Dr. Cécile Gouffrant, Psychoanalyst
510-501-7632
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PAST SEMINARS & EVENTS

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​Clinical Case Conference 2022-2023 - ​Lacanian diagnosis: what for?

A Lacanian school’s primary concern is the formation of analysts. In addition to personal analysis and control analysis the clinical case conference is the third main element supporting this work.
Candidate analysts present cases to articulate what is at stake for each analysand, to gauge the effects of the analyst’s intervention, and to create and discuss questions arising from the work with the unconscious.
Sections are convened for the year, organized into small groups (overseen by senior analysts and sometimes guest analysts) then dissolved and reorganized with different configurations of candidates and analysts the following year.
The clinical case conference provides an essential part of the analyst formation because it relies on the mode of oral transmission via dynamic discussion of particular cases. The stakes are somewhat higher for a Lacanian School, taking into consideration we must not miss - in fact make room for - the impossible, the unsayable and thus face the ultimate emptiness of signification. 
 
Location        Online meetings with ZOOM
Dates            3rd Saturday every month; 10 am-12 pm Pacific Time
Fee               $350 or tuition
Participants    Open to LSP members; non member clinicians upon request
Contact          Dr. Cécile Gouffrant at [email protected]
 
Recommended reading
Verhaeghe, Paul (2008) On Being Normal and Other Disorders. Karnac, London.

 
Confidentiality
Since we will be discussing clinical cases, our meetings will never be recorded. Participants agree to never discuss any of the clinical material presented outside of the seminar.
 
Seminar offered by the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis
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​Lacanian Diagnosis: Structures in the Clinic 2018-2019

“Negation is a way of taking cognizance of what is repressed”
(Freud, 1925, p. 235)
Psychoanalysts refute the DSM-V (and its previous versions) for, in it, diagnosis is based on endless descriptions of symptoms and it seems to increase the number of diagnoses with each edition. In Lacanian informed psychoanalysis, diagnosis is founded on the structure of the analysand, although such diagnosis may take some time before becoming apparent. The three categories of Lacanian diagnosis, neurosis, perversion and psychosis, are based on different mechanisms of negation, respectively repression, disavowal and, foreclosure.
Over the course of this seminar, we will study these three categories based on Lacan or Lacanian writings. We will start with Bruce Fink’s book (see below recommended initial reading), especially chapter II. We would hope that readings for the seminar come from participants’ suggestion so as to share our questions, vexations or interests. Moreover, the structure of each meeting will encourage case presentation and discussion, so as to engage in the clinical experience of the Lacanian diagnosis.
In this year-long seminar, we will also keep in mind the question of the importance of diagnosis itself and its function for the analyst, reflect on the nonetheless singularity of each case, and hopefully find an answer for oneself.
 
Location        Online meetings with ZOOM
Dates            1st Saturday every month; 10 am-12 pm Pacific Time; October 6, 2018 to June 1, 2019
Fee               $90 for the year (9 meetings)
Participants    Open to clinicians; Limit 10 participants
Contact          Dr. Cécile Gouffrant McKenna
 
Recommended initial reading
Fink, B. (1997). A clinical introduction to Lacanian psychoanalysis: theory and technique. Cambridge, MA: First Harvard University Press.
 
Confidentiality
Since we will be discussing clinical cases, our meetings will never be recorded. We will also ask you to sign via email a confidentiality agreement to never discuss the cases outside our seminar. You will only need to sign it once for the year.
 
Seminar offered by the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Lacan Group
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LACAN READS FREUD’S CASES  19SEP2015 to 18JUNE2016

The San Francisco Bay Area Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis (http://www.lacanschool.org) in collaboration with the Philadelphia Lacan Group (http://lacangroup.org)

