Diplomas/DegreesCertificate in Psychoanalysis, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health (1985)
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Tennessee (1981)
B.A., Rutgers College (1976)
Recent CoursesComparative Analysis Of Intervention
Evolutionary Psychology
Motivation And Emotion
Ongoing Doctoral Thesis Supervision
Psychological Research 1
Psychological Research III
Psychological Research IV
S/T: Short-Term Couples Therapy
Personal StatementMy scholarly and research interests have always evolved from the challenges of daily clinical practice. For almost three decades of clinical practice I noticed how many of my patients either engage in acts of sexual infidelity or have become victims of sexual betrayal. My clinical experiences with those patients inspired my interest in the psychology of love triangles and the conflicts people have about making monogamous sexually exclusive relationships work. I have developed empathy-based approaches to marital communication to help both individuals and couples deal with these sensitive issues. I am currently working on a book that describes my approach called "Why People Cheat: Risk Factors for Infidelity and How to Reduce Them."
My research and scholarship draws on Freud's seminal insights into human sexuality made current by new developments in contemporary evolutionary psychology. I look at romantic relationships developmentally in terms of issues of early attachment and the oedipal conflict as well as in terms of adult personality variables like narcissism, attachment style, and the "dark triad" of narcissism, Machiavellian Intelligence, and psychopathy that predict many aspects of adult romantic relationships. I use the experimental technique of mindset priming to see how activating unconscious conflicts around love triangles effect attitudes towards infidelity, pornography, revenge, jealousy, death related thoughts, and sexual arousal. I am interested in working with any students who are interested in investigating any aspects of adult romantic relationships or human sexuality as well as the childhood antecedents of these issues.
In my clinical/ theoretical scholarship I have been building bridges between psychoanalysis and evolutionary psychology in trying to understand the mind's reproductive system and what are our uniquely human adaptations for reproductive advantage. As a frequent contributor to the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, originally founded by Ernest Jones under the supervision of Sigmund Freud, as well as an editor at that journal, I have been trying forge links between psychoanalytic theory and recent research in personality, social, and evolutionary psychology, psychology of emotions, and evolutionary anthropology. I am always looking for theoretically minded students to do collaborative scholarly work in this area who may hope to make a contribution to the psychoanalytic literature.
Teaching Specializations/InterestsTechniques of Psychotherapy
Psychology of Emotion
Evolutionary Psychology
Working with Emotions in Adult Romantic Relationships
Research InterestsHow personality variables interact with experimental activation of unconscious conflicts in regard to adult romantic relationships.
BooksJosephs, L. (1995). Balancing Empathy and Interpretation. Jason Aronson.
Josephs, L. (1992). Character Structure and the Organization of the Self. Columbia University Press.
Artistic/Creative Work"Infidelity: A Four Part Documentary Series". I'm interviewed on the evolutionary psychology of monogamy, infidelity, and sexualjealousy. Vision TV Canada. May 2011.
Refereed ArticlesShowing first 5 of 17.
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Josephs, L. & Weinberger, J. (in press), Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. Handbook of Psychology.
Josephs, L. (in press), The challenge of mentalizing sexual betrayal. Mentalization Based Couples Therapy.
Josephs, L. (2012), The adaptive function of sexual plasticity. Dynamic Psychiatry.
Josephs, L. (2011), The primal scene in cross-species and cross-cultural perspectives. International Journal of Psychoanalysis.
Josephs, L. & Bornstein, R. (2011), Beyond the Illusion of Structural Change: A process priming approach to psychotherapy outcome research. Psychoanalytic Psychology.
Josephs, L. (2011), Neurotic self-deception as a reproductive strategy. Style and Character: Conversations with David Shapiro. Ed. C. Piers..
Josephs, Lawrence and Shimberg, Jessica (2010), The dynamics of sexual fidelity: Personality as a reproductive strategy. Psychoanalytic Psychology.
Josephs, Lawrence (2010), The co-evolution of sexual desire, narcissistic vulnerability, and adaptations for reproductive advantage. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry.
Lawrence Josephs (2010), The evolved function of the oedipal conflict. International Journal of Psychoanalysis.
Miller, A. & Josephs, L. (2009), Whiteness as Pathological Narcissism. Contemporary Psychoanalysis.
Hunyady, Josephs, & Jost (2008), Priming the Primal Scene: Betrayal Trauma, Narcissism, and Attitudes Towards Infidelity. Self and Identity.
Josephs, Lawrence (2006), The impulse to infidelity and oedipal splitting. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 82:2.
Josephs, L. et al. (2004), Assessing Progress in Analysis Interminable. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 52.
Josephs, L. (2004), Seduced by Affluence: How material envy strains the analytic relationship. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 40.
Josephs, L. (2003), The observing ego as voyeur. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 84.
Josephs, L. (2001), The seductive superego: The trauma of self-betrayal. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 82.
Josephs, L. (2000), Self-criticism and the psychic surface. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 48.
Conference Presentations/PapersShowing first 5 of 10.
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Josephs, L. (2012). Discussant: Varieties of Coupling. In International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. NYC.
Josephs, L. (2011). The Dynamics of Sexual Fidelity. In American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. New York City.
Josephs, L. (2010). The Dynamics of Sexual Fidelity. In Training Institute for Mental Health.
Josephs, L. (2009). The Adaptive Function of Sexual Greed. In Greed, Sex, Money, Power, and Politics. Mount Sinai Hospital.
Josephs, L. (2008). Neurotic Self-deception as a Reproductgive Strategy. In Karen Horney Institute.
Josephs, Lawrence (2007). Narcissistic Scars: The Dynamics of Cheating, Mate Poaching, and Mate Guarding. In Postgraduate Psychoanalytic Society. NYC.
Josephs, L. (2007). Seduction and Betrayal: An Ovverlooked Relational Dynamic. In On-Line Seminar: International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.
Josephs, Lawrence (2006). The Analyst's Badness. In Online Colloquiuum. International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.
Josephs, Lawrence (2006). Infidelity and Secret Double Lives. In Division of Psychoanalysis, APA. Philadelphia, PA..
Josephs, Lawrence (2006). Love triangles and the impulse to infidelity. In Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society. Knoxville, Tennessee.
Honors and AccomplishmentsPsychoanalytic Electronic Publishing author prize for frequently downloaded author in 2010. Awarded 2/12
Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing author prize for frequently downloaded author in 2011. Awarded 8/12
Professional ActivitiesFellow College of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis 3/11 - 4/14
North American Editorial Board of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis: 2/07 - 2/11.
Reviewer International Journal of Psychoanalysis
Reviewer Psychoanalytic Psychology
Reviewer Psychotherapy Research
Reviewer Journal of Clinical Psychology
Organizing Committee for the Annual Symposium of the Psychoanalytic Consortium: 1/09 to present
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