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Department of Psychology






THE PSYCHOANALYTICALLY ORIENTED PSYCHOLOGY
INTEREST GROUP OF THE APS

presents

Traces of Shame
Speaker: Dr. Doris McIlwain


In Patrick Susskind’s novel Perfume, the protagonist, Grenouille, is able to concoct fragrances that overwhelm those inhaling them with a sense of the fragile beauty of lost innocence. Liberally using perfume in this way he brings to control even a crowd who, seconds before, would have killed him: they halt their attack and revere him. Machiavellians do not inhabit the realm of emotion or morality in the same way as others, yet they use these realms to manipulate others. This paper suggests that part of what makes a Machiavellian personality style is the attempt to deal with shame, once and for all, by bypassing it. Internalized unconscious shame can rob us of a willingness to trust. It makes us unwilling to risk transparency to others about our aims and ideals, to risk an unrequited smile and the hope for kind treatment.
Using Machiavellians as a case study, I explore how shame can alienate us from others and from parts of ourselves, Gollum-like, diminishing the integrity of our personality. I describe psychoanalytic features of developmental environments, which promote shame-proneness and highlight ways of working with people who have drawn dark conclusions about self and others.
Dr. Doris McIlwain is a senior lecturer in personality psychology and the philosophy of psychoanalysis at Macquarie University. She is a founding member of ‘Working Through Psychoanalysis’ and has a small private practice. Her research addresses many features of emotion, charisma and skilled movement. She does Yoga, loves poetry and throws pots.


DATE: Tuesday, 30th June 2009 - 2 APS Generalist PD Points apply
7.30 pm (7.15pm for light refreshments)

VENUE: Crows Nest Centre, Pat Brunton Rm, Holtermann St, Crows Nest

COST: $25.00; $15.00 for students (receipts will be issued)

BOOKINGS: POPIG-NSW c/o Ursula Armstrong, Convener
PO Box 3145, Bellevue Hill 2023

ENQUIRIES: Jutta Lennard 02 9904 4330


 
 
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