The Relevance of Freud and Ego Psychology for Psychotherapists Today 103

Spring 2025

12 Week Class - January 29, 2025-April 16, 2025, Wednesdays, 9:15am-10:45am

Live Interactive Webinar via Zoom

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE ON JANUARY 22, 2025



System Requirements: To attend this training, one must have access to a computer, internet and Zoom. It is vital that a computer be utilized for this training, instead of a mobile device or Ipad.

Course Description

Psychoanalysis began with Freud and his groundbreaking vision of the unconscious. In this course, the students will learn how Freud created psychoanalysis as a theory of mind and as a method of treatment. The course will take a historical perspective and present an introduction to basic yet important ideas in psychoanalysis. Students will learn the concepts of unconscious motivation, drives and their expression, repetition compulsion, resistance, transference, and countertransference. Other themes will include Freud’s topographical and structural theories, dreams and their relationship to unconscious derivatives, metapsychology, symptom formation, conflict, and defense. Students will become acquainted with some of Freud’s most well-known cases, analyzed from a classical and contemporary perspective. After discussing Freud’s structural theory, the course will pivot toward contributions made by ego psychologists, such as the ego’s defensive, adaptive, and autonomous functions. The role of an observing ego will be addressed, particularly in reference to its use in treatment, and the relevance to current practice of psychoanalysis’s early underpinnings will be explored. Theory and technique will be consistently examined via ongoing case presentations, case vignettes, and critical engagement with the material.

Instructor: Ben Davidman, MD

Ben Davidman, MD is a Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst with a private practice since 2004. He did his psychiatric training at NYU and psychoanalytic training at Columbia Psychoanalytic Center. He has a long standing interest in psychoanalytic teaching; he has taught Psychoanalytic Technique at Columbia Psychoanalytic Center and Transference Focused Psychotherapy within the Psychiatry residency. For the past 13 years he has been the Course Coordinator and Co-instructor for the Psychoanalytic Character Diagnosis course in the NYU psychiatry residency. He currently practices in Chatham, New Jersey.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. Students will be able to identify the development, thematic parallels, and complexities of the core ideas about mental life that continue to underlie current understandings of the human mind.
2. Students will be able to articulate the basic concepts in Freudian terminology and technique, as well as in the concepts developed by ego psychology.
3. Students will be able to apply theoretical concepts discussed in class to their clinical work. 

Target Audience:  Suitable for Psychologists, Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors, Psychiatrists, Advanced Practice Nurses, Graduate Students, Marriage and Family Therapists.

Level of Sophistication: This is an Introductory level post-graduate continuing education program. Suitable to all licensed professionals.

ADA accommodations available upon request: Requests required at least 14 days prior to course start.

Continuing Education: 

18 CEs for Counselors, Psychologists & Social Workers

Counselors: CPPNJ has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education   Provider, ACEP No. 6863. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CPPNJ is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Psychologists:  CPPNJ is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CPPNJ maintains responsibility for this program and its contents. 

NY Psychologists: Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of New Jersey is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0165. 

Social Workers: Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of New Jersey is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0757.



The New Jersey Board of Social Work Examiners, and other state boards, recognize CEs approved by the New York State Education Department.

Course Fee: $400 for members; $550 for non-members

Course Refund Policy: Up to one month before a course starts there will be a full course refund less a $50 administrative fee. Less than one month before a course starts there will be a $50 administrative fee and the payment will be applied to a future course. Once a class starts, there will be no refunds. Extraordinary circumstances will be reviewed on an individual basis.

There is no potential conflict of interest and/or commercial support for this CE event.



For more information or registration, please call 973-912-4432, visit us online at www.cppnj.org, contact us by email at cppnj@cppnj.org or at CPPNJ 235 Main St, Madison, NJ 07940