A Conceptualization of Traumatic States from a Psychoanalytic Perspective

Patients with a history of trauma are usually deemed to be very difficult and refractory to treatment approaches, both pharmaco and psychotherapeutic. In this course, I will be examining traumatic states and their disruptions to the fabric of the mind.

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

Four Sessions on Tuesdays: Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026
Time: 6:30-8:30 PM EST

All courses will take place online. Seminar sessions are not recorded
Registration Deadline: February 1, 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.

 

A Conceptualization of Traumatic States from a Psychoanalytic Perspective: How Can Healing be Achieved Within the Confines of the Dyad? 

Patients with a history of trauma are usually deemed to be very difficult and refractory to treatment approaches, both pharmaco and psychotherapeutic. In this course, I will be examining traumatic states and their disruptions to the fabric of the mind. I will pay attention to transference and countertransference dynamics as a guiding light in the treatment of these very challenging patients. I will examine the ubiquitous nature of helplessness and hopelessness arising from the countertransference that tends to threaten the viability of the treatment of patients afflicted by trauma. I will suggest ways in which these can be understood and analyzed to minimize and alleviate disruptions within the frame that threaten the safety of the dyad and, therefore, the treatment itself.


Instructors

Derick E. Vergne, MD

Derick E. Vergne, MD, is a Psychoanalyst Member and recent graduate from BPSI's adult psychoanalytic training program. Dr. Vergne has a special interest in the study of trauma from a psychoanalytic perspective. While in candidacy, Dr. Vergne wrote the paper "The Loss of Symbolic Capacity: Implications for a Psychoanalytic Understanding of Traumatic States," which was published in The International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education. He has written numerous articles in the fields of psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, and psychopharmacology. 


Open to Licensed Clinicians & Clinicians on the Path to Licensure. 

Scholarships are available for BPSI programs.

FEE:

$375 Course Fee
$50 Early Career Clinicians, Residents and Students
$350 Early Bird (available until 01/25/2026)  Use Code at Checkout: EB2026TR

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.