A Day with Jeanne Wolff-Bernstein

Jeanne Wolff-Bernstein, Ph.D., Discussant Sam Gerson, Ph.D.

Saturday Mar 22, 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM

In this two-part event, Jeanne Wolff-Bernstein will deliver her paper “The Illusion of Neutrality” and present a lecture based on her book The Lure of the Gaze and the Past - A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Édouard Manet’s Work

Part I In The Illusion of Neutrality, Jeanne Wolff Bernstein looks critically at the psychoanalytic core concept of neutrality, otherwise known as a position of abstinence. What was once considered a fundamental rule of psychoanalysis has been called into question since the analysis of severely traumatized patients reveals this analytic stance to be inhumane and deeply alienating. Using the example of war-wounded patients in the Russian-Ukrainian war, the author shows how inadequate and hurtful such an abstinent analytic position can be, ultimately serving more as a shield for analysts warding off their own feelings than truly benefitting the patients injured by the war. Part II The Lure of the Gaze and the Past examines the works of the French painter Édouard Manet from an exciting and innovative perspective. In contrast to standard psycho-biographic approaches that tend to neglect the artworks themselves and use them merely as clues to delve into the artist’s unconscious, Jeanne develops a psychoanalytic pictorial analysis of Manet’s oeuvre which emphasizes his painterly genealogy rather than his personal past. In this way, three distinct perspectives are combined: the personal, the historical and the viewers’ own identificatory processes, leading to an entirely new understanding of Manet’s work.

CE Credits offered: 5.5

Course Objectives

After completing this course participants will be able to:

1. describe how the clinical stance of analytic neutrality or abstinence is challenged by treatment of severely traumatized patients
2. discuss how abstinence may be a shield for analysts attempting to ward off their own feelings rather than truly benefit patients
3. describe how Manet incorporates the unconscious processes of spectators to complete the scenes portrayed on his canvasses
4. discuss pictorial analyses of Manet’s paintings that emerge from the artist’s relations to previous works rather than from his personal past
5. apply Lacan’s concept of the Gaze to the study of Manet’s paintings

db.pincsf.org/events – 415-288-4050 — 530 Bush St, Suite 703, 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 db.pincsf.org/policies fo