Committee on Psychoanalytic Addictions Treatment   (COPAT)

COPAT is PPSC's working committee of faculty, supervisors, candidates, and graduates who are experienced in the psychoanalytic treatment of alcoholism and other addictions. It aims to serve as a resource to all PPSC clinicians in the treatment of addictions, while being devoted to study and education that promotes the integration of psychoanalysis and addictions treatment. 

2012:

Two lectures will be held in the spring:

On Saturday, February 25, 2012, there will be a lecture on countertransference and sex addiction.  In working with sex addiction, the therapist can find him or herself cast in a range of roles: the undercover lover, marital savior, or big brother. In her presentation, Puja Hall will touch on some typical countertransference issues in working with sexual addiction. She will then address these roles with two case examples: one in which the patient is seeking therapy himself, the other because the patient was caught and is now ''under the gun'' by his partner.  The presenter will highlight the unique challenge of each of these treatments, discussing the resistances she encounters, as well as the transferences and countertransferences.  Puja Hall will be the presenter.

On Saturday, March 24, 2012, Dr. Andrew Tatarsky will speak. When treating excessive substance use and other dangerous behaviors, the therapist's countertransference can often get in the way. Dr. Tatarsky will discuss both the challenges and opportunities inherent in working with active users. Through clinical case examples, the presenter will demonstrate how an integrative harm reduction approach can help the therapist steer an effective course between either enabling or alienating the patient.

Previous conferences offered in COPAT's Spring Lecture Series

2010

• Addiction, Psychoanalysis and the Brain

2008

• Internet Pornography: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Treatment of Eroticized Addictions  
• Spirituality in Recovery

2007

• Trauma & Addiction Through the Lens of Disorganized Attachment   
• Hidden Eating Disorders & Attachment Theory: Trust & Safety in the Therapeutic Relationship

2006

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Crystal Meth   
• Cutting: The Deliberate Dissociation

2005

• It's Not About the Money: Using a Combined Behavioral and Psychodynamic Approach to Treat Money Addictions     
• Risky Business: Working with Patients Who Engage in Life-Threatening Behavior

2004

• Invitation and Interchange: Engaging the Whole Person in the Treatment of Substance Abuse           
• Focus on Sexual Compulsions Through a Psychoanalytic Lens    
• Using Attachment Theory to Understand the Psychological Development of ACOAs: Implications for Treatment

2003

• Relational Psychoanalysis and the Problem of Chronic Substance Use: A Promising Therapeutic Fit
• Working with Multiple Meanings of Substance Abuse: A Psychodynamic Harm Reduction Approach