The Connecticut Society for Psychoanalytic

Presents a Clinical Conference

Maria Elena Oliva, LCSW

A Healing Journey of the Bilingual Self:

In Search of the Language of the Heart

Saturday May 6, 2017

10:30 am – 12:30pm

The New Haven Lawn Club

193 Whitney Ave, New Haven

Lunch included

The Speaker

Maria Elena Oliva earned her Master’s degree at Fordham University at Lincoln Center with a special interest in treatment of children and their families. She worked in Child Guidance Centers in New York, and later Connecticut, confronting the many challenges experienced by a growing monolingual and bilingual population to receiving linguistically competent psychotherapy. Ms. Oliva is currently a doctoral candidate at the Smith College School of Social Work where she is exploring the impact of bilingualism on supervision and clinical training of the bilingual social worker. As a child immigrant to the United States from Cuba, Ms. Oliva has lived and been educated within the duet of two languages. She believes that it is these voices that always remind her of home, that speak to her in the language of the heart. Ms. Oliva has presented on the impact of therapy in the second language at two NASW annual conferences, groups of psychotherapy practitioners and to several university groups.

Summary

For a bilingual client, psychotherapy experienced in a second language is complicated. It does not always provide healing or helpful outcomes. Much can be misunderstood and much can be missed altogether. Language is in the spotlight when we consider therapy with bilingual clients. Yet, language is rarely the focus of psychotherapeutic work that is referred to as the “talking cure.” This presentation will examine the challenges that the bilingual individual must navigate in their two languages, the challenges the therapist may also have to navigate within their internal world of dual languages, and how these impact on the treatment. We will understand the first language, the mother tongue, as the language of emotions, and the second language as the language of detachment and distance.

Learning Objectives:

Following this program attendees should be able to

· Distinguish between the balanced and the dominant forms of bilingualism.

· Explain the therapeutic value/importance of language switching.

· Describe how a bilingual individual possesses a dual sense of self

Recommended Readings

Movahedi, S. (1996). Metalinguistic analysis of therapeutic discourse: Flight into a second language when the analyst and the analysand are multilingual. Journal of the American

Psychoanalytic Association, 44,837-862.

Tummala-Narra, P. (2016). Considering the role of language and affect. In Psychoanalytic

theory in cultural competence in psychotherapy (pp. 111-138). APA. Washington, D.C.

Espín, O. M. (2013). “Making love in English:” Language in psychotherapy with immigrant

women. Women& Therapy, 36, 198-218.

Santiago-Rivera, A. L. & Altarriba, J. (2002). The role of language in therapy with the Spanish-

English bilingual client. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice Vol. 33 (1),

30-38.

Hill, S. (2008). Language and intersubjectivity: Multiplicity in a bilingual treatment.

Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 18, 437-455.

Lijtmaer, R.M. (1999). Language shift and bilinguals: Transference and

countertransference implications. Journal of American Academy of Psychoanalysis. 27, 611-624.

Clauss, C. S. (1998). Language: The unspoken variable in the psychotherapy practice.

Psychotherapy, 35, 188-196.

Conference Schedule:

10:00 – 10:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:30 – 12:30 Presentation

12:30 -- 1:00 Lunch

Participants

The conference is appropriate for professionals interested in the practice of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The instructional level of this conference is intermediate

Continuing Education

This conference has been approved 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 the Clinical Conference Chair, Ellen Nasper, Ph.D., at .

Conference Registration

We welcome ONLINE REGISTRATION for our conferences at cspponline.org or you may mail in the form below.

Mail in Registration Form

Please print and complete this form and return by regular mail with check to:

Nir Yehudai, 303 Mansfield Street, apt I, New Haven, CT 06511

Please make checks payable to CSPP.

Conference FEES

MembersEarly Registration $40.00 __Postmarked by 4/24/17

Regular Registration $50.00 ___

Non-Members of CSPP Early Registration$50.00 ___ Postmarked by 4/24/17 Non-Members Registration $60.00 ___

Early Career Members (within 7 years of degree) $25.00 ___

Retired Members $25.00___

Student — Membersof CSPP$10.00___

Student — Non-Members $15.00 ___

APA Certificate$3.00 ___

NASW-CT Certificate$3.00 ___

Professional Degree ______

Email Address ______

How did you learn about this conference?

______

Need to update your contact information? Please login to your profile at cspponline.org and make any changes. You can also contact the Corresponding Secretary, Ashley Clayton, MA, at .

Refunds will be given in full if the Conference Registrar, Nir Yehudai, LMSW, at s contacted byMonday May 1, 2017.

Directions to the New Haven Lawn Club at 193 Whitney Ave, New Haven.From either north or south bound directions, take Exit 3 from I-91 and go straight 2 blocks on Trumbull and turn right on Whitney. The New Haven Lawn Club is 2-1/2 blocks on right just across from the Peabody Museum.

About the Connecticut Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (CSPP)

CSPP is a local chapter of the Division of Psychoanalysis (39) of the American Psychological Association.Division 39is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.2 continuing education (CE) credits are available for this program. Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content.Social workers can receive continuing education credit through NASW/CT. If CE credit is desired, please mark the appropriate box on the registration form and include the $3.00 fee as indicated. In addition, 100% attendance and a completed evaluation form is required to receive CE credit.

This program has been approved for 2 Continuing Education Credit Hours by the National Association of Social Workers, CT and meets the continuing education criteria for Social Work Licensure renewal.

CSPP Membership: Membership is open to all mental health professionals ($85 annual dues); early career (less than 7 years since degree, $50 annual dues); retirees ($30 annual dues); and graduate students ($20 annual dues). For further information on membership in CSPP please visit our website at