Psychoanalysis +

Order a Copy: https://www.routledge.com/The-Culture-Breast-in-Psychoanalysis-Cultural-Experiences-and-the-Clinic/Giffney/p/book/9781138312517 

Description: We are fed at the breast of culture, not wholly but to differing degrees. The Culture-Breast in Psychoanalysis: Cultural Experiences and the Clinic focuses on the formative influence of cultural objects in our lives, and the contribution such experiences make to our mental health and overall wellbeing.

The book introduces “the culture-breast”, a new clinical concept, to explore the central importance played by cultural objects in the psychical lives of patients and psychoanalytic clinical practitioners inside and outside the consulting room. Bringing together clinical writings from psychoanalysis and cultural objects from the applied fields of film, art, literature and music, the book also makes an argument for the usefulness of encounters with cultural objects as “non-clinical case studies” in the training and further professional development of psychoanalysts and psychotherapists. Through its engagement with psychosocial studies, this text, furthermore, interrogates, challenges and offers a way through a hierarchical split that has become established in psychoanalysis between “clinical psychoanalysis” and “applied psychoanalysis”.

Combining approaches used in clinical, academic and arts settings, The Culture-Breast in Psychoanalysis is an essential resource for clinical practitioners of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, counselling, psychology and psychiatry. It will also be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of psychosocial studies, sociology, social work, cultural studies and the creative and performing arts.

Table of Contents: Series Editors’ Preface; Foreword by R.D. Hinshelwood; Preface: At the breast of culture; Chapter 1. Thinking clinically with the psychosocial; Chapter 2. Encounters with cultural objects as case study; Chapter 3. The culture-breast; Afterword: Experience and the no-breast.

Advance Praise: “A subtle, imaginative and brilliant work; The Culture-Breast in Psychoanalysis proposes an entirely new way of understanding the relationship between psychoanalysis and culture. It proposes that cultural experiences available through film, literature, music and the visual and performing arts can offer a frame, a space, and an encounter with an object, much like the ‘breast’ in early infantile life, so that we can, in a psychoanalytic sense, ‘learn from experience’. Arguing that cultural objects can provide forms of holding and containment of unbearable thoughts and feelings, allowing for the rawness of experience to be given meaning, Noreen Giffney’s profound insight helps us understand not just the transformational nature of these encounters but offers us the experience of reading the book itself as its most stunning case study. She argues with great poignancy, that we all feed at the culture-breast, and that understanding the way we psychically use cultural objects, whether as screen memories, as psychic retreats, or as containers, has the potential to open up new insights into the workings of our inner lives. This book will become a vital point of reference for those interested in psychosocial thinking; the creative and potentially transformational area of encounter between the clinic, psychoanalytic theory, politics, arts and culture”. – Lisa Baraitser, Professor of Psychosocial Theory, Birkbeck, University of London, and Psychoanalyst, M. Inst. Psychoanalysis

“It is an experiment in reaching between the heights of conceptualisations, on one hand, and the depths of personal experience on the other. It is this ‘reaching-between’ that we need to accomplish in a much more everyday way, as these reflections portray. We must be as well as have our experiences”. – From the Foreword by R.D. Hinshelwood, Psychoanalyst, and Professor Emeritus, University of Essex

Read a piece about the culture-breast as a new clinical concept in New Associations, the magazine of the British Psychoanalytic Council.

Description: A one-day experiential event about play, focusing on its psychological function and importance in our emotional lives. This event is informed by psychoanalytic and psychosocial theories of play, creativity and imagination.What do the terms ‘play’, ‘playing’ and ‘playfulness’ mean in different contexts? How might we understand play as both a doing and a being; an activity and a state of mind? In what ways might play be related to creativity and destructiveness? What kinds of feelings might be enacted, evoked or contained while engaging in moments of play? How do we play and what might we be communicating to ourselves and others, consciously and unconsciously, in our play and in the ways in which we play? Why is a capacity for play so important for our mental health and general wellbeing? How might psychoanalysis and psychosocial studies help us to reflect on our experiences of play? These questions will frame our event.

