Diplomas/DegreesCertificate in Psychoanalysis, W. A. White Institute (1996)
M.A., Ph.D., Columbia University (1973)
Recent CoursesClinical Practice III: Psychotherapy Practicum
Doctoral Thesis Supervision II
Initial Intake Seminar I
Intake & Interviewing Seminar II: Professional Conduct & Ethics
Psychological Research 1
Social Psychology
Personal StatementI am interested in self-defeating behaviors and how people change. I have published books on these topics, as well as the self, the interface of psychoanalysis and the psychotherapies, and coping with death and endings. My students and I have presented papers all over the world. I encourage students to pursue their own interests and hope to be of help in that process.
Teaching Specializations/InterestsTheories of Therapeutic Action, Creativity, Unconscious Processes, the Self, Self-Defeating Behaviors, Gender and Race
Research InterestsI am interested in what people with different sorts of problem find most helpful in psychotherapy--people who are victims of trauma, incluidng sexual trauma, people with eating disorders and substance abuse issues, those who self-harm, and those with depression, anxiety, etc. Psychotherapy Processes, including choice of a therapist and stopping psychotherapy.Self-Defeating Behaviors, including self-harm, obesity, eating disorders, addictions and compulsions
Dreams
Gender and Race
My general interests include self-defeating behavior, change processes, and the self. I have also looked at the expectation of unpleasant events and choosing to suffer, areas that are again of interest with terrorism becoming so much part of our consciousness. With degrees in both clinical and social psychology, I am interested in both social realities and intrapsychic fantasies.
A major research interest lies in the area of the change processes in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. I have been interested in what specific interventions lead most frequently to change and what type of interventions patients find most helpful and hurtful. This research takes us beyond the general relationship factor and into the specific controversies of schools of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Specific interventions in supervision are also of interest.
Another interest lies in the area of sado-masochism. In a sense, all problems in living can be examined by looking at the ways in which people are hurtful to themselves and others. Following Jessica Benjamin’s theory of masochism in women as a response to the father’s failure in his recognition of the desires of his daughters, we have developed a scale of “Recognition of Desires” that differentiates masochistic persons from non-masochistic persons and therapy patients from non-therapy patients. Because early relationships with parents play such a large role in personality development, I am also very interested in attachment styles.
And, if students are interested in developing a theoretical dissertation dealing with such topics as psychoanalysis and literature or film, I am happy to help with such projects.
BooksWillock, B., Bohm, LC. & Curtis, R. C. (2011). Loneliness and Longing: Conscious & Unconscious Aspects. London & New York, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Willock, B, Curtis, R. C., & Bohm, L. C. (2009). Taboo or Not Taboo? Forbidden Thoughts, Forbidden Acts in Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy. London, United Kingdom: Karnac.
Curtis, R. C. (2008). Desire, Self, Mind, and the Psychotherapies: Unifying Psychological Science and Psychoanalysis. Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson, Rowman & Littlefield.
Willock, B., Bohm, LC, & Curtis, R. (2007). On Deaths and Endings: Psychoanalysts' Reflections on Finality, Transformations, and New Beginnings. NY, NY: Routledge.
Curtis, R. C. & Stricker, G. (eds) (1991). How People Change: Inside & Outside Therapy. NY, NY: Plenum.
Curtis, R. C. (1991). The Relational Self: Theoretical convergences in Psychoanalysis and Social Psychology. New York, NY: Guilford.
Curtis, R. C. (1989). Self-Defeating Behaviors. NY, NY: Plenum.
Book ChaptersCurtis, Rebecca C. (2011). Looking back on loneliness and longing. In Willock. B., Bohm, L. C., & Curtis, R. C. (Eds.). Loneliness & Longing. London & New York, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Curtis, R. C. & Hirsch, I. (2011). Relational Approaches to Psychoanalysis. In S. B. Messer & A. S. Gurman (Eds.). Essential Psychotherapies. New York, NY: Guilford.
Curtis, R. (2009). What is Taboo and Not Taboo. In Willock, B., Curtis, R. &Bohm, L. C. (Eds.). Taboo or Not Taboo. London, United Kingdom: Karnac.
Curtis, R. C. (2007). On the Death of My Analyst Stephen Mitchell. In Willock. B., Bohm, L, & Curtis, R. C. (Eds.). On Deaths & Endings. (pp. 293-302). NY, NY: Routledge.
