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Psychoanalysis On and Off the Couch

Psychoanalysis On and Off the Couch

Harvey Schwartz MD 100 Episodes Aug 9, 2026

Psychoanalysis On and Off the Couch is a podcast that explores the application of psychoanalytic concepts beyond the traditional clinical setting. Hosted by Harvey Schwartz MD, the show delves into how psychoanalytic thinking can illuminate various aspects of culture, art, and everyday life. Each episode features discussions with experts and practitioners who bring psychoanalytic perspectives to topics such as literature, film, politics, and personal relationships. The podcast aims to make psychoanalysis accessible and relevant to a broad audience.

Episodes

The Ethics of Psychoanalysis in Time of War: Iran Today with Gohar Homayounpour, PsyD (Paris)
The Ethics of Psychoanalysis in Time of War: Iran Today with Gohar Homayounpour, PsyD (Paris) Aug 9, 2026 51:43 "How do we continue doing this work when the socio-political realities are unimaginable? I've been living in Paris the last few years, and I continue to have a full caseload in Tehran and other cities. There was a time that the internet was cut off for our Iranian patients, so there is reality, and then there is a reality that actually affects the frame -  they couldn't contact their analyst. But
From Couch to Page: The Craft of Psychodynamic Case Writing with Aner Govrin, PhD (Tel Aviv)
From Couch to Page: The Craft of Psychodynamic Case Writing with Aner Govrin, PhD (Tel Aviv) Jul 12, 2026 57:41 "We have a trove of treasure. These are the case studies, and we need the case studies - these are the flora and fauna of our field. This is how we work. We work by reading case studies and they enrich us. Not only do they enrich the community, but they also enrich us as therapists who write their case studies, and they get to be involved in deeper layers of the actual case study. When we write a
My Journey from Veterinary Medicine to Psychoanalysis with Michele Gaspar, DVM,MA,LCPC (Chicago)
My Journey from Veterinary Medicine to Psychoanalysis with Michele Gaspar, DVM,MA,LCPC (Chicago) Jun 28, 2026 52:57 "I have always been fascinated by the world of animals. What fascinated me about them is that when you pay attention to animals, this is a world beyond words. Words are not part of their world, so you start paying attention to movement, to breath, to reaction, to the pause, all these things, and I found it fascinating…Certainly, in veterinary medicine, as any type of clinical medical practice, if
The Analyst as Transference and Developmental Object with Carla Neely, PhD (Washington, DC)
The Analyst as Transference and Developmental Object with Carla Neely, PhD (Washington, DC) Jun 14, 2026 56:57 "As analysts, we have our own development - as humans, we have our own development. My view is that the work of analysis, if the developmental piece is present, requires some relatively sophisticated developmental capacity on the part of the analyst. The work is intimate, and the patient is going to know something of our inner lives, despite the fact that we work hard not to let our own selves int
AI, Subjectivity and Psychoanalysis with Amy Levy, PhD (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
AI, Subjectivity and Psychoanalysis with Amy Levy, PhD (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) May 31, 2026 56:17 "Humanism has been the dominant Western belief system of the last century. It's based on the worship of human wisdom, human creation, human experience, human mind, and psychoanalysis has very much emerged from this humanist tradition. We believe in psychoanalysis, that delving into our feelings, our thoughts, and our shared wisdom will allow us to access truth and meaning and find proper direction
Analytic Endings: When Enough is Enough and When it Isn't with Joyce Slochower, PhD (New York)
Analytic Endings: When Enough is Enough and When it Isn't with Joyce Slochower, PhD (New York) May 17, 2026 54:35 "When I train candidates I always say start with Freud, learn the interpersonalist, learn the object relations folks, know from what you come, even if you want to be a radical interpersonalist, a radical relationalist, because having that stuff in your back pocket is organizing and creates an ideal to which you can aspire or choose not to follow, but at least you'll know what you're not following.
My Evolution as an Analyst with Virginia Ungar, MD (Buenos Aires)
My Evolution as an Analyst with Virginia Ungar, MD (Buenos Aires) May 3, 2026 56:43 "I'm not suggesting that repression has lost its place as a fundamental defense mechanism. Repression remains central, coherent, and fundamental to the founding of the unconscious. It is what makes certain contents inaccessible to consciousness, and what we access as psychoanalysts through dreams, play, symptoms, and associations. That remains true. What I was observing, and I'm still observing mo
How We Care for Ourselves (and each other) with Stephen Bernstein, MD, Melvin Bornstein, MD, Mark Moore, PhD, Jonathan Palmer, MD, Harvey Schwartz, MD, Peggy Warren, MD
How We Care for Ourselves (and each other) with Stephen Bernstein, MD, Melvin Bornstein, MD, Mark Moore, PhD, Jonathan Palmer, MD, Harvey Schwartz, MD, Peggy Warren, MD Apr 19, 2026 01:00:55 "We are a group of analysts working in the greater context of the analytic world, but as a group, we have a profound analytic group process that's evolved and in profoundly successful ways - we've become a group that contains one another, and deals with great difficulties. Mel has given a taste of where we go to an emotional authenticity that's very compelling… Somehow, we've gotten to a place whe
Mothers and Their Little Girls with Ilene Lefcourt (New York)
Mothers and Their Little Girls with Ilene Lefcourt (New York) Apr 5, 2026 01:02:54 "In addition to the easy convenience of bathing two children together, or three children together, there are other motivations of bathing them together. Parents are less aware that there is an excitement in seeing the children naked - although convenience is what's stated first, I think other things do go into it. Through development reactions to the genital difference and nudity will change, and
A Memoir of Analysis, Poetry and Mortality with Alice Jones, MD (Berkeley, California)
A Memoir of Analysis, Poetry and Mortality with Alice Jones, MD (Berkeley, California) Mar 22, 2026 58:04 "All my writing before this has been poetry, and over the years in my books of poems I found the lines kept getting longer. I think the move towards prose had me working on this journal form, which I've not done. Many people write their journals their entire lives. For me, it's a more dipping in and out of this form of work. I began this segment when my father-in-law was dying, and it began as a s
A Candidate Engages Patients Who are 'Difficult to Reach' with Pamela Polizzi, LCSW (New York)
A Candidate Engages Patients Who are 'Difficult to Reach' with Pamela Polizzi, LCSW (New York) Mar 8, 2026 55:39 "This came from an experience with a patient. It was early in my analytic training, and I was working with a supervisor who I really admired, and worked with her for a number of years. She was post-Kleinian, and was great at interpretation, formulation, and she was really helpful with just starting to guide me towards a lot of this work. I remember describing to her a patient session, and I was go
An Analyst's 'Couple State of Mind' with Mary Morgan, (London)
An Analyst's 'Couple State of Mind' with Mary Morgan, (London) Feb 22, 2026 01:03:06 "[A couple state of mind] is the capacity to be subjectively involved with both individuals, but then importantly, to be able to step back, find a third position, and try to understand what the couple are creating together. Although it's kind of obvious in a way, because surely, that's what a couple therapist is doing, they're trying to understand the couple relationship. It can have quite a power

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