Psychoanalysis does not often bring to mind the image of porcupines.
However, Psychiatry Professor Deborah Luepnitz uses these animals to describe human problems with intimacy in her latest book, Schopenhauer's Porcupines.
The Schopenhauer fable describes two porcupines in the cold who come closer together for warmth, only to sting each other with their quills causing each other pain. They then separate and become cold again.
Friday night, Luepnitz gave a reading from her book preceded by a lecture on the contributions of Donald Winnicott and Jacques Lacan to psychoanalysis.
British Winnicott and French Lacan generally are not thought of together because their theories differ greatly. Winnicott's theories emphasize the relationship between children and their mothers, whereas Lacan is famous for his truncated psychotherapy sessions and his belief that the purpose of psychotherapy is analysis, not cure.
Luepnitz tested new territory by discussing Winnicott and Lacan together. She asked, "Am I proposing a new middle group? No, [but] I would like to see a new group of independents well informed about both Winnicott and Lacan."
After the lecture, Luepnitz read from her book, specifically a case with a patient who had trouble forming serious relationships. The author also touched on issues of race and the difficulties that arose in that case because the patient was black.
"Race is always in the room," she said. "It's a big part of who we are as subjects."
Luepnitz also discussed how she may have over-identified herself with the patient, possibly causing more difficulty.
In the end, Luepnitz wanted to emphasize the importance of psychotherapy. "The talking cure has come under attack. How is talking supposed to help?" the author asked. "I wrote this book to answer this question."
Luepnitz's book ultimately comes to the conclusion, "Psychotherapy cannot make us whole, but it does allow us to transform suffering into speech and, ultimately, to learn to live with desire."
Michigan State University English Professor Ellen McCallum said the talk was "very engaging."
"I'm thinking about changing my syllabus," she said.
Asked what she would say specifically to Penn students, Luepnitz answered, "I really want students to be well educated about what talking therapy can do. Prozac and drugs can save lives, but they should be taken very seriously and should only be used in conjunction with psychotherapy or not at all."
The reading was a part of the eighth annual Conference on Psychoanalysis and Social Change and was attended by members of the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society. The conference featured readings and lectures across campus.