Curtis, R. C. (2006). Chum, Imagery, Interpersonal Psychoanalysis, Masochism, Selective Inattention, Self-System, Stephen A. Mitchell. In R. Skelton (Eds.). The Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis. United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press.
Shefet, O. & Curtis, R. C. (2005). Termination. In G. Koocher & J. Norcross (Eds.). Psychologists' Desk Reference. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Curtis, R. C. & Qaiser, M. (2005). The Training Analysis: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Research. In J. Geller, D. Orlinsky, & J. C. Norcross (Eds.). The Psychotherapy of Psychotherapists. New York: Oxford University Press.
Curtis, R C. & Hirsch, I. (2004). Relational approaches to psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In A. S. Gurman & S. Messer (Eds.). Essential Psychotherapies. New York, NY: Guilford.
Refereed ArticlesCurtis, R. C. (2012), New experiences and meanings: A model of change for psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Psychology, online version, 81-98.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2011), Speaking Freely: My Experiences in Individual Psychotherapies, Group Psychotherapies, and Growth Groups. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2010), Review of Relational Theory and the Practice of Psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 44, 536-538.
Curtis, R. & Katzander, N. (2010), Tank half full: Regulating the selfand its irrational emotions. PsycCritiques, 55 (3).
Curtis, R., Winarick, Daniel (2008), Unifying psychoanalysis and developmental psychology: A review of Attachment and Sexuality. psycCRITIQUES 53 (11).
Curtis, R. (2007), Self-Defeating Behavior. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
Curtis, R (2007), A little night science. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 43.
Curtis, R (2007), Psychoanalytic Training: Is there any need for change? Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 43, 135-140.
Curtis, R. C. (2006), Don't Eat Your Heart Out! Review of Adam Phillips’ Going Sane. PsycCRITIQUES, 51.
Curtis, R. C. (2006), Pyrrhic Revenge, Piers, and Disappointed Bridges. PsycCRITIQUES..
Curtis, R. C. (2006), Can We Hope to Measure "The Self"? PsycCRITIQUES.
Curtis, R. C. (2006), Separating the Baby of change from the Backwater of Theoretical Context. PsycCritiques, 51.
Curtis, R. C. (2005), Control-Mastery Theory: Is It a Comprehensive Theory of Therapeutic Action? Review of G. Silberschatz’ Transformative Relationships. PsycCRITIQUES, 50 (19).
Curtis, R. C., Field, C., Knaan-Kostman, I., & Mannix, K. (2004), What 75 Psychoanalysts Found Helpful and Hurtful in Their Own Analyses. Psychoanalytic Psychology.
Curtis, R. C. (2002), Termination from a Psychoanalytic Perspective. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 350-357.
Curtis, R. C. (2002), "Both/And" and But: A review of J. C. Muran's Self-Relations in the Psychotherapy Process. Contemporary Psychology.
Curtis, R. C. (2001), Can We Overuse Our Strengths? A review of J. Safran and J.C. Muran's Negotiating the Therapeutic Alliance: A Relational Treatment Guide. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 37, 329-335.
Curtis, R. C. (1999), Robbing a Man of His Illusions. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 157-160.
Curtis, R. C. (1999), The Angry Patient. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 133-142.
Curtis, R. (1996), The Death of Freud and the Rebirth of Free Psychoanalytic Inquiry. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 563-589.
Invited Presentation/LectureCurtis, Rebecca Coleman (2012, January). Three Models of Unconscious Processes: Freudian, Relational and Social Cognitive Neuroscience. Arena of Psychotherapy, Barcelona, Spain.
Curtis, R. C. (2011, November). The Boogie Woogie Rumble of Unconscious Processes: the Mind in Scientific Psychology and Psychoanalysis. Harvard Univ. , Cambridge, Ma..
Curtis, R. C. (2011, November). Accounts of Unconscious Processes for Clinical Psychologists. Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, Brookline, Ma..
Curtis, R. (2010, June). Integrating Non-Psychoanalytic Techniques into Psychoananalysis. Sullivan Institute of Psychoanalysis, Florence, Italy.
Curtis, R (2010, January). Market Economies and the Creation of Unlimited Desires. Institute of Cultural Studies, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
Curtis, R. C. (2009, December). Science & Psychoanalysis (After Freud). BookHampton, East Hampton, New York.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2009, June). Unconscious Processes: Unifying Psychological Science and Psychoanalysis. Hebrew University, Jersualem, Israel.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2009, January). The New Experiences and New Meanings of Experiences Model of Change. William Alanson White Institute, New York, NY.
