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    • Marie Hoffman, Ph.D.
    • Lowell Hoffman, Ph.D.
    • Robert Hoffman, MA, M.PH., LPC (NC, VT, PA)
    • Jenny Lorena Franco, M.Ed, LPC
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Marie Hoffman, Ph.D.

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I am a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, practicing at the Brookhaven Center for Counseling and Development in Allentown, PA, which my husband of 47 years, Lowell Hoffman, and I founded. There, along with our associates, we provide a depth psychotherapy that is sensitive to peoples' spirituality. My husband and I are both graduates of New York University's Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and we also provide training and consultation in psychoanalytic psychotherapy through Brookhaven Center.


Professional and Academic Roles

Marie maintains a full-time practice at The Brookhaven Center and was the co-founder of Brookhaven Institute for Psychoanalysis and Christian Theology (BIPACT). She was the 2006-2007 Stephen A. Mitchell Scholar, is the author of Toward Mutual Recognition: Relational Psychoanalysis and the Christian Narrative, numerous professional papers, and frequently presents at academic conferences. She is a graduate of and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology (Adjunct) at the New York University Post-Doctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. She has been mentored/supervised in psychoanalytic training by Lewis Aron, Ph. D. , Jessica Benjamin, Ph. D. , Jody Davies, Ph. D. , Nancy McWilliams, Ph. D. , Spyros Orfanos, Ph. D. , and Neil Skolnick, Ph. D. Marie was also the co-founder of the Society for Exploration of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies and Theology (SEPTT), and has served as adjunct faculty at Rosemead School of Psychology and Fuller Seminary School of Psychology.

Dr. Hoffman holds licenses in Pennsylvania, New York, and is registered as a Telehealth provider in the state of Florida 
(https://flhealthsource.gov/telehealth/).  

Psychoanalysis and Religion

Over the last decade, sensing the deep lack of dialogue between the disciplines of psychoanalysis and religion, I have published articles on their intersection, focusing on the enrichment these disciplines can bring to each other. In 2006, I had the honor of being named Stephen Mitchell Scholar, and have been a visiting professor at Rosemead School of Psychology and Fuller Theological Seminary as well as a visiting lecturer at Wheaton Graduate School.

BOOKS

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Ever since its nascent days, psychoanalysis has enjoyed an uneasy coexistence with religion. However, in recent decades, many analysts have been more interested in the healing potential of both psychoanalytic and religious experience and have explored how their respective narrative underpinnings may be remarkably similar.

In Toward Mutual Recognition, Marie T. Hoffman takes just such an approach. Coming from a Christian perspective, she suggests that the current relational turn in psychoanalysis has been influenced by numerous theorists - analysts and philosophers alike - who were themselves shaped by an embedded Christian narrative. As a result, the redemptive concepts of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection - central to the tenets of Christianity - can be traced to relational theories, emerging analogously in the transformative process of mutual recognition in the concepts of identification, surrender, and gratitude, a trilogy which she develops as forming the "path of recognition." Each movement on this path of recognition is given thought-provoking, in-depth attention. Chapters dedicated to theoretical perspectives utilize the thinking of Benjamin, Hegel, and Ricoeur. In her historical perspectives, she explores the personal and professional histories of analysts such as Sullivan, Fairbairn, Winnicott, Erikson, Kohut, and Ferenczi, among others, who were influenced by the Christian narrative. Uniting it all together is the clinical perspective offered in the compelling extended case history of Mandy, a young lady whose treatment embodies and exemplifies each of the steps along the path of growth in both the psychoanalytic and Christian senses.

Throughout, a relational sensibility is deployed as a cooperative counterpart to the Christian narrative, working both as a consilient dialogue and a vehicle for further integrative exploration. As a result, the specter of psychoanalysis and religion as mutually exclusive gives way to the hope and redemption offered by their mutual recognition.

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For more than one hundred years, North American Christians have been choosing one of two stories about the gospel of Jesus Christ. One story, often referred to as the "true gospel," holds forth a narrative that this world is a "sinking ship" without possibility of redemption. For adherents to the "true gospel," human suffering in this life is mostly a distraction to be ignored, for all that truly matters is to "win souls for Jesus" so that as many as possible can be assured of eternal life.

The other story, known by many as the "social gospel," holds that the gospel of Jesus promises a new beginning in this life that includes the possibility for abundant life in this present world. Followers of this story devote themselves to alleviating human suffering and working for charity and peace.

Prior to the Civil War, these two stories--of salvation in this life and salvation in the life to come--were one, never to be separated, together comprising the good news of Jesus Christ. When the Roll is Called recounts the traumatic tearing asunder of this beautiful good news and offers hope for the restoration of a whole gospel.
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SELECT Publications & PRESENTATIONS
FALL, 2020
"
Holding the Dialectic in an Age of Dichotomy:
Tensions, Trends, and Treatment in Contemporary Psychoanalysis",  Journal of Psychology and Theology.

