LIVE Professional Development Programs

Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D. Seminar Series

Intrapsychic Humanism Core Concepts and Clinical Applications Seminars

Each seminar will combine presentations by experienced clinicians with discussion to illustrate and bring to life the core concepts of Intrapsychic Humanism, including use of clinical examples, in one-hour seminars, held over four months.

2023 Fall Seminar

The Primary Need for Personal Meaning:
Developing Self-Worth through the Caregiving Relationship during the First Year of Life
with Applications to Childrearing and Clinical Practice

Part II

Carla Beatrici, Psy.D., and Marian Sharkey, Ph.D.

In our 2023 Fall Seminar we will continue to explore the unfolding process of developing personal meaning and unconditional self-worth during a child’s first year of life. We will consider how the infant enters the world with a “starter supply” of intrapsychic self-esteem that is nurtured through the relationship pleasure the infant experiences with the primary caregiver(s). We will examine the infant’s earliest experiences of the caregiving relationship(s) and the effects of the relationship(s) on the infant’s developing sense of self-worth. We will discuss the infant’s specific caregetting needs during this stage and how caregivers can understand and respond accurately to these intrapsychic needs. We will explore the significance and personal meaning of key developmental milestones, including the smile response, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, and eidetic internalization - whereby the baby internalizes their first symbolic representation of the caregiver by the end of the Pre-Eidetic Stage. We will consider how each stage of development is prompted by a developmental loss that is mourned within the caregiving relationship and provides the infant with new psychological structure that advances their developing sense of personal agency and self-worth. The seminar series will explore how these developmental concepts can be applied to child rearing, parent counseling, child play therapy and psychotherapy with adults to help children and adults acquire inner well-being and stable self-worth.

Program Terms of Use

Registration is Open

Fall Seminar Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of the program participates will be able to:

Describe how the baby’s capacity to use nonveridical (illusional) experiences as having the meaning of causing their caregiver’s love facilitates their interpersonal (e.g., motor, cognitive) development during the illusional gratification phase.
Describe how the baby’s capacity to illusionally use the caregiver’s presence as having the meaning of being loved and causing that love is protective when their caregivers pursue personal motives.
Describe the developmental loss of Primary Separation Anxiety.
Describe Eidetic Internalization and how it facilitates the baby’s development of personal meaning.

Fall Seminar Syllabus

October 4, 2023
Eight to Twelve Months: The Illusional Gratification Phase-Part 1 (pages 56-61) (kindle version: pages 66-71)
IIn the seminar, we will discuss the Illusional Gratification Phase, which coincides with the onset of Primary Stranger Anxiety. We will consider how the baby uses the presence of the caregiver for intrapsychic meaning while developing and expanding interpersonal capacities. We will discuss the difference between presence caregiver and caregiving caregiver precepts as they relate to this phase.

November 1, 2023
Eight to Twelve Months: The Illusional Gratification Phase - Part 2 (pages 61-63) (kindle version: pages 71-73)
In this seminar, we will continue to consider the baby’s intrapsychic experiences during the Iillusional Gratification phase. We will examine further the baby’s adaptive capacity to experience interpersonal motive gratification as having the meaning of causing their caregiver’s love, and explore how this process unfolds in both normal development and in psychopathology. The seminar will include childrearing and clinical applications to elucidate the concepts.

December 6, 2023
Primary Separation Anxiety: The Developmental Advancement of Loss and Mourning within the Caregiving Relationship (pages 63-66) (kindle version: pages 73-75)
In this seminar, we will discuss the second developmental loss that occurs in this first year of life, Primary Separation Anxiety. We will consider the temporary loss of intrapsychic meaning the baby experiences when separated from their caregivers. We will describe how caregivers can understand and respond accurately to the infant’s distress, and how this mourning process within the caregiving relationship continues to advance the baby’s intrapsychic development. Clinical and parenting applications will be provided.