This event will offer a series of immersive experiences centred around play, to help us to reflect on and talk about our individual and collective encounters with play. The emphasis will be on experience, reflection and conversation. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and be prepared for an encounter with the unknown.

This event will be of interest to anyone interested in play, imagination and creativity. It will be of particular interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychologists, counsellors, group analysts, play therapists, arts therapists, social workers and social care workers, mental health workers, youth workers, artists, performers and curators, as well as academic researchers and students in the fields of psychosocial studies, cultural studies, and in the arts, humanities and social sciences more broadly.

Places are limited so early registration is advised. Participants are requested to register only if they are available to attend the whole day, as this event makes use of a group experience.

Reading Material: We will discuss the following two pieces in the afternoon, so please read them in advance and bring along copies with you:

• Patricia Townsend, ‘Play and Playing’ in Creative States of Mind Psychoanalysis and the Artist’s Process (London and New York: Routledge 2019), pp. 59-67.
• Lynn Froggett, ‘Deep Play and Simulation in Urban Space: Of Art and Video-Games’ in Deep Play and Simulation in Urban Space: Of Art and Video-Games (London: British Council 2018), pp. 16-35.

Psychoanalysis and the Culture-Breast: January-March 2023

The Clinical Usefulness of Wilfred Bion’s Writings for Psychotherapists Workshop: Tuesday 12 May 2015

Venue: 43 Gordon Square, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Description: This clinical workshop was organised in collaboration with the MSc in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and the MSc in Child and Adolescent Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, and for trainee psychodynamic psychotherapists at Birkbeck, University of London. The workshop was divided into two sessions: In Session 1: Theoretical Application, I  provided an introduction to the importance of the experience of reading Wilfred Bion’s work for becoming more aware of our countertransference during the session, including its usefulness for thinking about how, when and why we make interpretations to patients. I explored how it is through a visceral, uncomfortable engagement with our reactions to the difficulty of reading his writings that clinical practitioners will develop and enlarge our capacity for containment. Session 2: Clinical Application used the film Shame as a case study. The session began with five short, clinical responses to the film from practising psychotherapists, before opening up the discussion more broadly to participants in the workshop. The focus was on how we might use Bion’s work to help us to think about the male and female protagonists in the film, as well as our own thoughts and feelings while watching it.
Convener: Dr Noreen Giffney, in collaboration with the MSc in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and the MSc in Child and Adolescent Psychodynamic Psychotherapy at Birkbeck, University of London.
Speakers included: Dr Noreen Giffney, Viviane Green, Louise Phillips, David Richards, Dr Laurence Spurling, Nina Tebartz.
Articles: Articles on the film Shame, written by Dr Noreen Giffney, Dr Olga Cox Cameron, Joanna Fortune, Professor Judy Gammelgaard and Dr Adam Blum, appeared in the psychoanalytic clinical/theoretical journal, Studies in Gender and Sexuality 16.2 (Routledge) in 2015. Copies available from noreengiffney@psychoanalyticpsychotherapyclinic.ie

Affect and Melanie Klein Seminar: Saturday 19 September 2015

Venue: Affect: Memory, Aesthetics and Ethics Conference, Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Canada
Description: This seminar focused on psychoanalysis and affect. It provided and introduction to Kleinian psychoanalysis and an opportunity to discuss two key clinical concepts in the writings of the psychoanalyst Melanie Klein: the paranoid-schizoid position (p-s) and the depressive position (d), and how affect functions within and between them. These are terms used by Klein to describe unconscious psychical states characterised by persecutory (p-s) and depressive (d) anxieties, and the defence mechanisms employed by the mind to protect against becoming overwhelmed by anxiety. The paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions refer to dynamic states of mind, and are concepts used by psychoanalysts to facilitate a space for thinking about how a person might be experiencing the analyst and more generally the world around them at specific moments in time.
Speaker: Dr Noreen Giffney
Convener: Dr Noreen Giffney, in collaboration with Affect: Memory, Aesthetics and Ethics Conference.

