Continuing Education Course

Erich Fromm (1900–1980) earned a PhD in sociology from Heidelberg, trained in psychoanalysis in Berlin, and was a key Frankfurt School theorist. A German Jew, he fled Nazi Germany in 1934, settling in New York, where he co-founded the William Alanson White Institute. His 20+books, including The Art of Loving, have sold over 50 million copies worldwide. Despite his popularity, Fromm is largely overlooked in mainstream psychoanalysis. His Freudo-Marxian “psychoanalytic social psychology” offers powerful insights into today’s crises, including neofascism. This course explores core concepts such as “social character” (how individuals internalize societal demands) and the “social unconscious” (shared repression that masks societal contradictions), which together create the “pathology of normalcy.”  We will also examine Fromm’s views on religion, including Zen Buddhism, as well as his concept of "social narcissism" (malignant satisfaction that distorts reality and fosters factionalism) and his therapeutic stance of "central relatedness" (a special kind of attunement with the patient that facilitates de-repression).

Learning Objectives

• Participants will be able to describe the core concepts of Frommian psychoanalytic social psychology, including “social character,” or the process by which individuals come to want to act as they have to act according to the rules of their society, and the “social unconscious,” or shared repression that masks societal contradictions.

• Fromm takes up Freud’s invitation in Civilization and Its Discontents to extend psychoanalytic research into the pathology of communities. The clinical and theoretical implications of this approach will be discussed and critiqued through the lenses of “normalcy,” religion and spirituality, and “social narcissism.” The presuppositions of psychoanalysis itself will also be interrogated.

• Learners will analyze Fromm’s therapeutic stance of “central relatedness,” or a special kind of attunement with the patient that facilitates de-repression, and explain how this reflects Fromm’s understanding of the psychoanalyst as "physician of the soul." Learners will also consider how this humanistic approach answers Fromm's call for a turn toward the social as a remedy for the crisis of contemporary psychoanalysis.

CME/CE Accreditation

ACCME Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and Western New England Psychoanalytic Society. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

 AMA Credit Designation Statement

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 9 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Disclosure Statement

The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME's identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.

This program is being reviewed for Continuing Education Credit Hours by the National Association of Social Workers, CT. Once approved, it will meet the continuing education criteria for Social Work Licensure renewal, Marriage & Family Therapist Licensure renewal, Professional Counselor Licensure renewal and Licensed Psychologist Licensure renewal.