SPECIAL LECTURE SERIES

CAPA offers special lectures, seminars and courses for students, graduates, and members.  A variety of topics will be covered by distinguished members of CAPA's faculty.  Upon completion of the Special Lecture Series lecture, seminar or course, student and graduate participants will receive a certification of participation. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of CAPA.


2024-2025 sls sEMINARS

Title: Perceiving the Unspeakable: What Language for Communication?

Presenter:  Maria Paola Martelli, M.D., Ph.D.

China Seminar DatesFriday, May 9, 2025

China Seminar Times9:00 PM - 10:00 PM (21:00 - 22:00)

US Seminar DatesFriday, May 9, 2025

US Seminar Times9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Prerequisites: Open to all CAPA members, students and graduates

Course Size:  Open enrollment  

Course Fee:  $20 USD                 

Description: This seminar invites psychoanalytic psychotherapy graduates and students to approach the "primitive core" with caution. It also encourages working with patients to observe and process experiences that may not be verbally expressed but can be perceived through counter-transference. Bion’s work offers valuable insights for working with patients who have experienced profound deprivation, from early life through adulthood. As a result, these patients often struggle to understand themselves and the world around them.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will learn to:

1.  Explore methods for approaching and symbolizing the communication between patient and analyst, and vice versa.

2. Use clinical cases to gain a deeper understanding of Bionian theory, focusing on unconscious processes and their role in the analytic process.

Bio: Maria Paola Martelli (Ph.D.) is a Tavistock-trained psychoanalyst, psychologist, and psychotherapist, who is also a qualified psychoanalytic psychoanalyst for children, adolescents and parents.

Dr. Martelli is a founding member of the A.M.H.P.P.I.A. and Centro Studi Martha Harris in Florence, Italy (accredited Tavistock, London) and has been involved in teaching, project development, and institutional work for over 30 years. She is also a member of the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (EFPP).

She has presented papers at national and international conferences and has published several works, including:

  • "Emotional Development and Regression", published in the Melanie Klein and Object Relations Journal.

  • "Quando il dolore è intollerabile: la sofferenza mentale e le interferenze nella conduzione della malattia" (When Pain is Intolerable: Mental Suffering and Interferences in the Course of Illness), published by Firenze University Press (2003) in the book "Il Pupazzo di Garza".

  • "The Stream of Life: From Frozen Babies to the Birth of Psychic Life", published in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in China, Vol. 4 (2021).

  • "La Rivoluzione di Martha Harris: il pensiero psicoanalitico e le sue applicazioni nelle istituzioni", published in 2023, exploring the transformative impact of Harris’s psychoanalytic teachings.

This paper, "Perceiving the Unspeakable: What Language for Communication?", continues her exploration of early emotional experiences, primitive psychic states, and the therapeutic process, integrating psychoanalytic insights with clinical practice.

If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Dr.  Martelli directly at mariapaola.martelli@gmail.com.

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Title: Sexuality and Therapy:  Cultivating Comfort in the Therapeutic Experience and Clinical Setting

Presenter:  Brenda A Lewis, LCSW

China Seminar Date:  Friday, May 16, 2025
China Seminar Times: 9:00 PM – 11:30 PM (21:00 – 23:30) China Time

US Seminar Date: Friday, May 16, 2025
US Seminar Time: 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM Eastern Time

Prerequisites: Open to all CAPA students and graduates

Course Size:  Maximum 20 participants

Course Fee:  $20 USD                 

Description: This seminar is open to all CAPA students and graduates, regardless of experience level, who wish to become more comfortable addressing sexuality and sexual issues in their work with individuals and couples. The seminar will help therapists feel more at ease discussing topics that many find private or awkward, such as sex and money. We will explore how sexual problems in relationships can stem from underlying relational issues, and how poor communication about sexual needs (even in strong relationships) can prevent intimacy from growing. We will discuss how most people ultimately desire to integrate love and sex in a meaningful way, and that this process requires work and guidance. 

Time permitting, the seminar will also address:

  • Sexual dysfunction, focusing on treatable issues such as premature ejaculation, and offering practical strategies that can help many individuals and their partners. Throughout, we will emphasize that sex therapy is an educational process, not a "performance," with the goal of helping students approach these topics with clarity and confidence. 

  • Identity themes, including bisexuality, transgender issues, homosexuality, and open relationships. In many cases, therapy may be the only safe space for individuals navigating these identities. By being knowledgeable and validating, therapists can help clients feel safer and more supported in their self-discovery, reducing feelings of isolation and marginalization. 

  • How to understand and work with erotic transference in a way that feels safe for both the patient and the therapist. We will emphasize the importance of boundaries and how erotic transference, when it arises, can be used as a therapeutic tool to help clients resolve deeper issues and form healthier relationships outside of the therapy room. 

Course Objectives

  1. Students will become more comfortable discussing topics often considered private or awkward, such as money, sex, and sexuality.

  2. Students will learn to recognize how sexual problems often arise from relational issues, and how improving communication about desire can foster greater emotional and sexual intimacy.

  3. Students will develop skills for addressing identity themes related to sexuality and gender, as well as practical approaches to sexual dysfunctions.

  4. Students will learn how to address erotic transference in a safe and boundaried manner, and how to use it as a tool to help clients work through their presenting issues.

Important InstructionsParticipants who sign up are asked to send one sentence question they have about sex therapy to dearbrendalcsw@gmail.com.

Examples of common questions that students grapple with include:

  • "I would like to learn how to treat premature ejaculation"

  • "I would like to understand how to work with vaginismus"

  • " I would like to learn more about connecting sex and love with a patient"

  • "I would like to address why my patient is avoiding sex with a partner she loves"

  • "I would like to learn about bringing up sexual issues I feel are a theme and how to overcome my embarrassment"  

Bio: Brenda A. Lewis, LCSW, is an experienced sex therapist focused on sexuality, relationships and intimacy concerns in individuals and couples for more than 30 years.  Embracing a wide range of ages, backgrounds and cultures, Brenda works with sexual dysfunction in men and women and emotional themes involving intimacy and all aspects of sexuality and gender themes. It's important and imperative to find the uniqueness of everyone's story and find a healing way to make the present fulfilling. Brenda strives to address non-working elements in a supportive, non-judgmental and collaborative way. Together, Brenda looks to discover, understand and to resolve recurring obstacles to the well-being of the individual and or couple.

If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Brenda A. Lewis, LCSW directly at dearbrendalcsw@gmail.com.

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