Dating and Practicing in a Cultural Fishbowl: Navigating the Ethics of Extra-Analytic Contact and Overlapping Relationships in the LGBTQ+ Community
Number of hours (CE credits): 2hrs
Description:
This presentation examines a moment in which the author encountered a patient on a social media application known for its explicitly romantic and sexual aspirations. Previous psychoanalytic literature on extra-analytic contact, as it has been called, has focused on much more benign moments and, interestingly, has little to say on what happens when these experiences occur in romantic or sexual contexts. Traditional and contemporary perspectives on extra-analytic contact are reviewed for both what they can offer these moments and what has yet to be explored or examined. The presentation will examine the author’s reaction to “unwitting exposure” as a romantic and sexual being and the professional and personal origins of such reactions. Analyst/therapist subjectivity, the experience of identifying with the same cultural minority (specifically LGBTQ+ populations) one works with, and the ethics of the analyst/therapist’s engagement in culturally-specific events and social media apps will be explored and discussed as it relates to participant’s own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about dealing with such experiences.
Objectives:
As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Differentiate the phenomena of extra-analytic contact, overlapping relationships, and dual relationships
2. Outline traditional and contemporary relational/feminist perspectives on managing experiences with patients outside of treatment
3. Consider proposed recommendations for managing extra-analytic contact and overlapping relationships
4. Analyze their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about analyst/therapist having a personal life and the potential for extra-analytic contact/overlapping relationships.
Biography:
Dr. Kyle Schultz is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked as a therapist, educator, and lecturer in various settings with a diverse array of people. He received his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology and M.Ed. in Human Sexuality from Widener University. Dr. Schultz joined the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 as a practicum seminar leader, and joined the faculty in the fall of 2014. He teaches courses in counseling interventions, advanced ethics, practicum, sociocultural issues in counseling, basic counseling skills, human sexuality, and career counseling. In addition to working as a full-time lecturer in the professional counseling program, he also owns his own private psychotherapy practice, seeing individuals with issues related to sexuality, relationships, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Dr. Schultz is also a psychoanalytic candidate at the Institute for Relational Psychoanalysis of Philadelphia.
