Psychoanalysis In and Through Children’s Literature

This course will use children’s literature to discuss, on the one hand, psychoanalytic concepts as they are expressed within the history, narrative, and art of children’s books and, on the other, the function of children’s books and their role in child development. In other words, this course will explore psychoanalytic views on childhood through the narratives which remain cherished by children themselves.

This field is required.
This field is required.
This field is required.

6 Sessions on Mondays: Feb. 2, 9, 23, 2026; Mar. 2, 9, 16, 2026 
Time: 6:00 - 7:30 PM EST

All courses will take place online. Seminar sessions are not recorded.
Registration Deadline: January 30, 2026

Continuing Education credits are not offered for this course.

Registrants are expected to be able to attend all sessions in their entirety. Should your availability change, please contact the BPSI Team (team@bpsi.org) to remove your course registration and allow other interested participants to attend.

 

Psychoanalysis In and Through Children’s Literature

This course will use children’s literature to discuss, on the one hand, psychoanalytic concepts as they are expressed within the history, narrative, and art of children’s books and, on the other, the function of children’s books and their role in child development. In other words, this course will explore psychoanalytic views on childhood through the narratives which remain cherished by children themselves. Some historical attention will be given to Bruno Bettelheim and Jacqueline Rose’s influential views on the use, purpose, benefits, or ‘impossibility’ of children’s literature, as well as to D. W. Winnicott and Melanie Klein’s theories of childhood. Texts the participants will read and discuss together include Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen, Where the Wild Things Are, and Outside Over There, Ronald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, and E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. Themes include fantasy, sibilng rivalry, early object-relationships, the latency stage, and triangular relationships in early childhood, as well as the effects these stories have on the children and parents who read them.


Instructors

Anna Boessenkool, MA

Anna Boessenkool is a PhD candidate at Boston College (expected graduation 2026) who is beginning her 2nd year as a BPSI Academic Associate in the child program under the mentorship of Ava Penman and Tony Bram. Her research is on meaningfulness and subjectivity in childhood and its unique manifestation in memory, creativity, and family. More specifically, she is interested on the influence Melanie Klein and psychoanalytic theories of development had on continental philosophy of childhood. She has taught for five years in the history of philosophy, existentialism, and psychoanalytic theory. and gave a presentation in January 2025 to BPSI Child candidates and faculty on children's drawings. She intends to pursue teaching psychoanalytic ideas at the graduate level upon completing her degree.

Ava Bry Penman, PhD

Psychoanalytic education at Anna Freud Centre 1967-71. Teaching positions include Psychoanalytic Institute of New England and BPSI. Licensed psychologist. Teaching positions at hospitals included McLean Hospital, Cambridge Hospital, Children's Hospital. Consulting positions included Children’s Hospital, schools and day care centers and legal organizations serving unaccompanied migrant children. Had over 50 years of private practice in Brookline.


This course is open to the public.

Scholarships are available for BPSI programs.

FEE:

$375 Course Fee
$50 Early Career Clinicians, Residents and Students
$350 Early Bird (available until 01/23/2026)  Use Code at Checkout: EB2026CL

The fee is waived for BPSI Members, Trainees, and Partners. Scholarships are available upon request.

 

Explorations in Mind: Community Education at BPSI is made possible by the generous support of BPSI Members and friends. To make a gift to BPSI, contact Carole Nathan (cnathan@bpsi.org or 617-266-0953 x101),
go to www.bpsi.org, or send mail to BPSI, 141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459.

 
Program Administrator
Jackson Doty: jdoty@bpsi.org

Program Chairs
Natasha Lifton, PhD: natashalifton@gmail.com
Linda Emanuel, MD, PhD: l-emanuel@northwestern.edu
 
 
Event Cancellation Policies & Procedures
Any program participant requesting their individual program registration be canceled, must submit their request in writing via email to Jackson Doty at jdoty@bpsi.org. For fee-based events, a request for cancellation (and refund using the original form of payment) must be received no later than 48 hours in advance of the event. Requests received later than 48 hours prior to the event will not be processed or accepted. All approved refunds are subject to a $10.00 administrative fee. If BPSI cancels an event, all registrants will receive a full refund of fees paid (no administration charge) no later than two business days following the scheduled date of the event, using the original form of payment.
 
Grievance Policy
Please address any questions or concerns about your experience at this or any program or event you have attended at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute to the Program Chair(s), via the Senior Administrator/Continuing Education Administrator, BPSI, 141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459; team@bpsi.org; 617.266.0953.
 
The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Inc., 141 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459, does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin or handicap in the admissions to or administration of its educational programs, scholarship programs or employment.