Mindfulness in Psychoanalysis
and Meditation
with
Edward Ryan, PhD
In contemporary culture we hear reference to “mindfulness” and the effectiveness of mindfulness as a therapeutic technique. At Yale mindfulness training is offered as a clinical treatment, and people are encouraged to practice mindfulness as a part of a wellness approach. A great deal of this embrace of mindfulness refers to Buddhist mindfulness meditation. Buddhist meditation has moved into our culture over the past 40 years, embraced by what we might call the American “therapy culture.” Meditation itself is regarded as a form of therapy. Buddhist teaching and practice have been equated to various therapies, including psychoanalysis. Dr. Ryan has been a student of psychoanalysis for almost sixty years, and a student/practitioner of Buddhist meditation for thirty. In this presentation he will discuss what mindfulness is and is not, mindfulness in psychoanalysis and Buddhist insight meditation, about similarities and differences between the two practices and how they may complement and enrich each other.
Presenter: Edward Ryan, Ph.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Yale Psychiatry Department, a training and supervising psychologist in the Yale Long-Term Care Clinic, and in private practice in New Haven. He has published and presented papers on a range of topics including psychosis and recovery, object relations theory, meditation and psychoanalysis and has received awards for teaching, clinical service, and leadership. Dr. Ryan has practiced insight meditation for thirty years. He served on the Board of Directors of the Insight Meditation Society, the flagship training center for insight mediation in America. With his wife, the poet Sylvia Forges-Ryan, he published Take A Deep Breath: The Haiku Way to Inner Peace. The book has been accepted into the American Literature Collection of the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale.
Location
The New Haven Lawn Club
193 Whitney Ave, New Haven
Conference Schedule
10:00 - 10:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
10:30 – 12:30 Presentation
Suggested Reading
Ryan, E. (1989) Psychotherapy: Empathy, Courage and Compassion. In Voices, 1989.
Participants
The conference is appropriate for professionals interested in the practice of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The instructional level of this conference is intermediate.
Lunch
Following the presentation a small group has lunch with the presenter. If you would like to join us, please email Ellen Nasper, Ph.D. enasper@aol.com by Monday, May 11, 2015. A limited number of seats are available on a first come first served basis.
Continuing Education
This conference has been approved for for 2 continuing education hours (NASW & Div. 39)
Division 39 is committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in its continuing education activities. Participants are asked to be aware of needs for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them.
Please address questions, concerns and any complaints to Ellen Nasper, Ph.D., at enasper@aol.com.