​Freud’s legacy consists in detailed case presentations. Lacan, rather than presenting his cases, revisited Freud’s own in order to expand the theories implied by psychoanalytical research. Clinical cases offer a unique opportunity to inform the theory and at the same time to further it. ​
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This seminar proposed to read Freud and Lacan together i.e. the original cases and its analyses. A suggested reading list will be provided to the participants ahead of each meeting. Specific passages could be read aloud and commented during the meetings. 
Location Philadelphia, PA (Center City) & Online
Dates Saturdays 1-3:30 pm, about every 6-8 weeks, 
Contact Cécile Gouffrant McKenna
Free of charge
Saturday, September 19, 2015 - 1 to 3:30 pm EDT
​The 1st meeting focused on Freud’s Ratman case.
Recommended Reading
. Freud, S. (1909). Notes Upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume X (1909): Two Case Histories (‘Little Hans’ and the ‘Rat Man’), 151-318 
. Lacan, J. (1979). The Neurotic's Individual Myth. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 48:405-425. 
. Hewiston, O. (2013). Reading ‘The Neurotic’s Individual Myth’ – Lacan’s Masterwork on Obsession. http://www.lacanonline.com/index/2013/09/reading-the-neurotics-individual-myth-lacans-masterwork-on-obsession/. Retrieved from lacanonline.com 
Suggested viewing
. Hewitson, O. (2014). Jacques Lacan–On Obsession and the Rat Man Case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL3wj4g-omQ. Retrieved from youtube.com
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Saturday, November 14, 2015 / January 9 & March 26, 2016 - 1 to 3:30 pm EST
We studied the Wolf-Man.
Recommended Reading
. Freud, S. (1918). From the History of an Infantile Neurosis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII (1917-1919): An Infantile Neurosis and Other Works, pp. 1-124 
. Lacan, J. (1952). Séminaire sur l'homme aux loups. Unpublished. Retrieved from http://bulk.lutecium.org/pro.wanadoo.fr/espace.freud/topos/psycha/psysem/homoloup.htm
Suggested Reading
. Gardner, E. Editor. (1971). The Wolf-Man by the Wolf-Man. Basic Book [Note: it includes the autobiography by the Wolf Man, the case by Freud, and a supplement by Brunswick, the Wolf-Man's second analyst]
. Leader, D. (2011). The Wolf Man. In What is Madness? Chapter 10, pp.246-272. London, England: Hamish Hamilton  of Penguin Group.
. Lacan, J. (1966/2006). The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis, in Écrits (Bruce Fink Translator). Norton, pp. 197-268
. Lacan, J. (1966/2006). On a Question Prior to Any Possible Treatment of Psychosis, in Écrits (Bruce Fink Translator). Norton, pp. 445-488
. Miller, J.-A. (2010). The Wolf Man I. Lacanian Ink 35, pp. 7-83
. Miller, J.-A. (2010). The Wolf Man II. Lacanian Ink 36, pp. 6-85
. Hewiston, O. (2010). Reading Lacan Seminar III Chapter 1. Retrieved from http://www.lacanonline.com/index/2010/05/reading-seminar-iii-chapter-i-introduction-to-the-question-of-the-psychoses/
. Hewiston, O. (2010). What does Lacan Say About Déjà Vu. Retrieved from http://www.lacanonline.com/index/2010/05/what-does-lacan-say-about-deja-vu/
. Abraham, N. & Torok, M. (1986/2005)The Wolfman's Magic Word. University Of Minnesota Press
Saturday, April 16, 2016 - 1 to 3:30 pm EST
For this 5th meeting we discussed the case of Fräulein Elisabeth von R. We explored the beginning of psychoanalysis with this case of conversion hysteria. It led us to reflect upon the meaning and function of the symptom, Freud’s visionary take on trauma and his experimentations with interpretation. Suggested Readings:​
Readings
. Benvenuto, S. (1998). The Crisis of Interpretaion. JEP, 6 Winter 1998. Retrieved from http://www.psychomedia.it/jep/number6/benvenuto.htm
. Breuer, J. and Freud, S. (1893). On The Psychical Mechanism of Hysterical Phenomena. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume II (1893-1895): Studies on Hysteria, Preliminary Communication, pp. 1-17
. Fainsilber, L. and Berton, D. (2006). Au grand bal masqué du symptôme. Retrieved from http://psychanalyse.canalblog.com/archives/2006/01/24/1264774.html
. Freud, S. (1893). Frälein Elisabeth von R, Case Histories from Studies on Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume II (1893-1895): Studies on Hysteria, Fraülein Elisabeth von R, Case Histories from Studies on Hysteria pp. 135-181
. Freud, S. (1893). The Psychotherapy of Hysteria from Studies on Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume II (1893-1895): Studies on Hysteria, The Psychotherapy of Hysteria, pp. 253-305
. Lacan, J. (1957-58). Séminiare V: Les Formations de l’Inconscient, retrieved from http://staferla.free.fr/S5/S5.htm Séance du 16 avril 1958
. Lacan, J. (1957-58). Seminar V: the Formations of the Unconscious,Transl. Gallagher, C., retrieved from http://www.lacaninireland.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Book-05-the-formations-of-the-unconscious.pdf Session of April 16, 1958
. Lacan, J. (1966/2006). The Direction of the Treatment Principles of its Power, in Écrits (Bruce Fink Translator). Norton, pp. 489-542 (specially pp. 534-538)
. Laznik, M.-C. 1957-1958 Le désir et l’hystérique dans le séminaire des formations de l’inconscient. Retrieved http://www.freud-lacan.com/index.php/fr/44-categories-fr/site/189-Petite_histoire_des_idees_de_Lacan_sur_l_hysterie
. Mijolla de, A. (2005) The Case of Elisabeth von R. retrieved from  http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3435300434.html
Video
. JAM introduces launch of Seminar 5 publication by Seuil in 1999 (French video) https://www.canal-u.tv/video/universite_toulouse_ii_le_mirail/les_formations_de_l_inconscient_le_seminaire_v_de_lacan_jacques_alain_miller.6431
Saturday, June 18, 2016 - 1 to 3:30 pm EDT
For this last meeting we continued our discussion inspired by the case of Fräulein Elisabeth von R. We closely read Lacan’s session of April 16, 1958 in Seminar V (transl. Gallagher), and Sergio Benvenuto’s text on “The Crisis of Interpretation” (1998). We agreed to reading these texts before the meeting and try to come up with our own understanding of the formulae proposed by Lacan at the beginning of the session on the functions of desire and demand.
Readings
. Benvenuto, S. (1998). The Crisis of Interpretaion. JEP, 6 Winter 1998. Retrieved from http://www.psychomedia.it/jep/number6/benvenuto.htm
. Lacan, J. (1957-58). Seminar V: the Formations of the Unconscious,Transl. Gallagher, C., retrieved from http://www.lacaninireland.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Book-05-the-formations-of-the-unconscious.pdf Session of April 16, 1958
. André, S. (1986/1999). The case of Elisabeth in What Does a Woman Want? pp. 131-145. New York, NY: Other Press.
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a/cephalic discontents / a discussion series curated by DAS UNBEHAGEN 

