Introduction to Psychoanalysis with Dr. Vanessa Sinclair

12-part online course meeting once a month on Saturdays for one year

Rendering Unconscious Center for Psychoanalysis presents:

Introduction to Psychoanalysis with Dr. Vanessa Sinclair

A 12-part online course meeting once a month on Saturdays for one year. Classes are held via zoom. Each class will meet for 2 hours beginning at 9AM Vancouver/ 12PM NYC/ 5PM London/ 18:00 Stockholm/ 19:00 Beirut.

RU Introduction to Psychoanalysis begins Saturday, September 13th!

There is no prior experience or knowledge necessary to sign up for this class. All are welcome.

Over the course of a year, we will come to understand the various theories and tenants of psychoanalysis by tracing the history of the field as it has unfolded from Freud’s time to ours, reading key texts along the way. The first class will begin with Freud’s own development, surveying the cultural Zeitgeist and political landscape of his time in order to gain a greater understanding of how he began to formulate his ideas. We will look at his early work, as he studied with Jean-Martin Charcot, worked with Josef Breuer, and penned letters to Wilhelm Fliess.

As we progress through the classes, we will cover early psychoanalysts, including Carl Jung, Sabina Spielrein, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Sandor Ferenczi, Theodor Reik, and Otto Rank, among others, tracing the movement of the field as it evolved over time. We will look at the shifts that took place after the First World War, the push for free clinics, history of early leftist activists, including Erich Fromm and Wilhelm Reich, and their influence on liberation psychology and the work of Frantz Fanon. We will follow the expansion of psychoanalysis, as analysts fled World War II and spread out across the continents. The International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) also moved its headquarters to the United States during that time, resulting in the unfortunate trajectory of psychoanalysis becoming ego-psychology. In Europe, Jacques Lacan took the field by storm with his resulting expulsion from the IPA. We will review Lacan’s theories, as well as the work of Jean Laplanche and several contemporary scholars who have studied their work and influenced my own thinking, including trans and queer theorists.

This is the general outline. I hesitate to demarcate exactly which topics will be discussed in which classes at this point, as I wish to allow the course to develop organically, depending on the participants present, and to leave plenty of room for discussion. That being said, further key topics to be covered include: Freud’s case studies, including the case of Daniel Paul Schreber, whose “Memoirs of My Nervous Illness,” once considered documentation of psychosis, is now being reevaluated through contemporary trans and queer theory; the Controversial Discussions of the British School of Psychoanalysis: Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, and the Independent Group; Donald W. Winnicott; how the Relational school developed from Ferenczi’s work; Israel Regardie; and Transpersonal Psychology founded by Abraham Maslow and Stanislav Grof.

Suffice to say, this will be a course exploring the vast breadth and depth of the field of psychoanalysis and its various branches, unbeholden to any particular school or theorist.

There are no prerequisites to take this course. Readings will be provided but are not required. Participants will receive a link to my Discord server where you are welcome to chat with me and one another between classes, sharing thoughts and experiences. Classes will be a mix of lecture, slideshow, and group discussion. Free association, questions, and comments are encouraged, but not required. Classes will be recorded for later viewing and reference.

To register: subscribe to RU Center for Psychoanalysis at Substack. In this way, participants may pay for the course on a monthly basis ($50/month) or receive a discount if you sign up for a year ($550/year). As a bonus, you’ll also receive zoom links to participate live in my series of events on The Queerness of Psychoanalysis. Plus recordings of future RU Center for Psychoanalysis events will be archived at Substack, so paid subscribers will also have access to this event archive as it builds up over time.

Participants are welcome to sign up anytime! If you register after the course begins, you’ll receive links to upcoming live zoom meetings, plus access to recordings and study materials.

We will be meeting once a month on the second Saturday of each month. Dates listed below:

Class 1: September 13, 2025

Class 2: October 18, 2025

Class 3: November 8, 2025

Class 4: December 13, 2025

Class 5: February 7, 2026

Class 6: March 14, 2026

Class 7: April 11, 2026

Class 8: May 9, 2026

Class 9: June 13, 2026

Class 10: July 11, 2026

Class 11: August 8, 2026

Class 12: September 12, 2026

Please note: I will be away on a writing retreat in January, so we will not meet January 2026, but will meet through September 2026 for a total of 12 classes. All classes will be held on Saturdays. Exact dates subject to change. Direct sales final.