Seminar Series 2, Part 1

Seminar Series 2, Part 1

CHAPTER 2 – Pre-Eidetic Stage

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

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

Member Rates: Regular: $90 | Early Career Professional: $75 | Student: $60
Non-Member Rates: Regular: $100 | Early Career Professional: $85 | Student: $65

3 CEs for Psychologists, Social Workers, and Professional Counselors

Registration

Seminar Series Description

In this continuing education seminar, we explore the unfolding process of developing personal meaning and unconditional self-worth during the first stages of a child’s first year of life. We 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 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 explore the significance and personal meaning of key developmental milestones, including the smile response and stranger anxiety. We 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. We discuss the infant’s specific caregetting needs during these stages and how caregivers can understand and respond accurately to these intrapsychic needs. We explore how these developmental concepts can be applied in child rearing, parent counseling, child play therapy and adult psychotherapy to help children and adults acquire inner well-being and stable self-worth.

Learning Objectives

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

  1. Describe the intrapsychic personal meaning signified when the baby first smiles at their caregivers.
  2. Describe the theory’s conceptualization of primary stranger anxiety and how the infant’s dysphoria at the sight of a stranger’s face represents a loss of primary intrapsychic motive gratification.
  3. Describe the developmental advances that occur when the caregiver responds accurately to the child’s anxiety during the stranger anxiety stage.
  4. Describe the negative effects of adultomorphizing and how an understanding of the child’s intrapsychic development can help caregivers respond accurately to their child’s developmental needs.

The seminar consists of a series of four video presentations by experienced clinicians featuring in-depth discussion of the milestones of the specific developmental stage with the use of examples to bring the core concepts of Intrapsychic Humanism to life.

Reference for the Seminar Series
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, pp. 37-56; Kindle pp. 46-65.

Webinar 1: An Overview of the Pre-Eidetic Stage 
In this seminar, we will present an introduction to and overview of the Pre-Eidetic Stage, which occurs from birth to 12-14 months. We will consider how the infant’s need for the personal meaning of self-worth, which develops through the caregiving relationship, manifests during this stage. Concepts to be covered include eidetic internalization, veridical and illusional gratification phases of development, and the distinction between two types of caregiver experiences/percepts – veridical and nonveridical. The relevance of these concepts to child rearing and to clinical practice will be discussed.
Reading Reference: page 37-41; Kindle pages 46-50

Webinar 2: Birth to Eight Months: The Veridical Gratification Phase 
In this seminar, we will explore the Veridical Gratification Phase of the Pre-Eidetic Stage, which begins at birth and ends 5-8 months later with the onset of stranger anxiety. We will consider the theory’s conceptualization of the smile response as an expression of the infant’s pleasure of the caregiving relationship and acquiring the meaning of effective agency by causing the caregiver to love and care for them. We will discuss the effects of traumatic and inaccurate or uninformed caregiving on the child’s intrapsychic development during this stage and consider caregiving opportunities that will enhance the child’s innately determined motive for genuine, relationship-oriented pleasure and inner well-being. Clinical examples will be used to illuminate how these concepts can be applied in psychotherapy to help clients achieve genuine effective agency.
Reading Reference: page 42-47; Kindle pages 50-56

Webinar 3: Consequences of Adultomorphizing and the Power of Responding to the Child’s Intrapsychic Motive for Caregetting Pleasure 
In this seminar, we will discuss adultomorphizing, the misunderstanding of child development that results from viewing the child as a mini adult, creating a limited understanding of the child’s mind that focuses on manifest behavior rather than on the child’s sense of agency that comes from being the cause of their caregiver’s love. We will discuss the importance of the caregiver accurately discerning the infant’s intrapsychic motives and purpose, and understanding the infant’s behavior as their search for positive caregetting pleasure. We will discuss applications for child rearing, parent counseling and psychotherapy.
Reading Reference: page 47-52; Kindle pages 56-61

Webinar 4: Primary Stranger Anxiety: The Developmental Advancement of Loss and Mourning within the Caregiving Relationship 
In this seminar, we will discuss the theory’s unique understanding of the developmental milestone called stranger anxiety and how the accurate mourning of this developmental loss advances the child’s experience of regulatory agency. We will discuss the developmental advancement that occurs when a caregiver accurately helps the infant mourn and grieve the loss of a stranger’s face within the context of the pleasure of the caregiving relationship. We will discuss how the concept of mourning losses can be applied to helping both parents and clinicians.
Reading Reference: page 52-56; Kindle pages 61-65

Seminar Leaders

Carla Beatrici

Carla Beatrici, Psy.D.

Vice President for the Collaborative Partnership with Smart Love Family Services
Dr. Carla Beatrici is a Clinical Psychologist with over 30 years of clinical experience providing psychotherapy to individuals of all ages and with a specialization in child and adolescent mental health. Dr. Beatrici is the Co-Executive Director and Clinical Director 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 training and supervision to ensure the provision of high quality mental health care. She has also developed and implemented Smart Love and Inner Humanism® staff training programs for healthcare professionals in many settings, including Easter Seals, Early Head Start, the American Medical Association, and Children’s Memorial Hospital. These trainings focus on helping caregivers create positive caring relationships with children as a way to build stable inner self-esteem. Dr. Beatrici is an adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at Loyola Medical Center where she teaches Developmental Theories to psychiatry residents.

Marian Sharkey

Marian Sharkey, Ph.D., LCSW

Dr. Marian Sharkey is a psychotherapist in private practice with over 25 years of clinical experience working with individuals of all ages in a variety of inpatient and outpatient community mental health and psychiatric hospital settings. She is the Director of Training at Smart Love Family Services where she provides clinical training and supervision.  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 has been an adjunct faculty member in the School of Social Work at Loyola University and serves on the Board 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 and the theoretical principles and practice of Inner Humanism®.

Registration