​Saturday, April 2, 2016 - 2 to 4 pm / Philadelphia
session I / co-curated by SURREALISM AND PSYCHOANALYSIS RESEARCH GROUP
texts: Georges Bataille, “The Absence of Myth”; Sigmund Freud, “Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego”; Jacques Lacan, “Sections on Acephale (Seminar II, ch. XIV)” 
Fidget Space, 1714 N Mascher St., Philadelphia (MF Line @ Berks)
Contact Patricia Gherovici at [email protected] for pdfs and to register 
acephale_session_one.pdf
File Size: 496 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


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Lacan in Theory: the Four Discourses - SEPT. 3 2016 to MAY 6 2017
Presented by the San Francisco Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis
in collaboration with the Philadelphia Lacan Group

“Lacan’s schema of discourse offers a means not only of gauging the psychological and social effects of particular texts and discourses but also of calculating how to intervene in these discourses in order to produce psychological and social change”
(Bracher, 1994, p.5)
In his 1970 seminar, Lacan puts forward his theory of the four discourses: hysteric, master, university and analyst. We propose a close reading of seminar XVII to decipher together these 4 discourses. We will further our exploration with contemporary authors, and connect the impact of these discourses on contemporary events as well as our practice as clinicians. If time allows, we will study Lacan’s 5th discourse, that of the capitalist, as presented in his 1972 lecture in Milan.
 
Location        Philadelphia, PA /Center City - In person seminar only
Dates            1st Saturday every other month 1-3:30pm/September 3 & November 5, 2016 – January 7, March 4 & May 6, 2017
Fee               Free of charge
Contact         Cécile Gouffrant McKenna
 
 
Preliminary Reading List
Bracher, M. (Ed.) (1994). Lacanian Theory of Discourse: Subject, Structure, and Society. New York: New York University Press.
Gendrault, P. Lacan Fifth Discourse: Introducing the Capitalist Discourse. Retrieved from http://www.sfpsych.net/Lacan_s_Capitalist_Discourse_1_.pdf
Lacan, J. (1969-70/1991). Le Séminaire. Livre XVII. L’envers de la psychanalyse. Paris: Seuil.
Lacan, J. (1969-70/2007). The Seminar of Jacques Lacan: The Other Side of Psychoanalysis (Book XVII). Grigg, R. Transl. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Lacan, J. (1978) Du Discours Psychanalytique. In Lacan in Italia, 1953-1978. Milan: La Salamandra. Available in French & Italian at http://www.sicedizioni.it/ARCHIVIO%20TOT%20LIBRI%20PDF/01-LACAN-IT.pdf / English translation by Jack W. Stone http://web.missouri.edu/~stonej/Milan_Discourse2.pdf
 
