[SPR26] Creative Non-Fiction for Clinicians

Creative Non-Fiction for Clinicians 

takes Place 1/24 from 9am to 4pm and 1/25 from 9am to 12pm

Presenter:

Derek Hook is a Professor in Psychology and a clinical supervisor at Duquesne University. A scholar and practitioner of psychoanalysis, he is one of the editors (along with Calum Neil) of the Palgrave Lacan Series and of the four-volume Reading Lacan's Ecrits (with Calum Neill and Stijn Vanheule). He began his analytical training in London, at the Center for Freudian Analysis and Research, and completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of London (Birkbeck College) in 2014. He is the author of Six Moments in Lacan (2016), Fanon, Psychoanalysis and Decolonial Psychology (2025) and the co-editor (with Leswin Laubscher and Miraj Desai) of Fanon, Phenomenology and Psychology (2023), in addition to many papers on various facets of the clinical and cultural dimensions of Lacanian Psychoanalysis and Fanon's psychology. He maintains a YouTube channel with many lectures on Lacanian Psychoanalysis. 

Description:

How might the process of creative non-fiction unlock facets of clinical experience that may have initially eluded us? Even as we hone in skills of clinical sensitivity over years of practice - be it via 'even hovering attention', the input of supervisors, or forms of countertransference - a professional clinical stance invariably requires that we bracket multiple sources of information and engagement. Every clinician is familiar with that patient - or that standout clinical moment - which returns with a new sense of meaning long after a treatment as ended. How then, with the benefit of different - more creative or free associative - mode of engagement, might we return to such moments, and revisit them, and explore them afresh? Returning to standout clinical moments can teach us much, especially if they are approached conceptualization, but from the standpoint of a creative writer intent. This course begins with a piece of clinical non-fiction drawn from the presenter's time as a trainee in a prison context. In the sessions following, participants will be introduced to a rudimentary series of techniques of creative non-fiction and will then take up a series of writing exercises in which they return to one or more salient clinical experiences.

Learning Objectives

Learning Objective 1: Apply basic principles of creative nonfiction writing to facets of their clinical work.

Learning Objective 2: Create different perspectives on clinical experiences via the explorative stance of an author.

Learning Objective 3: Understand how various writing exercises - that aim to describe rather than to explain (to 'show not tell') - provide a distinctive means of depicting clinical experiences and their impact.

Learning Objective 4: Appreciate the expressive means of writing as a type of clinical instrument able to supplement supervision and case formulation.

Learning Objective 5: Engage with aesthetic dimension of writing as a sustaining practice that yields unique insights into one's clients or patients.

Learning Objective 6: Utilize writing as a way of formulating the ongoing impact of difficult cases and clinical situations on clinicians themselves.

Timeline and Requirements:

This course will take place on 1/24 from 9am to 4pm and 1/25 from 9am to 12pm in St. Mary's 1st floor conference room. 

CE Sponsorship: Pending approval

Fees and Policies: 

Payment is due by credit card at registration. Refunds will be granted only up until registration closes at 7am on January 24th. No refunds will be granted for errors on the participant's part (such as incorrect name/email upon registration, login failure, scheduling conflicts, etc.).

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. If you need to request an accommodation or ask a question about accessibility, please contact wcas.cece@bc.edu.

Additional offerings from the Woods College Office of Continuing Education and Community Engagement can be found on our website.