis of a Young Boy. Psychoanal. St. Child, 66:81-108.

3. Pine, F. (2011). Beyond Pluralism: Psychoanalysis and the Workings of Mind. Psychoanal Q., 80(4):823-856.
4. Sherkow, S.P., Weinstein, L., Kamens, S.R., Megyes, M., Tishman, L.P. and Williams, C. (2008). Stock-Still Behavior. Psychoanal. St. Child, 63:61-79 

Patricia A. Nachman, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and child and adult psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. She is Attending Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and Lecturer in Psychiatry at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Nachman is a former assistant professor of graduate psychology at New School University and Director of the Margaret Mahler Observational Research Nursery. Prior to that, she was a Senior Research Scientist in the Laboratory for Developmental Processes headed by Dr. Daniel Stern in the Dept of Psychiatry, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell Medical College.

Wendy Olesker, Ph.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and on the Faculty of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. She is Senior Editor of The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child and on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. From 1991 until 1997, Dr. Olesker collaborated with John McDevitt and Anni Bergman following up on the original Mahler/McDevitt babies of the Separation-Individuation Study and, for the past ten years, she has been involved with further follow-up of eight of the original babies who have been given the Adult Attachment Interview, along with other measures, and are now followed into their sixth decade.

Fred Pine received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1956 and has been active in psychology ever since. He is currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Widely known as a clinician, theorist, teacher, and supervisor, Dr. Pine was a consultant to Mahler’s project from 1961 to 1975, when their co-authored book was published. Dr. Pine has himself published three solo-authored books broadly in the intersect of developmental theory and psychoanalytic clinical theory.

Susan P. Sherkow, M.D. is Director of The Sherkow Center for Child Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder, a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute, and a Supervising Analyst and Instructor in the Child and Adolescent Division of NYPSI. She is on the faculties of the Departments of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai College of Medicine and The Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Sherkow’s work, which has been published in JAPA, The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, Psychoanalytic Inquiry, and elsewhere, focuses on the topics of autism spectrum disorder, primal scene, intergenerational eating disorders, the diagnosis of sexual abuse in young children, watched play, and working in analysis with children under five. She is co-author of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perspectives from Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience. In 2010, Dr. Sherkow received the Ritvo Prize in Child Psychoanalysis from the Yale Child Study Center.

Lois Oppenheim, PhD,
Chair of Scientific Program Committee

Educational Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
1. Describe how an analyst would apply the model of the processes of separation-individuation to the evaluations of a patient
2. Identify how current research has confirmed or refuted Mahler’s contributions
3. Differentiate between separation anxiety and anxiety about separation

Physicians

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of (2) AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Important disclosure information for all learners

None of the planners and presenters of this CME program have any relevant financial relationships to disclose. 

Psychologists

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education programs for psychologists. New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Disclosure

None of the planners or presenters of this CE program has any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Social Workers

New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0317.

Persons with disabilities

The building is wheelchair accessible and has an elevator. Please notify the registrar in advance if you require accommodations.

NEW YORK PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIETY & INSTITUTE

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