Loewald and Winnicott: Finding the Other

Slochower, J. (2025, November). Loewald and Winnicott: Finding the other  [presentation]. Loewald Center, New York, online.

Despite Loewald and Winnicott’s different theoretical points of entrée, they articulated overlapping – though not identical – ideas about our encounter with otherness. Using Loewald’s 1979 “The Waning of the Oedipus Complex” and Winnicott’s 1969 “The Use of the Object and Relating through Identification,” Slochower explores the striking overlap in the two thinkers’ visions of the evolving capacity for two-person relatedness. Discussed by Marsha Levy-Warren.

Can the Center Hold?

Slochower, J. (2025, November). Can the center hold? [conference keynote presentation]. New Directions in Psychoanalytic Writing. Washington, DC.

This is a period of massive political and social upheaval. Not only can our once-to-be-counted-on democracy no longer be counted on, but there’s been a breakdown in the social norms that have represented a background support for many of us. We confront a fractured nation and a fractured world, the consequences of which are literally terrifying. What’s not yet historical cannot be fully mourned: We continue to confront Covid’s losses and the ongoing sequelae of our deteriorating climate. Not to mention the rise of fascist governments in tandem with a global upsurge in racism, antisemitism, and political violence. I don’t think that psychoanalytic work is sufficient to help us assimilate the existential losses that reside outside the arena of the personal. To do so, we need to move beyond the consulting room. I explore how communal acts of commemorative ritual may help us encompass, mourn, and move beyond mourning to action.

Ending, Not Quite Ending, and Not Ending at All: Some Thoughts on Termination

Slochower, J. (2025, November). Ending, not quite ending, and not ending at all: Some thoughts on termination  [presentation]. IARPP Australia, online.

I consider the place of termination in contemporary psychoanalytic practice. A more flexible approach to therapeutic endings represents one dimension of a broader paradigm shift away from rule-boundedness and toward clinical flexibility. In any event, final, less-than-final, and absent goodbyes have always been part of psychoanalytic reality despite the power of our termination ideal. I first describe the broader move toward flexibility within the field and then address its complex implications for psychoanalytic endings. In that context, I explore the varied ways in which we don’t always end treatment relationships. The implications of not entirely ending a treatment are also addressed.

On Retiring and Not Retiring: Analytic Impairment and Analytic Denial

Slochower, J. (2025, February). On retiring and not retiring: Analytic impairment and analytic denial  [panel.] Annual American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA) Conference, San Francisco.

This discussion group, which includes Christie Platt & Jill Salberg, invites participants of all ages to explore the challenges of aging, impairment, and retirement. What does an intentional retirement look like and how does a clinician come to such a decision? Aging and potential retirement should encourage self-reflection, yet many individuals deny the possibility of declining professional capacity or consider the possibility of doing something other than psychoanalysis/psychotherapy. The group will examine the dynamics that complicate facing these realities. Does the desire to “die in the saddle” obscure the need for new pursuits and awareness of vulnerability? Does fear of harming a colleague silence concerns about their impairment? What underlying factors prevent us from confronting these inevitable changes? By fostering open dialogue, the group aims to raise awareness and help participants avoid “going missing” during this critical phase of life.

Joyce Slochower, Ph.D., ABPP
New York, NY, USA
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