The Seasoned Clinician's Notebook: How Psychoanalytic Concepts Inform the Practice of Psychotherapy

The Linchpin of Connection: How Identity, Meaning-Making, and the Therapeutic Relationship Alleviate Human Suffering

Presented by Marvice Marcus, PhD, LP, HSP-P

Psychotherapy--both an art and a science--is a fascinating endeavor composed of two or more people.  Psychoanalysts, psychologists, and clinical social workers, among other allied professionals, have long argued that the therapeutic relationship is the most valuable aspect of the clinical enterprise. The available fund of knowledge that supports this claim is robust. The proverbal "talking cure" has a genesis in psychoanalysis and is facilitated by the establishing and unfolding of a distinct relationship. Manifest and latent material shape interactions between the provider and patient. Classical psychoanalysis has been criticized for its one-directional top-down sensibility. The political undercurrents, for example, of identity, social conditions, and historical factors, are often given little attention or deemed unimportant. A two-person psychology, however, provides a point of departure to examine with discipline and rigor, the complexities of identity and its bearing on relational dynamics within the psychic field. Reflexivity promotes thought expansion, and arguably a critical praxis may help establish, deepen, and sustain a therapeutic relationship. This program will cover individual and field-specific factors that shape clinical interventions and the culture of psychotherapy.

About the presenter

Dr. Marcus is a licensed psychologist, consultant, and clinical educator/supervisor in Durham, NC. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in psychology, from the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Marcus completed a doctorate in counseling psychology at Washington State University. He previously served as the Training Director at Duke University Counseling & Psychological Services. 

He enjoys working with individuals across the developmental spectrum. While he deeply values training and education, clinical work is his first love. His service provision includes individual and group psychotherapy, with the latter modality giving birth to a strong interest in structural deficits, transference, and object relations. Psychodynamic thought, cultural studies, critical inquiry, and liberationist praxis energize Dr. Marcus.