Tampa Bay PsychoanalyticPsychoanalytic Society
Saturday, October 18, 9:30 am-12:30 pm EST
Speaker: John S. Auerbach, Ph.D.
“God Said to Abraham”: The Binding of Isaac Revisited
The Binding of Isaac is as foundational to Western culture as is the Oedipus myth, yet the Oedipus myth figures prominently in psychoanalytic history while the Binding of Isaac is comparatively neglected, with important negative consequences for psychoanalysis as a discipline. Specifically, the Oedipus myth, as interpreted by Freud, renders parricide a central cultural and psychological dynamic, whereas the Binding of Isaac, and other potential readings of the Oedipus myth, render filicide a more important problem. Freud’s particular reading of the Oedipus myth and his neglect of the Binding of Isaac likely reflect his ambivalence about his family background and his own Jewish origins. This discussion of the Binding of Isaac is also situated within a discussion of the life and art of Bob Dylan, another significant Jewish figure who, like Freud, struggled with his Jewish identity and who exhibited these struggles in “Highway 61 Revisited,” with its opening line, “Oh God said to Abraham, ‘Kill me a son’.". An exploration of Dylan’s lyrics finds a tension between three ancient tales: the broader Abraham story, which involves leaving home, the Odyssey, which involves returning home, and the Oedipus story, which involves having no direction home. Differing images of paternal and therefore therapeutic care derive from these three ancient tales. Although Jewish or Hebraic interpretation of the Binding of Isaac is emphasized in this presentation, Christian and Islamic perspectives will be described as well. A reconsideration of the Binding of Isaac, of its at least equal importance to the Greek narratives that Freud emphasized, prompts both a reevaluation of psychoanalytic history and a reorientation of psychoanalytic thinking about parent-child relationships that in turn guides clinical work
After attending the presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the different implications of the Oedipus myth, as interpreted by Freud, and the Binding of Isaac, for understanding parent-child dynamics in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
2. Discuss how Freud’s ambivalence regarding his familial and cultural background are implicated in his reliance on the Oedipus myth, rather than the Binding of Isaac, as the central explanatory narrative psychoanalysis.
3. Describe the psychodynamics of Bob Dylan through the various lenses of the Binding of Isaac, the Oedipus myth, and a third ancient narrative, the Odyssey.
John S. Auerbach, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical-community psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. For 32 years, he was an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs, working in the areas of severe mental illness, trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, and substance use disorder. He also has had faculty appointments in Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the James H. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University, and the University of Florida College of Medicine. He is an honorary member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and a fellow of the Society for Personality Assessment. He is a recipient of the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society’s Hans H. Strupp Award for Psychoanalytic Scholarship, Teaching, and Mentorship. He has been president of the Tampa Bay Psychoanalytic Society. He has authored or coauthored more than 50 professional publications mainly in the areas of narcissism; borderline personality disorder; performance-based and projective assessments, especially with the Object Relations Inventory; relational-intersubjectivity theory; attachment theory; mentalization and mentalization-based therapy; and psychological trauma. He maintains a private practice in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
3 CME’S
LOCATION: Virtual - Zoom
CHARGE: Members get up to 21 CMEs/CEUs for free per year.
Non-members pay $25 to attend a 3 hour speaker program meeting and an additional $20 for CEUs for a total of $45 (or $15/CEU).
Register Online: https://tbps.wildapricot.org/
ACCME Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and Tampa Bay Psychoanalytic Society. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME,s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.