Rado Lecture • Does Psychoanalysis Have a Meta-Theory? – The Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine

June 2, 2015
Lecturer: Eric R. Marcus, MD

Psychoanalysis is still in a period of theory splitting and disputes. This draining and damaging phase may be coming to an end. We have paid the price in political divisions and failures of theory to progress. This year’s Rado lecture will explore the issue of a unifying theory in psychoanalysis. The question is: Does psychoanalysis have an overarching theory? If it does, what might it look like? The commonalities of the different meta-psychologies will be described from the point of view of modern ego psychology. Potential unifying concepts will be proposed and described.

Dr. Marcus is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Director, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, where he is also a Training and Supervising Analyst.

Learning Objectives: after the lecture, participants should be able to

to describe the divided state of psychoanalytic theory today.
to understand how to think about an integrated psychoanalytic theory.