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Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Podcast
East of Eden Reflective Function Collapse: Psychodynamic Therapy, Steinbeck, and How to Heal the Characters
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In this episode, Dr. David Puder and his psychodynamic psychotherapy training cohort apply reflective function (RF) and mentalization concepts to John Steinbeck's masterpiece East of Eden. They examine how Reflective Function collapses under shame, rejection, threat, and attachment arousal across key characters. The discussion highlights that true personality health is not the absence of aggression, dependency, or guilt but the growing capacity to recognize conflicting self-parts, stay in contact with reality, and remain related to imperfect people. Link to blog Link to YouTube video By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits.