Current Reflections on Fathering and the Paternal Function

The 2025 Edna Reiss-Sophie Greenberg Chair Award and Conference will be held virtually in two parts.

Part I will be held on Friday, May 9th, 2025 at 11:00am - 2:30pm

Part II will be held on Friday, May 16th, 2025 at 11:00am - 2:30pm

Awardee: Michael J Diamond, Ph.D., FIPA

This two-part presentation will focus on both the symbolic and the actual, flesh-and-blood father and the impact each facet of fathering has on the child’s and the father’s development. While fathers have often been considered appendages of the mother and, within psychoanalytic theorizing, fathering itself has been minimized except in its absence or abusiveness, today, particularly in the realm of child development, clinical practice, and large social groupings, the traditional image of the father as primarily the bearer of power has been challenged. New forms of family and changing gender realities have made their presence felt in the social and clinical landscape. In the course of the two seminars, Dr. Diamond will clarify the nature of the so-called “paternal function,” more accurately termed the “symbolic function,” which signifies that a triadic matrix always exists psychically yet is not intrinsically gendered. Moreover, there is an ever present “father in the mother’s unconscious mind.” Consequently, triangular relations always operate within the mother-child dyad, including across heteronormative, gay or non-binary, and single parenting circumstances. As an embodied other, the actual father or surrogate (regardless of gender), operating as both a protective and attracting object as well as a separating agent serving as the “second other” to the mother, is called upon to recognize the child’s unique otherness. Challenges to fathering arise from inescapable dependencies, desires, rivalries, and absences or neglect.

Dr. Diamond will address how healthy child development entails both so-called “maternal” and “paternal” parenting as well as what is considered the “combined parental couple” that may reside in a single-parent’s internal world (regardless of gender). Particular dynamics arising for fathers with sons and daughters will be discussed, and challenges arising in clinical practice will be illustrated. In recovering the “missing” real father and the paternal function in dyadically-oriented clinical space is often required and illustrated with case material. In addition, participants will be encouraged to share their observations of children and their families as well as relevant vignettes from their clinical practices.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of the six-hour workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define and differentiate the actual father from the symbolic father.
2. Identify and contrast the protective, attracting, and separating tasks of fathering as well as their behavioral manifestations.
3. Describe and contrast maternal and paternal containment as well as the combined parental couple.
4. List three developmental implications of the paternal function and indicate how it applies to specific therapeutic intervention strategies in treatment.
5. Explain the nature of the triadic matrix and thirdness as it pertains to the father and paternal function.
6. Define and describe unconsciously collusive, symbiotic therapeutic dyads.

About the Chair

Michael J. Diamond, PhD, FIPA is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS). He is a Fellow of the International Psychoanalytic Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. His major publications are on fathering and the paternal function; masculinity, femininity, and gender theory; trauma and dissociation; psychoanalytic technique and analytic mindedness; hypnosis and altered states; and group processes, political movements, and social action. He has written five books including two focused on fathering: My Father Before Me: How Fathers and Sons Influence Each Other Throughout Their Lives (Norton, 2007); and his co-edited, Becoming A Father: Contemporary Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives (Springer, 1995). He is currently working on a new book on Fathering and the Paternal Function. His most recent books are 2021’s Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood (Routledge) and 2022’s Ruptures in the American Psyche: Containing Destructive Populism in Perilous Times (Karnac/Phoenix Books). He is a well-respected international presenter and the honored recipient of numerous awards for his teaching, writing, and clinical contributions. He has a fulltime clinical practice in Los Angeles, California where he also remains active in teaching, supervising, and writing.

For more information about the Reiss-Davis Graduate School at Vista Del Mar Saturdays at the Center Continuing Education Series, visit https://www.reissdavis.edu/upcoming-ce-events.html

Reiss-Davis Graduate School

3200 Motor Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034

www.reissdavis.edu

Vista Del Mar and RDGS staff, students, and alumni may register for this event with the discount code provided.

Cancellations and Refunds: Please note the following policy supersedes any and all Eventbrite policies on refunds: Cancellations received at least ten working days before the workshop are refundable less a $20 administrative fee per registrant. No refunds will be made thereafter. Please note that if you register and do not attend, you are still liable for full payment. A colleague may be substituted for no extra charge as long as written notification is received by the administrative office at least two business days before the conference. The expense of continuing education, when taken to maintain and improve professional skills, may be tax-deductible.

Continuing Education: 6 CE Credits are available for Psychologists, LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs.

Reiss-Davis Graduate School is a program of Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services.

CPA Accredited: Vista del Mar Child and Family Services is approved (VIS-002) by the California Psychological Association (CPA) to provide continuing professional education for psychologists. The California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) now recognizes CPA continuing education credit for license renewal for LCSWs and MFTs. Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.

Important notice to participants: Participants who attend both scheduled events in full and complete the appropriate evaluation form will receive 6 CE credits. Please note that credit will only be granted to those who attend the entire workshop. Those arriving more than 15 minutes after the start time or leaving before the workshop is completed will not receive CE credit.