Curtis, R (2008, January). Relational Psychoanalysis. National Conference of the Indian Council of Clinical Psychologists.
Conference Presentations/PapersCurtis, Rebecca Coleman (2012). Forbidden Vocies: Difference and Desires. In Joint International Conference of Psychoanalytic Societies (pp. 20). Copthorne Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2012). The Unconscious Mind in Psychoanalysis and Psychology. In International Organization for Relational Psychoanalysis, Barcelona (pp. 30). Barcelona, Spain.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2012). Loneliness and Longing: Conscious and Unconscious Aspects. In Psychoanalytic Division of American Psychological Association (pp. 15). La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, NM.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2012). The Psysicist David Bohm's Ideas about Creativity and Mind. In Psychoanalytic Division of American Psychological Association (pp. 20). La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, NM.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2012). Veiled, Indecent Voices. In Art and Psyche (pp. 30). New York University, New York, NY.
Curtis, R. C. (2012). The role of freedom and discipline in moving beyond the secure and familiar. In Intnernational Organization of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (pp. 15). New York, NY.
Curtis, R. C. (2011). An integrative model of psychological change: New experiences and meanings of experiences (NEMES). In World Congress of Psychotherapy. Sydney, Australia.
Curtis, R. C. (2011). The self and mind of divergent therapeutic modalities: Toward a unifed paradigm. In World Congress of Psychotherapy. Sydney, Australia.
Curtis, R. C. & Massie, S. (2011). Why patients say they stopped psychotherapy. In Society for Psychotherapy Research. Bern, Switzerland.
Curtis, Rebecca Coleman (2010). System Justification and Psychoanalysis. In Association for Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society. Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ.
Curtis, R. (2010). Fame, Fortune, & Failure:Suicides Among Celebrities. In Failure: Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Edinburgh, Scotland.
Curtis, R. (2010). An Integrated View of the Self and MInd. In Society for Psychotherapy Research. Asilomar, CA.
Curtis, R. (2010). Unifying Views of the Mind and Change. In Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. Florence, Italy.
Curtis, R. & Frank, T. (2010). Working with Abused Children in the Inner City. In Spring Meeting of the Psychoanalytic Division of the American Psychological Association. Chicago, Ill..
McCue, A. & Curtis, R. C. (2009). Recall of Postive and negative Information Consisent and Inconsistent with the Self-View. In Mid-Atlantic Society for Psychotherapy Research. Univ. of Penn., Philadelphia, Pa.
Curtis, R. (2009). Chinese Communism and Its Effects on a Patient in Psychoanalysis. In Assoc. for te Psychoanalytic Study of Society and Culture. Rutgers Univ, NJ.
Curtis, R. C. (2009). The toleration of extreme inequality. In Association for the Psychoanalytic Study of Culture and Society,. Rutgers Univ., New Burnswik, NJ.
Curtis, R. C. (2009). Lust and Desire in Psychoanalysis. In Seven Deadly Sins. St. Jacut de la Mer, Brittany.
Curtis, RC (2009). Bridging the Gap: Reconnecting Psychoanalysis and Psychological Science. In Annual Spring Meeting of the Psychoanalytic Division (39) of APA. San Antonio, TX.
Curtis, RC (2009). Desire, Self, Mind and the Psychotherapies. In Annual Spring Meeting of Psychoaanlytic Division, APA. San Antonio, TX.
Curtis, RC (2009). Our civilization and Its Discontents. In Psychoanalytic Spring Meeting, APA. San Antonio, TX.
Sullivan, K. M. & Curtis, R.C. (2009). Alexythymia, Dreams & Physcial Health. In Emotions Pre-Conference, Society of Social and Personality Psychology. Tampa, Fla.
Curtis, R (2008). Loneliness, Longing and Love: Laura and Her Fictional Managerie. In Loneliness & Yearnings:Joint International Conference of Psychoanalytic Societies. Vancouver, British Columbia.
Harris, L., Curtis, R., & Rotella, K. (2008). Hesitations of marriage. In Society for Psychotherapy Research. Barcelona, Spain.
Crosby, J. & Curtis, R. (2008). Theories of change in psychotherapy candidates. In Society for Psychotherapy Research. Barcelona, Spain.
Curtis, R (2008). Infidelity: Attachment styles, narcissism and sadism. In Society for Psychotherapy Research. Barcelona, Spain.
Camporese, M., Curtis, R. & Arias, A. (2008). Attachment styles of students who live at home, in the dorm, or study abroad. In Society for Psychotherapy Research. Barcelona, Spain.
