NPSI September 2026 Scientific Meeting: Facets of Psychoanalytic Listening: Gathering the Data of a Session" presented by Jeffrey L. Eaton, LMHC, FIPA, BCPsa

How do psychoanalysts know what to listen for? What forms of experience become available when we attend not only to a patient's words, but also to enactments, bodily experience, and the unfolding analytic field? Drawing on ideas developed in his forthcoming book Facets of Psychoanalytic Listening (Routledge, in press), Jeffrey Eaton explores listening as a disciplined yet creative analytic practice that deepens clinical understanding while resisting premature certainty. Through rich clinical material and in dialogue with Bion's work and that of contemporary psychoanalytic thinkers, he illustrates how multiple "facets" of listening can illuminate unconscious experience, foster symbolization, and support psychic transformation. Participants will be invited to reconsider how analysts gather the data of a session and how different modes of listening shape therapeutic action. Whether you are an experienced clinician or an analyst-in-training, this presentation offers an opportunity to deepen your appreciation of psychoanalytic listening as a vital instrument for discovering meaning, facilitating transformation, and expanding analytic understanding.