The Psychology of the Skin: Integrating mind, body, skin and psyche

This event is presented by the North Carolina Chapter of the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work.

Please join us for a rich discussion as Stacy Nakell presents: The Psychology of the Skin: Integrating mind, body, skin and psyche in the therapy room.

The modern psychoanalytic framework is grounded research from the 1960s that prioritized the attachment needs of young children, from the ages 0-2, otherwise known as the pre-verbal or pre-Oedipal years. In a little known paper from 1967, "The experience of the skin in object relations," analyst Esther Bick highlighted the metaphorical element of the skin as a container, naming the container for the developing self the "psychic skin." In essence, her proposition was that in the same way that the developing organs need certain conditions in order to grow naturally, the developing self too must develop a sense of inner and outer. This 'psychic skin' provides that sense that everything is going to be OK, a visceral feeling of comfort in one's skin.

In her work with pre-teens, teens and adults struggling with body-focused repetitive behavior disorders, presenter Stacy Nakell has come to understand picking, pulling and biting of the dermis as, to some extent, representing damage to this psychic skin container from early in life. Work with the tender, youngest parts of the self entails decoding body language, attending to sensory needs, meeting and joining and mirroring, along with verbal processing in sessions. This talk will guide clinicians in understanding the defenses of perfectionism and over-achieving from the perspective of early attachment disruptions. A case study will illustrate the power of a depth-oriented approach in healing both psychic and literal skin.

Register soon!

Early registration ends October 9 at 11:30pm

When: Saturday, November 9th 2024

Workshop: 10:00 - 12:00 AM

Where: UNC School for Social Work

Two contact hours will be available for this event.

A small consultation group will follow the presentation from 2:30-4:30 at a separate location. This group will offer participants a time to process both personal and professional responses to the material, ask any questions they may have, and consult about relevant cases. This group will have a separate fee of $75. For more information and to register for the small group, please contact Nakell directly at [email protected].

Presenter:

Stacy Nakell is a licensed clinical social worker, certified group psychotherapist, certified clinical trauma practitioner, and author. She has spent the past fifteen years in private practice in Austin, TX providing individual and group psychotherapy to clients struggling with body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). She works with pre-teens, teens and adults from an integrative psychodynamic approach and offers training and consultation for mental health professionals. She is the author of two peer-reviewed articles about her approach, and her book, Treatment for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors: An Integrative Psychodynamic Approach, was published by Routledge in 2023, as part of the Routledge Focus on Mental Health series. In her free time she is an assistant boxing coach for a women's amateur competition team.

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