Curtis, R. (2008). The Case of Rachel. In Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. Boston, MA.
Curtis, R. (2008). The NEMES (New Experiences and Meanings of Experience) model:Implications for Psychotherapy Integration. In Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. Boston, MA.
Curtis, R. (2008). Dangerous Dissociations in Two Clinical Cases: Suicide and a Green Card Marriage. In Psychoanalytic Division of APA. NY, NY.
Arisleida, Addy & Curtis, R. (2008). Attachment Styles of Students who live at home, in the Dorm and Go Abroad. In National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Salisbury Univ., Salisbury, Md.
Paul-Oduard, R. & Curtis, R (2008). Emotional Intelligence, Social Problem-Solving and Demographics as Predictors of Well-Being in Women with Multiple Roles. In Work & Stress. Washington, D. C..
Curtis, R. (2007). Depression, Globalization & Psychoanalysis. In Assoc. for the Psychoanalytic Study of Society and Culture. Rutgers, Univ., NJ.
Sullivan, K & Curtis, R. (2007). The Perceived Health Effects of Accessing Emotions and Recalling Dreams. In Emotions. Tilburgh Univ., The Netherlands.
Freeman, A. & Curtis, R. (2007). Early Memories, Attachment & Favorite Tales. In Mid-Atlantic Society for Psychotherapy Research. Forham Univ., NY, NY.
Curtis, R. & Andriano, L (2007). Therapists'Theories of Change. In Mid-Atlantic Society for Psychotherapy Research. Fordham Univ., NY, NY.
Curtis, R. (2007). Metamorphosis: The NEMES (New Experiences and New Meanings of Experiences ) Model of Change. In International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Athens, Greece.
Curtis, R. Calverhouse, C. & Andriano, L (2007). Ph.D. Candidates' Theories of Change in Psychotherapy. In European Society for Psychotherapy Research. Madeira, Portugal.
Miller, A. * Curtis, R (2007). Deconstructing Gaydar. In Summit on Multiculturalism. Seattle, Wa.
Other Scholarly/Artistic WorkDr. Curtis has published seven books, over 50 articles, chapters, and reviews, presented papers on five continents, and appeared on TV seven times. She is an APA spokesperson to the media and serves on the NGO for Mental Health advisory to the UN.
Honors and AccomplishmentsGoethe Award Winner, 2009
President, W. A. White Society, 2002-2003
Director of Research, W. A. White Institute of Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry, and Psychology
Gradiva Award Winner, 2008
Gradiva Award Nominee, 2009
Goethe Award Winnder, 2009
Goethe Award Nominee, 2009
Professional ActivitiesOrganizaing Committee, "Failure," Edinburgh,Scotland
Organizing Committee, "Loneliness & Yearnings" conference, Vancouver, 2008,
Organizing Commitee, Spring 2005 meeting of Psychoanalytic Division of APA
Organizer, "Power and Its Discontents", Cape Town, South Africa, 2005
Organizer, NY Chapter, Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration
Organizer, "Deaths, Endings and New Beginnings", Trinity College, Dublin 2002
Organizer, Derner Centennial Conference on Consciousness: Perspectives from Psychoanalysis, Psychology, and Philosophy
Editorial Board, Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Reviewer, Psychoanalytic Psychology
Reviewer, Contemporary Psychology
American Psychological Association
Society for Psychotherapy Research
International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy
Organizing Committee, "From Despair to Repair: Psychoanalysis and the Arts," April, 2004. NYC
Community and Corporate LeadershipNGO Advisory to the UN on Mental Health
NGO Advisory to the UN on the Status of Women
Television Appearances:
(April, 1999)Channel 6 Tokyo. "Believing Another Person Likes or Dislikes You: Behaviors Making the Beliefs Come True."
(April 21, 1999) Metro Psych on Channel 77, NY area on sexual addiction
(June 13, 1997) Fox on Psychology TV regarding work and the effects on women's psychological and physical health, New York City.
(June 18, 1997) Fox News TV on beauty and women, the importance and consequences of the pursuit of physical attractiveness, New York City.
(January, 1990). New Year's Resolutions, Tips on changing for keeps. Channel 2 News, New York City.
Violence and Aggression (February, 1989), The Melba Toliver Show, Channel 12, Long Island.
Self-Defeating Behaviors (September, 1989), Channel 12 News, Long Island.
Licenses & CertificationsPsychologist, New York State
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