The Kyoto Neuropsychoanalysis Study Group
Description:
The Japanese translation of The Brain and the Inner World, an introductory text of neuropsychoanalysis by Mark Solms and Oliver Turnbull, was published in July 2007. Our group, the Kyoto Neuropsychoanalysis Study Group, was established on this occasion. This monumental book has now been published in seven languages. Currently there is a great distance between psychological (subjective) and biological (objective) perspectives in Japan, as there is elsewhere, which can be seen, for example, in the discrepancy between trends in biological psychiatry strongly promoting pharmacotherapy and traditional schools of psychotherapy. Not a few people involved in the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy have voiced concerns about this state of affairs. We hope that this book and the field of neuropsychoanalysis itself will be able to help Japanese people who are interested in bridging the gulf between those perspectives.
The activities of our group are as follows:
1. Clinical work
We study Clinical Studies in Neuro-Psychoanalysis by Mark Solms and Karen Kaplan-Solms and discuss clinical methods integrating neuroscience and psychoanalysis/ psychotherapy, namely from both objective and subjective perspectives. Since most of us are psychiatrists/physicians and psychotherapists, we try to practice what we learn in our daily clinical work from the dual perspective.
2. Research
Most of us are engaged in studies of psychiatry, palliative care, and clinical psychology from the viewpoint of neuropsychoanalysis. We have investigated the relationships between brain and social cognition, such as mentalizing or empathy, using MRI and NIRS. These mental functions are intimately associated with interpersonal relationships in psychotherapy—for example, transference. Thus we believe these studies will help us to understand how psychotherapy works.
We are also doing clinical studies designed for the combination of pharmacotherapy (modulation of serotonin or dopamine) and psychotherapy (subjective experience) with neuroimaging methods (objective brain function).
3. Education
We organize educational lectures, workshops, and symposiums in order to provide up-to-date information about neuropsychoanalysis. We published the first Japanese Neuropsychoanalysis book “Introduction to Neuropsychoanalysis” in 2015.
We are all pleased to take part in the International Neuropsychoanalytic Society and promote neuropsychoanalytic activity together.
Group Coordinator:
Yasutaka Kubota
Email: yka@edu.shiga-u.ac.jp
Location:
Health and Medical Service Center
Shia University
1-1-1 Baba Hikone 522-8522
Japan
Meeting Schedule:
Irregular
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