Come Talk To Me: “Here I’m Alive” and “Story of a Poem” In Conversation

Peter Goldberg, Ph.D., Michael Levin, Psy.D., Adam Blum, Psy.D and Matthew Zapruder

Saturday Sep 30, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

In its turn toward the social in recent years, psychoanalysis has made great strides in accounting for the role of the collective in psychical life and in our understanding of what makes us human. From game-changing developments in community-based psychoanalytic training to our ongoing engagement with local artists and scholars, the PINC community has pioneered an expansion of the traditional, inward focus on the individual psyche toward the world of culture and group life in which all members of the collective are necessarily embedded. In the spirit of this emerging movement, the authors of Here I’m Alive: The Spirit of Music in Psychoanalysis (2023) invite Bay Area poet Matthew Zapruder to collaboratively explore the specifically musical dimension of this collectivity. In his new book Story of a Poem (2023), Zapruder describes the experience of writing poetry – which he believes involves discovering structures in which originally enigmatic bits of language find a world in which they can “exist” – as refracted through the joys and challenges of becoming a father to a neurodivergent child. In the exchange we hope to capture the musical dimension and quality of finding-creating in psychoanalytic and poetic processes alike, and the way these weave us into communion with ourselves and with one another, and without which we are isolated in a confusion of alien noise.

CE Credits offered: 2

Course Objectives

After completing this course participants will be able to:

1. Identify the musical dimension of being human in relation to other humans as rendered through psychoanalytic and poetic processes.
2. Explore the essential role of music in distinguishing dead from alive and in making a human life worth living.
3. Illuminate the connection between music and emotional truth.
4. Explore the role of the group, through tradition and other forms of collective care, in framing and worlding the possibility of individual expression.

pincsf.org/events – 415-288-4050 — 530 Bush St, Suite 700, SF CA USA — pincsf@gmail.com

The Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PINC maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Visit pincsf.org/policies for policies and disclaimers.