February 7, 2024
The Developmental Milestone of Eidetic Internalization (pages 66-68) (kindle version: pages 76-79)
In this seminar, we will discuss Eidetic Internalization, which occurs at 12-14 months, when the baby’s cognition has developed sufficiently to enable them to keep their parents in their minds when they are out of sight. We will consider how this developmental milestone provides the baby with a rudimentary internal means of gratifying their intrapsychic motive of knowing they are causing their caregiver’s love even when their caregivers are temporarily unavailable to provide focused caregiving.

Fall Seminar Required Reading

October 4th Seminar: Eight to Twelve Months: The Illusional Gratification Phase – Part 1
Pieper, M.H., & Pieper, W.J. (1990). Intrapsychic humanism: An introduction to a comprehensive psychology and philosophy of mind. Chicago: Falcon II Press. Chapter 2, pages 56-61; kindle version, pages 66-71) Books - Intrapsychic Humanism

November 1st Seminar: Eight to Twelve Months: The Illusional Gratification Phase – Part 2
Pieper, M.H., & Pieper, W.J. (1990). Intrapsychic humanism: An introduction to a comprehensive psychology and philosophy of mind. Chicago: Falcon II Press. Chapter 2, pages 61-63; kindle version, pages 71-73) Books - Intrapsychic Humanism

December 6th Seminar: Primary Separation Anxiety: The Developmental Advancement of Loss and Mourning within the Caregiving Relationship
Pieper, M.H., & Pieper, W.J. (1990). Intrapsychic humanism: An introduction to a comprehensive psychology and philosophy of mind. Chicago: Falcon II Press. CChapter 2, pages 63-66; kindle version, pages 73-75) Books - Intrapsychic Humanism

February 7 Seminar: The Developmental Milestone of Eidetic Internalization
Pieper, M.H., & Pieper, W.J. (1990). Intrapsychic humanism: An introduction to a comprehensive psychology and philosophy of mind. Chicago: Falcon II Press. Chapter 2, pages 66-68; kindle version, pages 76-79) Books - Intrapsychic Humanism

Seminar Leaders

Carla M. Beatrici, Psy.D.

Dr. Carla Beatrici is a Clinical Psychologist with over 25 years of clinical experience providing psychotherapy to individuals of all ages and with a specialization in child and adolescent mental health. She has been on the faculty at Loyola Medical Center for over 20 years where she serves as an adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor teaching Developmental Theories, including Intrapsychic Humanism, to psychiatry residents. Dr. Beatrici is also the Director of Clinical Services of a not-for- profit organization Smart Love Family Services located in Oak Park and Chicago. The clinic provides a range of services including counseling for all ages, testing services, and parent education seminars. Dr. Beatrici runs the counseling program where she provides clinical supervision in the theory and application of Intrapsychic Humanism. She has also developed and implemented training programs using Intrapsychic Humanism and Smart Love principles for healthcare professionals in many settings, including Easter Seals, Early Head Start, the American Medical Association, and Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Lurie’s Children’s Hospital). These trainings focus on helping caregivers understand children’s social emotional development and create positive caring relationships with children as a way to build stable internal self-esteem.

Marian Sharkey, Ph.D., L.C.S.W.

Dr. Sharkey is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice with over 25 years experience working with adults, children and families in a variety of inpatient and outpatient community mental health and hospital settings. Dr. Sharkey is the Director of Training at Smart Love Family Services. Dr. Sharkey received her M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the School of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago where she was the founding editor-in-chief of the school's journal, Praxis: Where Reflection & Practice Meet. She is an adjunct faculty member in the School of Social Work at Loyola University and has also taught at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Dr. Sharkey provides clinical supervision at Smart Love Family Services and is on the Board of Directors of the Intrapsychic Humanism Society. Dr. Sharkey has presented at local and national conferences on the topics of the reflective use of theory in clinical practice, trauma-informed treatment, and the theoretical principles and practice of Inner Humanism.