Special Lecture Series
CAPA offers special lectures, seminars and courses for students, graduates, and members. A variety of topics will be covered by distinguished members of CAPA's faculty. Upon completion of the Special Lecture Series lecture, seminar or course, student and graduate participants will receive a certification of participation.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of CAPA.
Special Lecture Series 2026-2027
Title: A Bionian Approach to Listening to Your Patient and "Learning from Experience": A Clinical Case Conference with Glenn Mowbray
Presenter: Glenn Mowbray, Psy.D.
US Seminar Dates: Friday, September 18th, 2026
US Seminar Times: 6:00 – 7:30 PM Pacific Time (9:00 – 10:30 PM Eastern Time)
China Seminar Dates: Saturday, September 19th, 2026
China Seminar Times: 09:00 – 10:30 AM China Time
Prerequisites: Open to all currently enrolled CAPA students and CAPA graduates at any level
Course size: Open enrollment
Description: This Case Conference will demonstrate a number of Bionian Concepts and Praxis for working with Patients, especially those in primitive mental states. Dr. Mowbray will focus on working in the style of Bion, where the Unconscious and the Present is privileged over "Facts" and the Past.
Course Objectives: In this Case Conference, you will learn:
"History is Hearsay"....it's You and Me, Here and Now
The importance of "Listening without Memory, Desire, or Understanding"
The value of Countertransference and "listening to yourself" as you listen to the Patient
The necessity of "finding the Baby"
Important Note: Registrants will be invited to submit a brief case summary for consideration for presentation during the session. Dr. Mowbray will select a case presenter from these summaries, and the selected registrant will be notified in advance of the session and given further instructions as to how to prepare a verbatim session transcript for the seminar. For more details, please see the registration form here [LINK TO BE INSERTED].
Bio: Glenn Mowbray, MFT, Psy.D., FIPA is a popular speaker and former talk radio host, with 50 years experience working with Patients. On faculty at the New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, he has taught Klein, The Contemporary Kleinians of London, Bion, Infant Observation, and Case Consultation. He trained in the Tavistock model of Infant Observation. He has served the China American Psychoanalytic Alliance (CAPA) as Interim President, Chair of the Admissions Committee, and is currently Vice President of Special Projects. He has taught UCLA and supervised USC Psychiatry Residents. He has presented at International Bion and Frances Tustin Conferences, the 1st International Iranian Congress on Psychoanalysis, and at China International and CIC (CAPA in China) Conferences on Psychoanalysis. He conducts numerous in-person Workshops in China, specializing in Object Relations (Klein, Bion, Winnicott, Green, and others) and the treatment of Autistic and Narcissistic disorders. He considers Bion his “Psychoanalytic Grandpa” as all his Mentors were either analyzed, supervised, taught, or accompanied Bion when he left London for LA. His Practice includes Psychoanalysis, Clinical Case Consultation, and Consultation in Cross-cultural Infant Observation.
If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Dr. Mowbray directly at glenn.mowbray@capachina.org or WeChat: drglennmo
Title: Nightmares and Acute Trauma
Presenter: Gregory C. Mahr, M.D.
US Seminar Dates: Friday, October 16, 2026
US Seminar Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM (US Eastern Time)
China Seminar Dates: Friday, October 16, 2026
China Seminar Times: 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM (Beijing Time)
Prerequisites: All CAPA members, students, graduates and the public
Course size: Open
Description: This lecture will explore the science and psychology of nightmares. The science of dreams and nightmares will be reviewed, as well as the types of nightmares. Nightmares can predict episodes of depression and psychosis, as well as some medical illnesses. Nightmares have an important relationship to trauma. About half of patients will have nightmares after an acute trauma, and nightmares seem to have an important role in trauma processing. Nightmares can predict suicide risk as well as trauma recovery. Specific therapies for nightmares will also be reviewed, especially psychodynamic exploration and dream rescripting.
Course Objective:
Audience will understand the relationship between nightmares and trauma
Audience will understand the types of common nightmares
Audience will understand strategies for treating nightmares
Bio: Greg Mahr has worked extensively in the area of dreams and nightmares, and has published many articles, and two books (with 2 more in press). He runs a nightmare clinic Detroit, and is on faculty at two major universities, Michigan State and Wayne State. He has a Tedex talk on YouTube, and has appeared in multiple radio shows and podcasts. He was recently given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Michigan branch of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).
