DOWNTOWN SALON
presented by The New Shul

On the Couch- Analyzing our relationships with therapists

It has been said that, for New Yorkers, therapy has taken the place of religion. New Yorkers, when they are distressed, wait to speak to their therapists rather than going to friends, family or clergy for help. Their pains are neither physical nor metaphysical, but psychological. Has psychotherapy simply become another in a series of unexamined belief systems, providing succor rather than radical self-examination? Providing relief, rather than motivational distress? And what kind of belief system is it, that de-politicizes misery and rationalizes self-absorption?
The New Shul invites you to join moderator Esther Perel and guest speaker Steven Reisner, Ph.D. for a roundtable discussion and open debate. Perel is a Manhattan based psychologist and social commentator whose cross-cultural pulse and playful intellect break with convention. Dr. Steven Reisner is a practicing psychoanalyst, a Freud scholar, and a theater director. His twin specializations are trauma and drama. He works with individuals on the couch and with politically marginalized groups on the stage. He remains skeptical about what therapists, analysts, and patients are doing, without abandoning the responsibility to do something in the face of suffering.

Join The New Shul, a progressive, inclusive, and independent Jewish congregation in lower Manhattan, for provocative discussion, drinks, debate, and community building. Swap thoughts and insights with old and new friends on issues in (or behind) the headlines

$10, $5 for members of The New Shul

www.NewShul.org