Joyce Silverstone, Blue
Freud Reading Group
In April 1885, Sigmund Freud wrote to his fiancée that he had ‘almost completed an undertaking which a number of people, still unborn but fated to misfortune, will feel severely.’” Peter Gay (1988) begins his biography of Freud with this anecdote, and while he notes that Freud was referring to his future biographers, it isn't hard to read these words as a prescient remark on the effect psychoanalysis would have on civilization.
Freud was a remarkable writer and an intrepid explorer of what most of us don't want to know about, that is, the unconscious. His invention changed the world and yet the same people who claim to carry on the work of psychoanalysis continue, despite Lacan's interventions, to speak disparagingly of its founder. While there is no perfect founding father, this disparagement of Freud often amounts to resistance to what his life’s work makes us feel severely.
One cannot practice psychoanalysis without having spent time on the couch or having read what Freud had to say about it. Moreover, the best introduction to the work of Jacques Lacan isn’t Bruce Fink or Dany Nobus. It’s Freud himself.
Together, we'll explore Freud's theoretical papers, case studies and metapsychological texts. We’ll discuss the ways they challenge and inspire us and, importantly, how they inform our clinical practice.
Readings for the 2024-25 Academic Year will include the following.
Freud, S. The Interpretation of Dreams (1900). Volume V, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.
Freud, S. New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Lecture XXIX, “Revision of the Theory of Dreams” (1932). Volume XXII, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.
Freud, S. The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901). Volume VI, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.
Freud, S. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905). Volume VII, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.
Faculty: Nathan Lupo
Dates/Times: Second Sundays, 9:00 am - 11:00 am Pacific Time starting September 8th
Location: Online via Zoom
Contact: nathanlupo.lmft@gmail.com
Fee: By Donation to the School
Note: This will be a reading group