"Bringing the plague": Groundwork for a transformative outreach of psychoanalysis

Area of Science:

• Psychoanalysis
• Social Psychology
• Group Dynamics

Background:

• Psychoanalytic outreach aims to create shared emotional experiences in public settings.
• Public conferences offer a unique venue for psychoanalytic engagement.
• The concept of an "outreach session" is defined within a structured setting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a theory and technique for transformative psychoanalytic outreach.
• To explore the dynamics of group building through psychoanalytic discourse.
• To enhance the containing and transformative capacity of psychoanalysis in public forums.

Main Methods:

• Defining the "outreach session" within a public conference setting.
• Utilizing a discourse on psychoanalytically relevant issues.
• Advocating for extemporaneous speaking to enhance speaker receptivity.

Main Results:

• A well-defined "outreach session" setting facilitates effective information dissemination.
• Speaker's ability to grasp the audience's experience and respect individual differences is crucial.
• The audience's perception of being cared for enhances their experience of psychoanalysis's capacity.

Conclusions:

• Psychoanalytic outreach can be effectively implemented in public conferences.
• The speaker's "perceptual-receptive capacity" is vital for fostering "waking dream activity".
• Bionian perspectives, particularly Ogden and Ferro's developments, provide a strong theoretical foundation for psychoanalytic outreach.