Department of Psychology - Report on Workshop on Psychoanalysis

The Department of Psychology, Christ University organized a three-day workshop on the Therapeutic Process of Psychoanalysis, from October 16 -18, 2013. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Jhuma Basak, a Training Analyst of the Indian Psychoanalytical Society, Kolkata and a member of Psychoanalytic Associations in Kolkata, London and Japan. Dr. Basak holds a deep interest in cultural psychoanalysis. Currently she is an Associate Professor in  NSHM Knowledge Campus, Kolkata in the Institute of Media & Design. She has her own private practice as a psychoanalyst and is a consultant of the Crystal Clinic, Kolkata.

The workshop began with the welcome speech by Tony Sam George, Head, Department of Psychology, who spoke of the long-standing association that the department shares with Dr. Basak, and contextualized the need for the workshop. This was followed by a brief address by the guest of honour, Prof. Mallika Krishnaswami, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, who expressed her enthusiasm for the discipline of psychology. 

The first day focussed on a brief introduction of the fundamental ideas of psychoanalysis with major emphasis on the conceptualisation of the analytic space through the case study  of Anna O. A reading of Dr. Basak’s own case studies helped in understanding the process of therapy and the documentation of cases in psychoanalytic work.The discussion that followed was insightful. The second day was divided into two parts. The focus of the first half was a journey into the process of becoming an analyst and covered issues of training, personal analysis, institutes and memberships and was presented through videos and personal experiences. The latter half was a dialogue on the processes of free association and dream analysis, which guide the “talking cure.” Ethical issues, case history taking, and a one-to-one interaction to understand the individual therapeutic process took up most of the third day. The last session of the third day was devoted to feedback and existing queries were answered. The workshop formally ended with certificate distribution and an end-note address by Baiju Gopal.

The workshop was a one of a kind experience where a practising analyst shared a glimpse of the actual therapeutic process in psychoanalysis. It did considerable justice to its objective of stimulating a dialogue among a group of professionals on certain core areas of psychoanalysis. Overall the workshop was very well-received by the participants and the general consensus was that the learning gleaned from the workshop was significant and insightful.