Peter Shabad, PhD

(Chicago, Il)

Who’s In Charge: Shame, Authoritarianism, and Freedom of Conscience

Friday October 16, 2026

7-9pm (CST)

1132 S. Wabash Ave., Suite 502, Chicago

& ZOOM

Join us for drinks and light appetizers before the lecture!

Reception: 6:30 – 7:00 PM (CST)

Lecture begins at 7 :00 PM(CST)

We look forward to welcoming you—whether in person or virtually via Zoom.

About this presentation: In this presentation, I will contrast the moralisms that emerge in the aftermath of shame and the ethics of a free conscience.  I will trace how self-shaming emerges in the aftermath of early traumatic experiences, thereby creating much debilitating self-consciousness and self-doubt regarding the “rightness” of one’s individual being.  Such self-doubt inhibits confidence in one’s own decision-making, and leads such individuals to search for the certainty of authority with regard to what is “right” and “wrong” outside of themselves.  This quest for certainty leads to authoritarianism, whether it is a slavish obedience to moralisms of one’s own “shoulds,” or whether it is to a powerful leader, or whether it is to the constructed norms of one’s peer groups and society.

I will contrast this unreflective obedience to authority with the freedom of desire that constitutes a human conscience.  Finally, I will explore how such authoritarianism is transferred to the clinical situation through the mandate to change in psychoanalysis, which often is projected on and embodied by the authority of the analyst. This projection of authority sets up the patient’s need to resist the analyst in order to prove freedom of ownership of one’s own life.

This situation highlights the crucial importance of countertransference desire and the need to respect the patient’s freedom of self-determination.

Peter Shabad, PhD is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University Medical School. He is on the Teaching and Supervising Faculty of the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis and he is on the Faculty of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. He is also Supervising and Training Analyst at the Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. He is an Associate Editor on the Editorial Board of Psychoanalytic Dialogues. Dr. Shabad is co-editor of The Problem of Loss and Mourning: Psychoanalytic Perspectives (IUP, 1989) and is the author of Despair and the Return of Hope: Echoes of Mourning in Psychotherapy (Aronson, 2001). He is the author of numerous papers and book chapters on diverse topics such as the psychological implications of death, loss and mourning, giving and receiving, shame, parental envy, resentment, and regret.  Dr. Shabad’s new book Passion, Shame, and The Freedom To Become: Seizing The Vital Moment In Psychoanalysis (2024) was recently published by Routledge.

Learning Objectives

1.Participants will be able to describe how the self-doubt that emerges in the wake of shame leads to the certainties of authoritarianism.

2.Participants will be able to describe the clinical value of respect for the patient’s freedom of determination can help replace the moralisms of authoritarianism with a freedom of conscience.

This is an All Level Presentation

Fees

CCP members: free with annual $195 membership, payable at registration.

Students:free with annual $175 membership, payable at registration.

New Fellows / Ongoing: free with annual $250/$300 membership, payable at registration.

Non-CCP members, single admission: $50

Continuing Education

This program is sponsored for Continuing Education Credits by the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis. There is no commercial support for this program, nor are there any relationships between the continuing education sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding that could be construed as conflicts of interest. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If the program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CCP is licensed by the state of Illinois to sponsor continuing education credits for Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Counselors and Licensed Clinical Psychologists (license no. 159.000941 and 268.000020 and 168.000238 Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional  Regulation).

Professionals holding the aforementioned credentials will receive 2.0 continuing education credits for attending the entire program. To receive these credits a completed evaluation form must be turned in at the end of the presentation and licensed psychologists must first complete a brief exam on the subject matter. No continuing education credit will be given for attending part of the presentation. Refunds for CE credit after the program begins will not be honored. If a participant has special needs or concerns about the program, s/he/they should contact Toula Kourliouros Kalven by  October 15, 2026 at: tkalven@ccpsa.org

References/Suggested Readings

Shabad, P. (2024). Passion, Shame, and Mourning: Seizing The Vital Moment in Psychoanalysis

New York: Routledge.

Shabad, P.  (2022) Owing and Being Owed: Shame and Responsibility Toward The

Other, Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 32:4, 389-404. 

Shabad, P. (2020). The forward edge of resistance: Toward the dignity of human agency. 

Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 30 (1): 51-63.

Shabad, P. (2017). The vulnerability of giving:  Ethics and the generosity of receiving.

 Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 37 (6): 359-374.

Shabad, P. (2011).  The dignity of creating: The patient’s contribution to the reachable-

enough analyst. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 21: 619-629.

Presented by

The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis/CCP Program Committee