The Emerging Self of the Young Child

Seminar Description:

The field of psychoanalysis is replete with theories about infancy and child development, and within psychoanalysis there is a longstanding tradition of linking child development to the organization of intrapsychic structure. This six-week in-person seminar returns to the foundational texts of psychoanalytic developmental theory, tracing the arc from Freud's original drive-based account of childhood through the contributions of ego psychology, object relations theory, and beyond. 

Organized along the child's developmental timeline, the seminar moves from the earliest months of life through the oedipal period, drawing on the work of Freud, Melanie Klein, Winnicott, Mahler, Anna Freud, Stern, and others. Participants will explore how the classical tradition illuminates the therapeutic relationship and informs clinical technique.

If you have questions regarding the course, please reach out to programs@sdpsychoanalytic.org for more information.

Seminar Schedule:

Saturday Mornings for 6 weeks
Starts Sept. 19, 2026 - Oct 31, 2026
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM (hybrid)

• Sept. 19 (in-person only)
• Sept. 26 ( virtual )
• Oct. 10 ( virtual )
• Oct. 17 (in-person only)
• Oct. 24 (in-person only)
• Oct. 31 ( virtual )

Presenter Information:

Maya B. Klein, Ph.D., is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in San Diego. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Sciences University and is on the faculty at the Oregon Psychoanalytic Center. She is a graduate of the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center, where she trained in child and adult psychoanalysis. Dr. Klein maintains a private practice with children, adolescents, and adults, and is the founder of Pathformers, an educational platform for providers and families.

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain a thorough grounding in Freud's foundational writings on infantile sexuality, psychosexual development, and the construction of the dynamic unconscious.
2. Develop a greater understanding of the role that affective experience, fantasy, and the early object relationship play in forming the basis of intrapsychic structure.
3. Apply developmental theory to clinical thinking — understanding how early developmental experiences organize the transference and inform technique.

Cultural and Linguistic Competencies (CA AB 1195 & AB 241):

1. Recognize how a patient's cultural background, family structure, and early relational environment shape developmental experience and may influence the therapeutic relationship and treatment process.
2. Identify how a clinician's own theoretical assumptions and implicit suppositions may influence clinical formulation, and develop strategies to reflect on and refine these in practice.
3. Adapt developmental and psychoanalytic frameworks to the individual patient, attending to the particular linguistic, relational, familial, and social circumstances that have shaped their psychological development.

Target Audience: This event is intended for psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and mental health clinicians with an interest in psychoanalytic developmental theory.

CME/CE Credits: 9.0
*To receive continuing education credit for this activity, participants must attend the entire program and complete the program evaluation. Credit cannot be awarded for partial attendance.

Registration Fee

$350 General Registration 
$300 Member Registration 

Limited space! Sign up early to ensure your spot in the course.

Want to reduce your program fees? Become an SDPC Member today! Read more here. For questions, contact: membership@sdpsychoanalytic.org.

Refund/Cancellation Policy:
Please note that SDPC only provides a credit, no cash refunds, on purchased tickets; event credit can be applied towards future events. See our website for our cancellation policy.

If you have questions regarding the seminars, please reach out to programs@sdpsychoanalytic.org for more information.

In-Person and Virtual Sessions: This event is hybrid. Depending on the day, sessions will be held either in person or via Zoom. Please check the schedule below for each session's format. Once your registration and payment are complete you will be sent the link for the virtual sessions. Please email events@sdpsychoanalytic.org if you have not received your link. 

Please note: This event will be recorded for educational purposes. Participants are requested to have their cameras on for CME credit. If you do not wish to be recorded, please be aware that your image and voice may be captured as part of the event.

Registration/Attendance Process: This is a hybrid event and preregistration is required. By registering for this event, all participants agree to abide by SDPC’s in-person and online meeting policies, including confidentiality, ethical conduct, and respectful participation. Failure to follow these guidelines may result in removal from the event and may be subject to disciplinary and/or legal action.

• Register by clicking the registration button. You will receive a confirmation by email with details about the event.
• We will have a list of registrants and will check you off. Preregistration is preferred.
• Verify attendance by signing in on the attendance sheet at in-person events. When attending online, participants must list their full names under their video images to allow the Continuing Education Manager (cme@sdpsychoanalytic.org) to confirm their attendance.
• Participants must have their cameras on at the beginning and the end of virtual sessions to receive credit. 
• Partial attendance at a CE/CME activity will not be awarded CE/CME credit.

Accommodations & Grievances

• If you need special accommodations to attend this event, please contact the Event Coordinator at events@sdpsychoanalytic.org
• For any grievances or issues, please contact the Continuing Education Manager at cme@sdpsychoanalytic.org

Certificates

• Continuing Education certificates of attendance will be awarded electronically upon completion of an evaluation form.
• Activity meets the qualifications for 9 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Partial credit will not be awarded.
• All attendees are responsible for keeping their certificate of attendance for personal records.

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ACCREDITATION

The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center (SDPC), is proud to offer CME credit to Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Psychologists and Social Workers. These CME credits will usually satisfy requirements for Social Worker and Psychologist CEs. However, clinicians should consult their state licensing boards for final approval. Please see the CME/CE credits page for more information.

	CMA Accreditation Statement: The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA, provider #4001214) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement: The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center designates this Continuing Education activity for a maximum of 9.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™️. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
	CAMFT Accreditation Statement: The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center (Provider #050121) is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs for this activity. The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.

Psychologists: The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center is also approved as a Continuing Education Provider by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Provider number PCE#794, to offer CE credit for LCSWs, MFTs, and Registered Nurses, Provider Number CEP#4940. The California Board of Psychology accepts CE credits from the CMA. Psychologists are responsible for reporting their individual attendance to the Board of Psychology.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters of this CME program has any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center (SDPC) CME Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that none of the planners and presenters for this activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. This activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME's identification, mitigation, and disclosure of relevant financial relationships. This activity does not have any known commercial support.

*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content that an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.

Statement of Commitment: The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center does not discriminate in employment and in its educational programs and activities, including admission or access thereto, on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center is affiliated with the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA), the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA), and the Organization of Southern California Psychoanalytic Institutes and Societies.

The San Diego Psychoanalytic Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.