Video
Žižek, S.  (2014). Lacan’s four discourses and the real. The European Graduate School. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHNH2lkrG5w
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Clinical Lacan: Freud’s Young Homosexual Woman
Oct. 1, 2016 - June 3, 2017

Presented by the San Francisco Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis
in collaboration with the Philadelphia Lacan Group
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“A beautiful and clever girl of eighteen, belonging to a family of good standing, had aroused displeasure and concern in her parents by the devoted adoration with which she pursued a certain ‘society lady’ who was about ten years older than herself”
(Freud, 1920, p. 147).
So begins Sidonie’s analysis with Freud. Her father brought her to see him with the hope that Freud could “fix” his daughter’s state of mind, after a serious suicide attempt. It must have been an end-of-the-rope decision for the father who did not hold psychoanalysis in high esteem. Freud never gave a name to his Young Homosexual Woman, as she became known, unlike all his other female patients. He published the case in 1920, twenty years after her analysis ended. Yet, this case provides a very modern opportunity to think through what psychoanalysis has to say about femininity, homosexuality and technique today.
 
We will start with a reading and a discussion of Freud’s case. Then we will move on to Lacan’s perspective, followed by more contemporary texts on the case. Chances are that we will encounter Lacan’s formula of sexuation! A preliminary reading list compiles some suggestions. All attendees are encouraged to recommend additional reading material and to actively participate in this year-long seminar. The discussion of this case will hopefully lead to clinical conversations, and maybe case presentations.
 
Location         On line only (Webex)
Dates            1st Saturday every other month 1-3:30pm EST/October 1 & December 3, 2016 – February 4, April 1 & June 3, 2017
Fee               Free of charge
Contact         Cécile Gouffrant McKenna
 
Preliminary Reading List
Freud, S. (1920). The Psychogenesis of a Case of Homosexuality in a Woman. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVIII (1920-1922): Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Group Psychology and Other Works field, pp. 145-172
Gherovici, P. (2010). Please select your gender: From the invention of hysteria to the democratizing of transgenderism. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis. Chapter 5.
Lacan, J. (1994). Le séminaire, Livre 4: La relation d'objet [The seminar, Book 4: Object relation]. Paris, France: Éditions du Seuil. (Original seminar given 1956–1957). Chapters 7 & 8.
Pickmann, C.-N. (2010). «Le cas de Freud dit “La jeune homosexuelle” ». Figures de la psychanalyse 1/2010 (n° 19), pp. 195-216. Retrieved from http://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=FP_019_0195
Rieder, I. & Voigt, D. (2003). Sidonie Csillag: homosexuelle chez Freud, lesbienne dans le siècle. Paris: Éditions EPEL [French translation; Original work in German; Spanish translation also available]
Riggs, D.W. (2015). Pink Herrings: Fantasy, Object Choice and Sexuation. London: Karnac Books. Chapters 1 & 2.
Watson, E. (2013). Some Considerations of Feminine Homosexuality. Lacunae, 2, pp. 16-28. Retrieved from http://www.appi.ie/sites/default/files/issue/Some%20Considerations%20on%20Feminine%20Homosexuality%20for%20web.pdf

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Lacan on Laughter: the New LOL   October 2016 to June 2017
Presented by the Philadelphia Lacan Group​
Co-curated by Patricia Gherovici and Manya Steinkoler

Dreams, Freud noted, are “insufferably witty,” which revealed their predilection for bad puns. Having discovered that wit is at work in all unconscious processes, he related this process to his theory of the joke and the comic. Laughter was also serious business for Lacan. His interest in humor, jokes, and comedy was not purely scholarly but also practical; Lacan stated: “Life is not tragic. It is comic. This is however, why it is so curious that Freud would not find something better than the Oedipus complex, a tragedy, to discuss it, as if that was what it was all about. . .. He could have taken a shortcut – comedy.” If psychoanalysis has long been associated with tragedy, there is now a strong incentive to take up comedy as a productive model for psychoanalytic practice and critique. This seminar will explore jokes, humor, and the comic. We will propose a paradigm swerve connecting Freud and Lacan about laughter. In this reading group we engage in a close reading of the texts followed by a discussion. The seminar is open to everyone interested.

Dates:     Monthly. October 2016 to June 2017
Location: Kelly Writers House, room #203, 2nd Floor - 38th & Locust Streets, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Fee:        Free of charge
Contact:  FOR READING LIST, please email: [email protected].
Lacanian Diagnosis: Structures in the Clinic
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