SWK-6521-02

Syllabus: Spring 2025

History of the Course:

I graduated with my Doctorate in Social Work (DSW) from Aurora University in 2016. I had been an adjunct teacher during the four years it took me to earn this degree (2012-1026). Shortly after I defended my dissertation, I became a full-time faculty member at the Aurora University George Williams School of Social Work. I earned tenure and promotion from the rank of Assistant Professor to Associate Professor at the start of 2022. However, I ended up leaving this position at the start of 2024 so that I could (1) be more present as a parent and (2) devote more time to my clinical practice.

Every semester, I taught at Aurora University, and I would teach at least one section of a course that everyone called 6521, which was the course number. (The reason it was called 6521 was that we kept changing the name of the course. For a long time, it was called Clinical Practice IV, followed by Advanced Psychodynamic Social Work, and then Advanced Clinical Social Work. Regardless of the title, the course number remained the same (SWK-6521).

Course Description:

Season one of this course/podcast focused on clinical theories and theorists. The goal was to give clinicians a broad overview of different psychoanalytic (sometimes called psychodynamic) theories as they pertain to clinical work.

The way season one was structured was:

• Theory
• Theorist
• Technique

This season (season 2) of the course/podcast, which will start with the next episode of thispodcast, will be different.

I'll reverse this and focus on technique as the content of the podcast. The techniques I discuss will still be rooted in a theoretical foundation, but I'll spend less time discussing the theory and more time discussing how it can be used as a compass for clinical decision-making.

Another way to describe what I'm aiming at with this season of the podcast is to give form to what I'd call "my style" of doing clinical work, and I want that form (the format of the podcast) to be something that people can easily listen to and understand.

Course Objectives:

The main objective of the course is to make more people aware of the ways that psychoanalytic theory can be more than just theory, to help them see the ways that it can be used clinically.

This is a broad, non-measurable objective.

Pre-Requisites:

Listening to Season One is advisable but not essential. Having a decent grasp of psychoanalytic jargon is probably going to be helpful as well, but it is also not essential.

So, there are no real prerequisites for the course.

Cost:

The course will be available to the public for FREE. However, it does cost me time and money to make the content available! (It is free to you, but it costs me money to make it.) If you would like to help me recoup some of the cost, you can become a supporter of [S][J][P]—Surplus Jouissance Projects, which is the entity through which I produce all of my content[S][J][P] - Surplus Jouissance Projects.

There are two levels of support

• $7.00 a month / $50.00 a year.
• $12.00 a month / $100.00 a year.

Lessons:

1. Intro to Me & the podcast/course (Video, Audio)
2. Go small & go to the session
3. Curiosity / being interested in an Other person is the basis of our work
4. Listening – The unconscious can’t be articulated. It articulates us.
5. Don't judge – Respect Otherness / Symptoms are solutions
6. Don't advise!
7. Don't talk too much – Highlighting
8. Unveiling the Truth – Interpretation
9. The Midterm
10. Break
11. Punctuating – Ending on the right note
12. Silence & empty speech
13. Rectifying – Constructions
14. The irreconcilable split between doing what we need to do to fit in and doing what makes our bodies feel the most intense satisfaction.
15. Castration & Non-Rapport – The neurotic & the psychotic
16. The split – The signifier // jouissance
17. Jouissance has to be refused to be obtained
18. This thing is called “Imposter syndrome.” – You are not a master! This is good.
19. The Final!
20. Break