Narcissistic Pairings
Psychoanalytic Portraits from Classical Literature to Postmodern Film
A Tuesday Evening Seminar Series
with Kenneth Kimmel, Jungian analyst
The New England Building • 219 First Ave S, Suite 405 • Pioneer Square
Tuesdays October 4, 11, 18, & 25 | 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Romance in the classics of literature and cinema throughout Western culture, provide a window into the historical development of narcissism, and our clinical understanding of its drive to appropriate the love object and its negation of intimacy.
Utilizing his book, Eros and the Shattering Gaze—Transcending Narcissism as a resource guide throughout the discussion series, Kenneth has gathered together the ‘tragic tales of love’ spanning over two thousand years, that he combines with psychoanalytic commentary from diverse theoretical traditions.
Stories include:
- The “Myth of Narcissus and Echo”
- The Arthurian tale of fatal love, “Lancelot and the Lady of Shallot”
- Emily Brontë’s romance, Wuthering Heights
- The Gothic horror tale – Bram Stoker’s Dracula
- The contemporary film, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”
The seminar will be discussion oriented, (not lecture). Film excerpts supplement the discussions. Links to commonly known translations or summaries of these classic tales will be provided for all the participants to read and familiarize themselves with prior to each meeting. For a deeper exploration of the literature and its psychoanalytic relevance, Kenneth’s book is recommended as a companion to the seminar and will be available for purchase at reduced cost.
The seminar will be useful for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and couples therapists who wish to deepen their understanding of the psychoanalytic, cultural and historical currents underlying the psychology of the narcissistic pair.
About Kenneth Kimmel
A Jungian analyst, author, and teacher, Kenneth has maintained a private psychotherapy practice in Seattle since 1984. He is co-founder of the New School for Analytical Psychology, served as the former chair of the InterInstitute Committee of Seattle, and is a member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology.
Eros and the Shattering Gaze may be purchased online at:
Amazon.com or Fisherkingpress.com
CEUs & Goal and Objectives
SEMINAR SERIES INCLUDES:
6 hours provided for Licensed Counselors, MFTs and Social Workers
GOAL:
To provide a cultural and historical perspective to the psychoanalytic understanding of narcissistic relations.
OBJECTIVES:
Through readings and discussion of texts, use of film, and presentation of relevant clinical material, participants will gain a deeper knowledge of:
- Comparative concepts in British Object Relations, Analytical Psychology, and French Psychoanalysis, respectively, that disclose narcissism underlying ‘Romantic Love’: For instance, “Destructive and Libidinal Narcissism” • the archetypal motifs of “Demon Lover”/Femme Fatal and “Death” Coniunctio • “The Dead Mother.”
- “Narcissistic defenses,” or “defenses of the self-care system” that impact primitive mental states in response to early trauma, unmourned grief over maternal loss, or faulty attachments.
- Influence of modernist movements in literature and art at the close of the 19th century (fin de siecle), upon the seminal thinking of the newly emerging field of psychoanalysis.
CONTACT: Please phone or email us if you have any questions:
206-447-1895 | ken@nsanpsy.com