Maudsley Lectures in Psychoanalysis | A Psychoanalyst in the Court: Thinking Under Fire - Cleo Van Velsen

Maudsley Lectures in Psychoanalysis | Autumn 2024

Violence in Mind: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Forensic Work

A Psychoanalyst in the Court: Thinking Under Fire

Cleo Van Velsen

Monday 4th November 2024

7:30pm - 9:00pm (GMT)

Hybrid

In-person at 10 Windsor Walk and Online via Zoom.

The criminal act is a consequence of a state of mind with conscious and unconscious components which derive from temperament, personality and early experience. Using theory and clinical material I will argue that forensic psychotherapy explores the importance of the meaning of the act, which involves affective as well as cognitive understanding. Such work requires acknowledgement of the wider context, for example the criminal justice system, including giving evidence in court  which means the therapeutic relationship is triadic rather than dyadic - his  affects approach and technique. I will explore the risks of both over and under involvement and the particular stresses of the transference and countertransference, taking into account location. 

Dr Cleo Van Velsen is a Consultant Psychiatrist in Forensic Psychotherapy and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She was previously the Responsible Clinician in the Personality Disorder Medium Secure Unit in East London and is now Consultant Psychiatrist in the Family Trauma Team at the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families plus private practice. She is also a member of the British Psycho-analytical society. She worked full time for one year in the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. She has extensive experience in the assessment, management and treatment of those suffering with personality difficulties, violence and trauma. She is a member of the Factitious and Induced Illness reference group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and member of the Psychoanalysis and Law Committee of the International Psychoanalytic Association. She has carried out assessments in the Family, Civil and Criminal Courts. She is the co-editor of a textbook on Forensic Psychotherapy and section editor of the Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis as well as contributing chapters to other publications. She regularly teaches and presents.

Acts of violence have long been a source of fascination and bewilderment, not least because the shock of their impact invites a particular type of thinking, or non-thinking. When confronted with unthinkable, or apparently mindless, acts, we are all vulnerable to locating the source of violence in the 'offender', and not seeing the links with the violence, both interpersonal and structural, in our families, communities and societies. This lecture series will offer participants an opportunity to engage with a range of contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives on understanding and thinking about different types of violence, in minds and deeds. There will be a combination of theory and clinical presentations. This series has relevance for those who are experienced and those who are new to this area. 

REFUND POLICY: Tickets are fully refundable until 14 days before the lecture, after which time no refunds will be issued.

Concession tickets are available, for students, BPAS candidates and NHS trainees and nurses. Please email outreach@iopa.org.uk if you are unsure if you qualify for a concession ticket.

Views and opinions expressed by speakers are their own and do not represent the views or opinions of the Institute, event organisers or other speakers. We expect delegates to respect the confidentiality of clinical material discussed in our events. The content must not be recorded, conveyed or disseminated in any format and participants must not share access to the event with non-registered participants.