APAS Annual Conference 26th – 30th August 2026

Psychoanalysis, literary studies and gender have a long, entwined and often uneasy history. It has been argued that much psychoanalysis, at least as written, has had a literary base since Studies in Hysteria; and likewise that literature has always been fundamentally concerned with the unconscious, ’how mind reformulates the real” (Peter Brooks). In thinking about mind, identity, the interpersonal, the literary provides, as it did for Freud and many who came after him, a proving ground, a stable artefact to help think about the interpersonal storms of the here-and-now. Can literature help to unravel, or at least contemplate, some of the puzzles of gender, sexuality, identity and what might this look like in psychoanalytic theory?   This talk will reflect some of these questions, particularly as they are manifested in the work of Wilfred Bion, whose oeuvre spans the literary and the clinical in the most unexpected ways. The double in literature and psychoanalysis will be considered, and how that might help to think about gender complexities.   Dr Kay Souter is a literary and cultural critic who taught English and psychoanalytic studies at La Trobe University and RMIT for over thirty years. She has a special interest in representations of motherhood and post-Kleinian theory, and is widely published in these areas. For the last ten years of her career, she worked in the management of student learning in higher education at several universities. She is now retired and works as a viticulturist on her small family vineyard in north-east Victoria.

When: Thursday 25 November 2021 7.15 p.m. – 8.45 p.m. CST

Where: Zoom Conference Link details: TBA

Cost: $77 Inc. GST

The Adelaide Institute of Psychoanalysis is running a workshop by Dr Jill Scharff titled the Teleanalytic Setting, encompassing:

– adjusting to the frame – the electronic third – projection of transference – closeness & distance – unrepresented states of mind

WORKSHOP DETAILS

• Online via Zoom
• Saturday 4^th February 2023
• 8.30 a.m. (Ade) for 1.5 hour
• Cost: $40

Dr JILL SCHARFF Dr. Jill Scharff  is a child and adult psychoanalyst and amongst many other achievements is the Founding Chair and supervising analyst of the International Institute for Psychoanalytic Training.    

Infant Life & Infant Death

Two short films are presented and discussed from the filmmaker’s and a psychoanalyst’s perspectives.

‘Laid Down’ (10 mins) about the turbulent relationship between the baby’s parents from the  perspective of the new-born infant.

‘Flown’ (15 mins) attempts to unearth the unconscious feelings of parents, whose relationship fails following the death of their infant.

The participants will be offered an emotionally charged and engaging journey as seen through the eyes of both the infant and parents

Kannan Navaratnem is a psychoanalyst with the British Psychoanalytical Society. He is a Seminar Leader, The Tavistock Clinic, London. Hon. Associate Professor, Psychoanalysis Unit, University College London. Supervisor, Squiggle Foundation, UK                                       

Lecture Details: 

• Online Via Zoom
• Date: Thursday 25th July 2024
• Time: 6.45 p.m. – 8.15 p.m. (Adelaide)
• Cost: $80

These seminars are a gentle introduction to psychoanalytic theories. They would be particularly helpful to psychiatry trainees for the psychotherapy written case. The first hour is a theory seminar led by Dr. Robin Chester, followed by a half hour psychodynamic case formulation of a clinical case brought by participants, led by Dr. Shanthi Saha.

These seminars are to provide a psychoanalytic understanding for therapists working in any modality. These online clinical seminars will comprise of a detailed clinical discussion followed by a brief discussion of an allocated article. The clinical discussion requires participants to bring one verbatim session of a patient they are finding difficulty working with. The particular type of therapy that is being carried out with the patient is not the focus.

Infant observation is  a one year course providing the opportunity for direct observation and discussion of human development.  The participant will observe that family with the newborn baby once a week for one hour over the period of one year. Weekly evening seminars facilitate discussion, understanding and reflection on these observations. The course will place these observations, using selected readings at times, within the wider context of psychoanalytic theory.

This  course is aimed primarily at candidates of  AIP but is open to interested psychotherapists. The course will  examine key psychoanalytic theories, concepts and technique in detail and  places  these  concepts  and technique in detail and  places  these  concepts in  context. Readings  and clinical discussions are part of the syllabus and will encompass Melanie Klein, Sigmund Freud and Donald Winnicott. This course will be run online, weekly in the early evening, via Zoom and thus provides an exceptional opportunity to be taught by experienced international psychoanalysts from a wide range of backgrounds. See the flyer  for more details.

These online seminars are a 20 week gentle introduction to psychoanalytic theories.  These seminars are for anybody who has an interest in understanding the psychodynamic theories about the mind and the therapies that have evolved from these. They would be particularly helpful to psychiatry trainees and those in the helping professions who need a more psychodynamic focus.  The 6 theorists introduced in this seminars are Freud, Klein, Lacan, Bion, Winnicott, and Jung. Last day for registration and payment is 25th February 2024.

This seminar is aimed at developing psychotherapeutic intervention to de- escalate suicidal behaviours and crisis presentation of borderline patients. This intervention is based on a psychodynamic formulation of the presentation. These clinical discussions require participants to bring one verbatim session of an interview with a borderline patient. This seminar would particularly suit psychiatry registrars, psychiatrists and senior clinicians working in the emergency department or dealing with such patients in crisis.

Course details

Online via Zoom – starts 5th March 2024 – Tuesdays, weekly 7.00 p.m.- 8.30 p.m. (Adelaide)

Cost: $770