The Quest for Self-Understanding in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

The famous Delphic maxim — “Know thyself!” — has been a guiding principle in both philosophy and psychoanalysis. Both disciplines agree that self-knowledge is valuable but often difficult to achieve. Even Socrates, in the Phaedrus, admits that he struggles with truly knowing himself: “I am not yet able, as the Delphic inscription has it, to know myself.” In this webinar, we will draw our resources from both traditions to examine why self-knowledge is so hard to achieve, to deepen our own self-understanding, and to devise some practical strategies for working with patients to deepen their own self-possession.
Learning Objectives:
• Understand the Delphic maxim and its relevance to the therapeutic process.
• Identify the challenges of self-observation and why it's difficult to know oneself directly.
• Explore Freud’s “indirect route” to self-knowledge, which focuses on examining one’s accidental actions and omissions.
• Develop practical strategies for gaining greater self-possession, both personally and in the clinical setting
Venue: Live Webinar (Zoom registration required. Please check your booking confirmation email).
Date: Saturday, 24th May, 2025
Time: 11.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. (Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra Time)
Cost: Free (Live Webinar Only)
$9.99 (Live Webinar &/or Access to Recording for 30 days)
CPD: 1.5 hours. 80% attendance of live webinar required. 1.5 hours. CPD Certificates are also issued after viewing the recording and completing an assessment.
About Prof Allison Merrick: Allison Merrick, Ph.D., Psy.D., RP, is Associate Professor of Philosophy at California State University, San Marcos and a trained Research Psychoanalyst with a private practice. She is the author of the forthcoming book Nietzsche on the Methods and Aims of Philosophy: The Seal of Liberation (Cambridge University Press) and the co-editor of Nietzsche and Politicized Identities (2024) and of “Shame: Sources and Trajectories” a special issue of Psychoanalytic Inquiry (2024)..
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