Cinematic Encounters with Violent Trauma and Its Aftermath Symposium: A Public Screening and Discussion of The Act of Killing (2012): Saturday 20 February 2016

Venue: Paccar Theatre, Science Gallery Dublin, The Naughton Institute, Pearse Street, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland (This event was organised in association with Science Gallery Dublin’s TRAUMA exhibition)
Description: Mass violence. Genocide. Pogrom. Human rights abuses. Ethnic cleansing. Holocaust. State-sanctioned terror. These are all terms we associate with acute trauma, and are devastating for the communities who live through them and in their aftermath. We hear reports of mass violence from a multitude of geographical locations with depressing frequency. There are countless stories of people being killed, tortured, raped, beaten and imprisoned in state-sanctioned acts of violence. We see photographs and videos, with increasing regularity, of thousands of people fleeing for their lives to escape from regimes that have made it impossible for them to live safely in their own lands. Perpetrators are labelled monstrous, evil, mad, psychopathic, in an effort to explain why such horrendous acts have occurred. Keeping in mind the theme of Science Gallery Dublin’s current exhibition, this symposium takes as its subject, violent TRAUMA and its aftermath, its cinematic representations, and the emotional response of viewers when watching such representations. This symposium begins with a screening of The Act of Killing (2012), followed by short responses by professionals working in clinical, creative arts, and academic fields of expertise. Speakers’ responses will be grouped under three headings: (1) The Unconscious Dynamics of Trauma, (2) Living in the Aftermath of Trauma, and (3) The Aesthetics of Representing Trauma. Each respondent will have five minutes in which to make one of two brief points to facilitate us beginning to think about the multi-dimensional aspects and impact of this film. There will be ample time for audience participation during the discussion period. This symposium hinges on three main questions, though we expect that many more will emerge for us throughout the day: (1) What long-term psychological impact does mass violence have on its victims? (2) How does an engagement with victims and perpetrators of mass violence affect those who are involved in such work? (3) How might we reflect on our experience of watching films documenting unsettling, sinister, and upsetting experiences? Warning: Admittance is strictly for persons aged 18 years and older because of The Act of Killing’s disturbing content. The film contains scenes of, and references to, extreme violence, which viewers might find upsetting. People who have experienced acute trauma may need to reflect on whether to attend this event, given the subject matter of the film. Viewers who have been affected by sexual, physical, emotional or psychological acts of abuse will find a list of support services in the event brochure.
Speakers included: Dr Olga Cox-Cameron, Mary Fakher-Eldin, Joanna Fortune, Dr Noreen Giffney, Janet Healy, Dr Tina Kinsella, Jacinta Lynch, Ann Murphy, Kevin Murphy, Gavin Wilkinson.
Organiser: Dr Noreen Giffney, in association with the IFPP’s Trauma Working Group, the Irish Forum for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (IFPP) and Science Gallery Dublin.
Sponsored by the Irish Forum for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (IFPP) and Science Gallery Dublin.
CPD: 5 CPD points were awarded by the Psychoanalytic Section of the Irish Council for Psychotherapy (ICP).
Podcasts: Podcasts of the opening remarks and responses are available at https://soundcloud.com/psychoanalytic-clinic (Podcasting by Mike Liffey at Real Smart Media).