If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Dr. Mahr directly at gmahr1@aol.com.
Title: The Element of Time in Psychotherapy
Presenter: Gerald P. Perman, M.D.
US Seminar Dates: Friday, October 30, 2026
US Seminar Times: 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM (Eastern Time)
China Seminar Dates: Saturday, October 31, 2026
China Seminar Times: 7:00 AM – 9:30 AM (07:00 – 09:30 Beijing Time)
Prerequisites: CAPA Members, Students & Graduates and Public
Course size:
Description: Time is the continuous, irreversible progression of existence and events from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is both a fundamental physical dimension and a subjective human experience. When a patient first contacts you, their unconscious “clock” has started ticking and treatment has begun. This lecture explores the philosophical interpretations, human perceptions and clinical considerations involving time as it is experienced and observed within a therapeutic session.
Course Objective: Participants will examine the following:
Conceptualizing Time in psychotherapy
Meanings of Time to your patients
Clinical Techniques for addressing Time
Bio: Gerald P. Perman, M.D. is a board-certified psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of adults and college students. He is also a Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at The George Washington University Medical Center. Dr. Perman's qualifications include having authored psychiatric publications, and he has received several honors, and awards over his career. His treatment philosophy is to identify and help patients resolve conflictual issues that contribute to the problems his patients are having. He addresses these conflicts through psychotherapy and, when indicated, the use of medication.
If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Dr. Perman directly at gpperman@gmail.com.
Title: Emotional Pain’s Hidden Architecture: The Psyche–Brain–Body Continuum in Light of the 5 Biological Laws
Presenter: Prof. Diana Medina
US Seminar Dates: Friday, November 6 & 13, 2026
US Seminar Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM (US Eastern Time)
China Seminar Dates: Friday, November 6 & 13, 2026
China Seminar Times: 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM (Beijing Time)
Prerequisites: CAPA Students, Graduates, Members and Members of the Public
Course size: Open number of attendees
Description: “The difference amongst brain, body and psyche is merely academic. In reality they are one”.
Ryke Geerd Hamer. Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer (1935–2017), a German physician, developed a system known as German New Medicine (GNM) also known as Germanische Heilkunde. At its core are the Five Biological Laws. The 5LB perspective focuses on adaptation and survival, revealing adaptive biological responses to situations that require a special or specific physiological resources, modifying normal physiology that is then reproduced with new levels of intensity following a shock – an unexpected event that poses risk or threat to the organism. These programs involve coordinated responses across the psyche, brain, and organ to help the organism adapt to and resolve unexpected distress.
From this perspective, diagnostic labels are the result of combinations of special programs running simultaneously in different tissues that occur within vicious circles that become chronic. The third biological law makes special emphasis on the embryological origin of the organ or tissue, since this explains the apparent contradiction in the increase or decrease in organ function throughout the autonomic response. The 5BL are a discovery in the biological medical field that constitute a new reference model regarding our health. This model allows us to navigate our way with precision through every symptom, sign or observable clinical change in the organism, widening the possibilities of therapeutic intervention and bringing us a new comprehension of the phenomena that we call “disease”.
The first class is an introduction to the 5 Biological Laws which requires an audience with an open mind since this knowledge will challenge what you think you know about how the body works. The second class I will introduce my perspective on how this knowledge brings more clarity to psychoanalytic interventions, how we may support our work with other therapeutic techniques, and on how we can use the 5BL to navigate our way more easily into the real core of the patient’s problem, if we learn to read the signs.
Course Objective:
Transform the comprehension of what we call “disease” into a precise biological adaptation response to the challenging unexpected situations that we experience in our everyday lives. This transformation allows us to not to fear uncomfortable disturbing symptoms -like pain- but to understand the biological function that the symptom is serving.
Bring our attention to biological feelings, sensations and emotions that are signaling troublesome situations in our lives -or in our inner psychological experience- that keep triggering biological processes. When two or more biological processes remain “active” in the brain, there will be modifications in our thinking and behavior in order to look for solutions to the situation.
This comprehension opens our mind to the fact that diagnostic labels -both medical and psychiatric- are a consensual constructs that can be more accurately described from the 5BL model, taking away the moral value of “good” or “bad”, “malignant” or “benign”, “disorganized or psychotic”.