Fall, 2019
“Christianity and Psychoanalysis: Orienting View and Augmenting Modality. ”Psychoanalytic Inquiry (tba).
May, 2019
“Finding Place for Religion: A Discussion of Lisa Cataldo’s ‘Where God is Between Us: Religious Experience, Surrender, and the Third in Clinical Perspective’”, Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 16:2,149-157.
Winter, 2019
“Born to Relate: In Trauma, In Transformation, In Transcendence.” Crisp, T, Porter, S, & Ten Elshof, G.    Psychology and Spiritual Formation in Dialogue.Downer’s Grove, IL, IVP Academic.
August, 2018 Workshop:
“Christianity and Psychoanalysis.” Society for Christian Psychology with Marek Macek. Prague, Czech Republic.
July, 2018
Director/Organizer, Oskar Pfister Conference, Hotel Mirabeau, Lausanne, Switzerland.
June, 2018
“Glimpses Into the Consultation Room of a Trump Country Analyst.”    IARPP conference, NY, NY.
June 2018
Brookhaven Institute Summer Intensive, Gryon, Switzerland.
Summer, 2018
With Lowell Hoffman: “The Rhythm of Redemption: On Our Relationship with the Holy Spirit in Clinical Work.” Emcapp Journal, No. 11, pp. 124-133.European Movement for Christian Anthropology, Psychology, and Psychotherapy.
July, 2017
Brookhaven Institute Summer Intensive, Villabri, Fogelsville, PA.
Summer, 2017
With Lowell Hoffman: “Comment to ‘A Few Sayings on Pride.” Emcapp Journal, No. 10, pp. 122-124.European Movement for Christian Anthropology, Psychology, and Psychotherapy.
October, 2016
When the Roll is Called: Trauma and the Soul of American Evangelicalism. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade.
August, 2015
“Beyond Alterity:The Path to Gratitude.” In Goodman, D. & Freeman, M. (Eds). Psychology and the Other: A Dialogue at the Crossroad of an Emerging Field. London: Oxford.
September, 2014
“The Welcome Return of the Suppressed: Religion and Psychoanalysis in Dialogue”. In Stavros, G. & Sandage, S. The Skillful Soul of the Psychotherapist: The Link Between Spirituality and Clinical Excellence. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
July, 2014    
Brookhaven Institute for Psychoanalysis and Christian Theology Summer Intensive.
April, 2013 Course
--NYU Postdoctoral Program: Contemporary Psychoanalysis and the Christian Narrative. NY, NY.
February, 2013 Fuller Integration Lectures
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA
July 2012
Brookhaven Institute for Psychoanalysis and Christian Theology Summer Intensive – July 18-26.
December, 2012
“W. R. D. Fairbairn: Religion and the Relational Turn” Book chapter in Clarke and Scharff, Fairbairn. London: Karnac.
October, 2012 Danielson Institute Symposium on Spirituality. Respondent to Nancy McWilliams
June 2012
International Ferenczi Conference: Faces of Trauma. “Between Trauma and Transcendence: A historical, theoretical, and clinical case presentation.”
March, 2012
Workshop presentation
“Relational Psychoanalysis and the Christian Narrative.” CAPS, Washington, DC.
March, 2012
Panel presentation “Between Bloopers and Blunders: Ethics In the Consultation Room.” CAPS, Washington, DC
March, 2012
Paper Presentation “Beyond Alterity: The Path to Gratitude”. CAPS, Washington, DC.
September, 2011 Invited Speaker: “Beyond Alterity: The Path to Gratitude.” Psychology and the Other Conference, Cambridge, MA.
September, 2011
Seminar lecturer: “Toward Mutual Recognition: Relational Psychoanalysis and the Christian Narrative.”Seattle School of Psychology and Theology, Seattle, WA.
June, 2011
Visiting Lecturer, Rewley House Association, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
June, 2011
“Meet the Author”.IARPP. Madrid, Spain.
June, 2011
“From Sacred Narrative to Intersubjectivity: Musings on Hegel, Benjamin and Ricoeur.” IARPP, Madrid, Spain.
April, 2011
“From Calvinism to Kierkegaard: The Unformulated Role Of Religious Narratives in the Life and Work of Sandor Ferenczi. Paper. Division 39, American Psychological Association Conference. New York, NY.
April, 2011
“Meet the Author.” Presenter. Division 39, American Psychological Association Conference. New York, NY
March, 2011
“Mentors in Integration” selected speaker.Christian Association for Psychological Studies. Indianapolis, IN
March, 2011
“On Gratitude.” Paper. Christian Association forPsychological Studies. Indianapolis, IN
March, 2011
Plenary Address. Christian Association for Psychological Studies. Indianapolis, IN
December, 2010
Toward Mutual Recognition: Relational Psychoanalysis and the Christian Narrative. Routledge Publishing, Relational Perspectives Book Series.
Summer, 2010
"The Case of Mr. P." Jour. of Psychology and Theology. Vol 29, (2), pp. 104-108.
Summer, 2010
"Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection in Psychoanalytic Thought." Jour. of Psychology and Theology. Vol 29, (2), pp. 121-129.