Art & Psychoanalysis & Sexuality Symposium: Wednesday 22 June 2016

Title: Sexuality, Identity and the State Symposium
Venue: Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Royal Hospital, Military Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland (This event was organised by Sophie Byrne, IMMA’s Curator of Talks and Public Programmes, in collaboration with Dr Noreen Giffney)
Description: The Sexuality, Identity and the State Symposium is organised on the occasion of Patrick Hennessy’s ‘De Profundis’ and Carol Rama’s ‘The Passion According to Carol Rama’ exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). The interdisciplinary symposium offers short talks by professionals working in the fields of clinical practice, academic research and the visual arts: psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, clinical and social psychology, creative arts practice and curatorship, feminism and queer theory, literary studies and film studies, the history of art and arts criticism. The symposium comprises two parts: a panel of talks introducing and contextualising the life and work of Patrick Hennessy, and a roundtable discussion concentrating on art objects and interpretative strategies from the theoretical perspectives of psychoanalysis, feminism and queer theory. The roundtable broadens out the discussion to include Rama alongside Hennessy. The focus will be on the relation between the viewer and the art object, how we make meaning of our experience of engaging with an art work, and how that experience is mediated through the framing of an exhibition (by a curator in their arrangement of the works, by reviewers, by essayists who write in the catalogue, by the signs on the walls of the gallery, by the titles the artist ascribes to the paintings, by what friends say about an exhibition before we have visited it ourselves). We will focus on acts of interpretation, how they come into being, and how we might formulate and articulate our interpretations of art works in ways that don’t close down dialogue about a work’s potential meanings. Discussants will attend to how theoretical concepts might help us to open up a space for thinking about the art works we see before us in the Hennessy and Rama exhibitions specifically and about artistic practices and art objects more generally.
Speakers included: Dr Noreen Giffney, Sean Kissane, Dr Riann Coulter, Dr Eibhear Walshe, Dr Katherine Johnson, Dr Jason Hartford, Ann Murphy, Dr Olga Cox-Cameron, Jacinta Lynch, James Merrigan.
Organisers: Sophie Byrne, IMMA’s Curator of Talks and Public Programmes, in collaboration with Dr Noreen Giffney, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and Convener of Psychoanalysis +.
Funded and Presented by The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
CPD: 5.5 CPD points were awarded by the Psychoanalytic Section of the Irish Council for Psychotherapy (ICP).
Podcasts: Podcasts of the opening remarks and talks are available at: https://soundcloud.com/imma-ireland/sets/imma-symposium-sexuality (Podcasting by IMMA)
Article: Dr Noreen Giffney wrote the Introduction to the clinical book, Clinical Encounters in Sexuality (Punctum Books 2017), which she co-edited with Dr Eve Watson. A copy is available from noreengiffney@psychoanalyticpsychotherapyclinic.ie

The Clinical Usefulness of Non-Clinical Case Studies for Psychotherapy Lecture: Sunday 12 October 2016

Consultations for Research and Publishing in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

In addition to working clinically as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, I provide a professional consultation service for people who are conducting research in the fields of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, or who wish to publish their clinical writing. I have extensive experience in conducting, presenting and publishing research, as well as teaching, supervising and mentoring academic and clinical students undertaking research. I have also held a number of academic editing positions (Book Series Editor, Journal Editor, Special Issue Editor, Book Editor, Contributing Editor, Humanities Book Review Editor, Editorial Board Member) for publications with international publishers, such as Duke University Press, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, Palgrave Macmillan, Ashgate and Punctum Books. I am Lecturer in Counselling in the School of Communication and Media at the University of Ulster and am also available to supervise individuals interested in pursuing doctoral research in the fields of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. For further information and to arrange an appointment, email noreengiffney@psychoanalyticpsychotherapyclinic.ie

Clinical or Theoretical Training Courses or One-Off Lectures

In addition to working clinically as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, I provide individually-tailored clinical and theoretical training courses in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis for fully-qualified professionals in fields relating to mental health (Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, Counselling, Psychology, Psychiatry, Nursing, General Practice), as well as for clinical trainees. I am also available to provide one-off lectures, occasional lectures or modules on Psychoanalysis as part of clinical or academic training programmes. I have extensive experience in lecturing and convening courses at professional, postdoctoral, postgraduate, undergraduate, higher diploma, diploma and certificate levels at a range of institutions: Birkbeck, University of London, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Limerick, the National University of Ireland, Galway, Independent College Dublin, the Irish Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and the Donnybrook Centre for Psychotherapy, Counselling and Onward Professional Development. I am Lecturer in Counselling in the School of Communication and Media at the Ulster University and am also available to supervise individuals interested in pursuing doctoral research in the fields of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. For further information and to arrange an appointment to discuss your training needs, email noreengiffney@psychoanalyticpsychotherapyclinic.ie