Feeling Connected: From Hope to Trust to the Third
Book Spotlight conversation with author Jon Allen, PhD
May 17, 6:00-7:30pm, IN-PERSON
Jon Allen’s recent interest in what enables us to feel connected in personal relationships evolved from writing his book, Trusting in Psychotherapy (American Psychiatric Publishing, 2022). Ideally, trust is reciprocal: Each individual is trusting of the other and trustworthy to the other. Trusting entails hope that the other will be trustworthy. Trust and hope imply doubt: without doubt, concern about trust would not enter our mind; without doubt, we would have no need for hope. With hope that we can trust, we count on others for care, concern, and help; concomitantly, knowing and caring that we are counting on them motivates others to be trustworthy. Trusting in others and their responsiveness to trust requires an intuitive feeling of connection. The feeling of connection implies a connector: Where is the connection? Recent psychoanalytic literature introduces the concept of “the Third” as a link between the two individuals. This link is a joint creation that influences and shapes the individuals who are creating it. In short, the creation creates the creators. Think of an enlivened conversation that leads to unforeseen territory. Jon experiences the Third in playing jazz piano in a trio. Sharing an interest in this elusive experience of the Third, Jon and Cyrus Wirls agree that we are in the realm of spirituality, which they will discuss in this book spotlight.
Event Details:
When: Wednesday, May 17, 2023 | 6:00 - 7:30pm
Where: The Institute for Spirituality and Health
8100 Greenbriar Ste #300, Houston, TX 77054
Cost: Free of Charge
If you are interested in purchasing the book, please visit Amazon to order a copy of Trusting in Psychotherapy.
Presenter and Author
Jon G. Allen, Ph.D., holds the position of Clinical Professor as a member of the Voluntary Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Baylor College of Medicine. He is a member of the honorary faculty at the Houston Center for Psychoanalytic Studies and the adjunct faculty of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. He retired from clinical practice as a senior staff psychologist after 40 years at The Menninger Clinic, where he taught and supervised fellows and residents; conducted psychotherapy, diagnostic consultations, and psychoeducational programs; and led research on clinical outcomes. He continues to teach, write, and consult. His books include Trusting in Psychotherapy, Restoring Mentalizing in Attachment Relationships: Treating Trauma with Plain Old Therapy, Mentalizing in Clinical Practice (with Peter Fonagy and Anthony Bateman), Coping with Trauma: From Self-Understanding to Hope, and Coping with Depression: From Catch-22 to Hope, all published by American Psychiatric Association Publishing. Additional books are Mentalizing in the Development and Treatment of Attachment Trauma (Karnac) and Traumatic Relationships and Serious Mental Disorders (Wiley).