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CONFERENCES

Psychoanalysis & Zen Buddhism: A Realizational Perspective

Saturday, May 14, 2022
Capitol Plaza Hotel | Montpelier, Vermont
9:00AM to 5:00PM

The British psychoanalyst, Wilfred Bion (1897-1979) and the Soto Zen master, Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253), were both highly creative and brilliant writers and thinkers whose works, while distinct, share many areas of overlap. They both exerted a radical impact on their respective disciplines. However, despite the highly regarded philosophical and theoretical complexity of their teachings, they both shared the agenda of strengthening and deepening experiential realizational practice with an insistent emphasis on the present moment. They both strived for authenticity. The direct experience of practice animates their teachings and brings them to fruition for both psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists and contemporary Zen practitioners.

In this conference, presenters Paul Cooper and Karen Morris, both psychoanalysts and authorized Zen teachers, will invite you to participate in a didactic, dialogical and experiential exploration into the ideas of these great thinkers and their direct clinical relevance. The presenters will explicate key concepts in the work of Bion and Dogen and explore important areas of convergence. Experiential dimensions of the day will include an introduction to the Social Dreaming Matrix, that demonstrates many key themes in the work of Bion and Dogen. The Matrix as the space in which dreams are shared acts as the container for what Bion describes as “dream-work-alpha,” or “alpha functioning.” He writes, ” . . . man has to “dream” a current emotional experience whether it occurs in sleep or in waking life” (1962, p.17). Similarly, Dogen notes, in “Muchu-Setsumu, Expounding a Dream within a Dream,” “Both the dream state and the waking state are originally the one real nature . . . Therefore, the Buddha-way of transforming this earthly world is intrinsically none other than “dream-making.” (Trans.: H. Kim 1985, p. 284). In addition, they will explore connections between psychoanalytic listening and meditative practice. A case presentation will illustrate the clinical work from the realizational perspective.

 

About the Presenters

Seiso Paul C. Cooper, Sensei, Ph.D., LP.

Seiso Paul Cooper is a licensed and nationally certified psychoanalyst; Ordained Soto Zen Priest & transmitted teacher in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki and Dainin Katagiri; He is a member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association and the American Zen Teacher’s Association. He is the Co-founder and Guiding Teacher: Two Rivers Zen Community in Narrowsburg, N.Y.; Founder, Realizational Practice Studies Group; Former Dean of Training, National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis; Faculty, training analyst, supervisor: Institute for Expressive Analysis, Metropolitan Institute; Editorial Board: Psychoanalytic Review; Award-winning author: Zen Insight, Psychoanalytic Action: Two Arrows Meeting (2019), The Zen Impulse and the Psychoanalytic Encounter (2010).

Seiso recently opened a private psychoanalytic psychotherapy and supervision practice in Montpelier. He has presented his work on Buddhism & Psychoanalysis internationally. He currently organizes, facilitates, and leads silent retreats in the formal Soto Zen style especially tailored for mental health professionals both at retreat centers and online.

Karen Morris, LP, NCPsyA

Karen Morris is a nationally certified and licensed psychoanalyst in private practice in Montpelier, VT. She is on the faculty of the Institute for Expressive Analysis, Harlem Family Institute, and the Realizational Practice Studies Group. She is a transmitted lay teacher in the Soto Zen Buddhist lineage of Shunryu Suzuki and Dainin Katagiri, and co-founder of the Two Rivers Zen Community. She has facilitated Social Dreaming Matrixes in conference, workshop, and retreat space throughout the country and maintains a Social Dreaming study group. She is an award-winning author and poet (NAAP, Gradiva Awards, 2010, 2015) and volunteer Ambassador of Hope for Shared Hope International, whose mission is the eradication of sex trafficking of domestic minors through public education. She speaks and has published widely on the role of the commercial sex industry in global sex trafficking.

Recent Related Publications

  • Cooper, P. (2020). Realizational Perspectives: Bion’s Psychoanalysis, Dogen’s Zen. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, (2020).
  • Cooper, P. (2016). “Zen Musings on Bion’s ‘O’ and ‘K.'” Psychoanalytic Review: 103: 4, 515-538.
  • Cooper, P. (2014). “Zen Meditation, Reverie, and Psychoanalytic Listening.” Psychoanalytic Review: 101:6, 795-813.

Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the four points of the Realizational Model of psychoanalytic theory and practice.
  2. Apply the Zen concepts of Immo/suchness, emptiness, and dependent co-arising in the clinical setting.
  3. Recognize the practical application of the simultaneity of separateness and connectedness in the clinical setting.
  4. Describe the clinical application and usefulness of the “cross-cross” model of countertransference;
  5. Articulate Bion’s psychoanalytic concept of “O” and its relationship to his clinical practice of relinquishing memory, desire and understanding
  6. Articulate Bion’s notion of “K” (knowledge) and how it reflects the emotional truth in psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy;
  7. Experience the Zen practice of “just sitting” meditation and its impact on enhanced psychoanalytic listening;
  8. Explore the use and practice of “silent illumination” meditation within the clinical setting;
  9. Explore the clinical use of “negative” states, such as the analyst’s inattention as it relates to the patient’s inner world;
  10. Describe the theory and practice of Social Dreaming;
  11. Compare classical psychoanalytic dream theories and Social Dreaming theory
  12. Experience the use of the Dream Matrix through the experience of social dreaming.

Pending Application made for 6.5 CEs for Psychoanalysts, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Mental Health Counselors.
 

Schedule

8:30AM – Registration
9:00AM – Welcome/Presentation of Speaker – Mel Miller, Ph.D., VIP President
9:15AM – Social Dreaming Introduction & Practice
10:15AM – Break
10:30AM – Primacy of Experience
10:45AM – Silent Illumination Practice Session & Discussion
11:15AM – Definitions: Bion’s O, K, &T and Dogen’s Emptiness, Dependent Co-arising, Suchness
12:15PM – Lunch
1:30PM – Bion and Dōgen: Introduction to Realizational Psychoanalysis
2:30PM – Just Sitting Practice Session & Discussion
3:00PM – Break
3:15PM – Clinical Study & Discussion
4:15PM – Council & Concluding Comments
5:00PM – Adjourn
 
Directions to Capitol Plaza: The Capitol Plaza is located at 100 State Street. A map is available online at: https://capitolplaza.com/directions.php

Please Note: The full capacity for the event is 140 – registration will be limited to 70 participants to allow for distancing.  Please register early, as space is limited.

Questions? Contact Stella Marrie, Psy.D. at smarrie1@comcast.net

 

Registration Form