To start by observing and associating our own simple biological responses -like flu- to periods of stress and solution and raise your curiosity to learn more.
Bio: Clinical Psychologist based in Mexico City. She completed her psychoanalytic training at the Institute of Postgraduate Studies of the Psychoanalytic Society of Mexico (SPM). Her additional training includes Mind-Body Medicine at Harvard University, a Master’s degree in Brief Strategic Psychotherapy (Nardone model), and basic training in EMDR.
She is currently pursuing a PhD in Psychoanalysis with a specialization in Neuropsychoanalysis at Universidad Intercontinental. She has been a member of the China American Psychoanalytic Alliance (CAPA), the Neuropsychoanalysis Association (NPSA), and the Psychoanalytic Society of Mexico (SPM). Since 2006, she has been deeply engaged in the study and understanding of Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer’s Five Biological Laws, following the work of a young Mexican physician who has played a key role in introducing and disseminating this knowledge throughout Spanish-speaking countries.
“An unexpected event in my early twenties set me on a profound journey of self-discovery—one that would ultimately bring meaning and clarity to the most challenging chapters of my life. It was then, in 1995, that I began my training in psychoanalysis. When my mother passed away in early 2000, I found myself engulfed in a deep and overwhelming melancholy. In my search for healing, I embarked on a spiritual quest that would forever change my understanding of health, illness, and the human experience. During this journey, I encountered the work of a doctor who offered a compelling explanation: that cancer often originates from a shocking emotional experience endured in isolation and silence. His words resonated with me instantly. Guided by my deep-seated distrust of impersonal medical approaches, an unmistakable inner knowing, and an unrelenting intellectual curiosity, I immersed myself in the study of Dr. Hamer’s Five Biological Laws. There, I finally found coherent and compassionate answers to the “how” and “why” behind my mother’s cancer diagnosis.
Today, with profound gratitude for the path I have walked, I am dedicated to weaving together the wisdom and lived experiences that have guided my own healing. My heartfelt purpose is to help others integrate a deeper understanding of ourselves as living beings—embodied in a sentient body that is beautifully designed to support and guide our emotional and psychic life—so that we may gently reconnect with our most authentic selves”.
If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Prof. Medina directly at dmedina.niembro@yahoo.com.
Title: The Tao of Psychoanalysis
Presenter: Arseny Tarabanov, Ph.D.
US Seminar Dates: Friday, February 26, 2027
US Seminar Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
China Seminar Dates: Friday, February 26, 2027
China Seminar Times: 10:00 PM - 11:30 PM (22:00 - 23:30)
Lithuania Seminar Dates: Friday, February 26, 2027
Lithuania Time: 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Prerequisites: Open to CAPA Members, Students & Graduates
Course size: Open Enrollment
Description: The Tao of Psychoanalysis offers an immersive exploration into the "Eastern mode" of the human mind as defined by Christopher Bollas.
Course Objective:
In this seminar:
We move beyond the traditional Western focus on linear logic and interpretation to rediscover the "maternal order" of the psyche—a realm of being, rhythm, and pre-verbal experience.
Participants will gain a new clinical "ear" for the unthought known, learning to use silence, countertransference resonance, and aesthetic response as precision tools for healing deep-seated psychic fragmentation.
Bio: Dr. Arseny Tarabanov is the Director of Institute of Neurocommunications and Psychotherapy in Vilnius (Lithuania). He is the popularizer of neuropsychoanalysis in the Baltic countries. He designs courses in affective neuroscience, neuropsychoanalysis, and traditional Chinese psychotherapy. He has twenty years of teaching experience and five years of clinical experience. Dr. Tarabanov aims to develop psychotherapeutic methods based on a cross-cultural approach in psychopathology and the latest achievements in neuroscience. His publications include articles on the neuropsychoanalytic approach and chapters of the textbook "Child Psychiatry" devoted to the neuropsychodynamic approach to various types of psychopathology. He has been studying Chinese medicine for many years and applying it to the practice of martial arts. His post-doctoral certifications are in Body Therapy, Child Psychoanalysis, and Contemporary Methods of Family and Group Psychotherapy.
If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Dr. Tarabanov directly at beobachter1971@gmail.com