Shrinks and Drinks: A Summer Series

Dates
Fridays
June 13, July 11, August 8, 2025

Time
4:30 – 6:30pm

Location
The Alamo Psychotherapy & Training
6401 Ruby Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90042

Event fee
$15 for all attendees

We are excited to announce our community summer series!

In June, July, August, and September we will host four psychoanalysts who will introduce their analytic framworks and offer a themed case consultation. This is a casual event geared towards mental health clinicians at all stages of training.

We will provide the shrinks and the drinks, you bring the appetizing case material! 

Friday, June 13th
Psychoanalyst Dr. Michelle Harwell will offer case consultation on contemporary relational approach to frame and boundary issues.

Frame isn't just a clinical boundary—it's where our theoretical ideals meet the messy realities of human connection. When we examine frame issues, we're exploring how meaning emerges through the rhythms, boundaries, and negotiations that structure our work together. This consultation invites clinicians to bring those moments where frame becomes foreground—canceled sessions, unexpected disclosures, shifting boundaries—not as technical violations but as meaningful communications within our co-created space. What matters isn't rigid neutrality but thoughtful attention to how our participation shapes the intersubjective field. In this dialogue between structure and spontaneity lies the heart of our clinical art.

Dr. Michelle Harwell is a training and supervising analyst and instructor at the Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Newport Psychoanalytic Institute.. For over a decade she has trained and supervised emerging clinicians through a unique integration of contemporary psychoanalytic principles and the humanities, believing that our reverence for theory must live alongside a deep humility and respect for the complexity of the human story. She is the author of numerous papers and her writing interests are centered on the interior process of the analyst. Dr. Harwell maintains a clinical practice in Eagle Rock, CA where she works extensively with adults, children, families, and couples.

Friday, July 11th
Consulting Psychoanalyst Dr. Lilly Gallay will offer case consultation on parallel regression.

When analyst and patient simultaneously descend into earlier modes of experiencing, we encounter not a technical failure but a profound opportunity. Parallel regression invites us into shared emotional territory where new understanding becomes possible precisely because both participants temporarily inhabit the same developmental terrain. This consultation examines these moments when our carefully maintained professional stance gives way to more primitive processes that mirror our patients' struggles—not as countertransference contamination but as the very vehicle for deeper connection and healing.

Dr. Lilly Gallay received her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, an APA-accredited program. As part of her graduate work, she published a clinical dissertation on artistic creativity and resolving creative blocks. She completed two years of pre- and post-doctoral training at Wright Institute Los Angeles, and is a current candidate at Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS), where she's pursuing certification as a psychoanalyst. She has training and experience in diverse areas of clinical interest beyond psychoanalysis, including the intersection of Buddhism and psychotherapy, trauma, and working with other mental health professionals. She supervises in her private practice, leading supervision groups for pre-and post-licensed therapists, and at community mental health centers. She maintains a private practice in South Pasadena, CA.

Friday, August 8th
Psychoanalyst Dr. Justin Shubert will offer case consultation on repetition compulsion.

Repetition compulsion isn't merely pathology but the mind's continuing effort to metabolize what remains unintegrated. These patterns emerge not just in our patients' narratives but in the very fabric of our clinical relationships—signaling what cannot yet be symbolized. This consultation explores how we participate in these repetitive configurations while creating space for new possibilities. Rather than standing outside as knowing interpreters, we engage as fellow travelers in the journey toward transformation.

Dr. Justin Shubert is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst who is endlessly fascinated by how the mind works. He is the founder and director of Silver Lake Psychotherapy, a group practice on the eastside of LA. He is also the former chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association's Committee on Gender and Sexuality, a founding member of the Committee for Diversities and Sociocultural Issues at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, and the past Diversity Editor of The American Psychoanalyst.

September TBD, Stay Tuned! 

Refund policy: Participants seeking a refund can email us at thealamoprograms@gmail.com at least 15  days before the first meeting. Refunds requested 15 days or earlier will receive 100% refund. 14-7 days prior, participants are eligible for a 50% refund. No refund will be provided 6 days prior or less.

Contact Us

To request accommodations for special needs, obtain the grievance policy, report a grievance, request a refund, request more information about the course, or if you have general questions, please email us at thealamoprograms@gmail.com