Summer, 2010
"On Christianity, Psychoanalysis and the Hope of Eternal Return." Jour. of Psychology and Theology. Vol 29, (2), pp. 104-108.
July, 2010
Fourth annual SEPTT retreat, Fogelsville, PA
August, 2009
Third annual SEPTT retreat, Fogelsville, PA
February, 2009
Clinic Symposium: "No Cultural Self-State Left Behind." NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psycho-analysis.
Winter, 2008
"Transformation: Religion and Psychoanalysis in Dialogue" Special issue of Psychoanalytic Inquiry. Journal co-editor. November, 2008.
August, 2008
Second annual SEPTT retreat, Fogelsville, PA
July, 2008
"Fairbairn and Winnicott on my mind: Counterpoints, tensions and oscillations in the clinical setting. Contemporary Psychoanalysis. 44(3), 454-475.
June, 2008
Commencement Speaker. NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy And Psychoanalysis.
June, 2008
"The Case of Mandy" Colloquium presentation NYU Extern class, Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis.
April, 2008
"Minding Incarnation: A Step-by-Step Case Study in Relational Psychodynamic Integration." Panel Presenter: "Enactment: rupture and repair." Conference of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Phoenix, AZ.
April, 2008
"Doctor, I Had a Dream Last Night." Pre-conference Workshop. Conference of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Phoenix, AZ.
April, 2008
"The Unfolding of Love in the Works of Kristeva and Levinas." Panel Discussant: "On Consilience and Its Clinical Application." Conference for the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Phoenix, AZ.
February, 2008
"Grace and Sexuality." Workshop Presentation to Conference of Reformed Churches. Reading, PA. August, 2007 First annual Society for Study of the Psychoanalytic Therapies and Theology (SEPTT) weekend conference. Co-Director and Presenter. Fogelsville, PA
June, 2007
Online Colloquium. Society for Study of the Psycho-analytic Therapies and Theology (SEPTT). Discussant of Stephen Mitchell paper "Object relations theories and the developmental tilt."
March, 2007 "From Libido to Love: Relational Psychoanalysis and the Redemption of Sexuality." Presenter. Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Philadelphia, PA
March, 2007
"Tearing down dividing walls." Panel Presenter. Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Philadelphia, PA
March, 2007
"From libido to love: Relational psychoanalysis and the redemption of sexuality." Journal of Psychology and Theology. 35 (1), pp. 74- 86.
April, 2006
"From Illusion to Synergy?: Psychoanalysis, Spirituality, and Religion in Dialogue" Roundtable Discussion, Psychoanalytic Perspectives. 4, (1), pp. 1-48.
April, 2006
"Reply to Commentaries: 'Other-less', 'Other-more', 'Other-like'." Psychoanalytic Perspectives. 4, (1), pp. 83-87.
April, 2006
"Fairbairn and Winnicott on My Mind: Counterpoints, Tensions, and Oscillations in the Clinical Setting." Presenter, American Psychological Association, Division 39, Philadelphia, PA.
March, 2006
"CAPS and Psychoanalysis: A Fifty Year Relationship Reviewed and Reaffirmed." Discussant, Christian Association for Psychological Studies Conference Cleveland, OH.
March, 2005
"From Enemy Combatant to Strange Bedfellow: The Role of Religious Narratives in the Work of W.R.D. Fairbairn and D.W. Winnicott." Presenter, Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Dallas, TX.
December, 2004
"From Enemy Combatant to Strange Bedfellow: The Role of Religious Narratives in the Work of W.R.D. Fairbairn and D.W. Winnicott". Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 14 (6), pp. 769-804.
April, 2004
"From Enemy Combatant to Strange Bedfellow: The Role of Religious Narratives in the Work of W.R.D. Fairbairn and D.W. Winnicott". Panelist, "Religion at the Crossroads of Culture", American Psychological Association Division 39, Miami, FL.
April, 2004
"On the Virtue of Agnosticism in the Treatment of Religiously-Committed Patients". Panelist, "Religion and Psychoanalysis", American Psychological Association Division 39, Miami, FL.
March, 2004
"Religious Narratives in the Work of D.W. Winnicott". The Wesley Theological Society, Rochester, NY.
December, 2003
"From Enemy Combatant to Strange Bedfellow: The Role of Religious Narratives in the Work of W.R.D. Fairbairn and D.W. Winnicott". American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, Chapel Hill, NC.
November, 2002
"Continuities and Discontinuities Between Psychoanalysis and the Judeo-Christian Narrative". New York University Postdoctoral Weekend, panelist, seminar on "Spirituality and Psychoanalysis".


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