Craving and Desire: A Community Discussion

Join us for an evening of conversation “Craving & Desire” with esteemed psychoanalysts Dr. Gemma Marangoni Ainslie and Dr. Richard G. Michael. We will discuss aspects of our human urges as they relate to Lauren Kelley’s exhibition “True Falsetto.” Kelley’s claymation videos highlight awkward moments of craving food, beauty and romantic love. Admission is free to the gallery and audience participation is encouraged.

Gemma Marangoni Ainslie, Ph.D., ABPP, is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Austin, where she works with individual adults and adolescents, as well as couples and parents, and consults and supervises. She is Past President of the Academy of Psychoanalysis, Board Certified as a Psychoanalyst and a Fellow of the American Board of Psychoanalysis in Psychology of the American Psychological Association, as well as on the faculty of the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies in Houston and Austin. She has written and presented on the local, national and international levels on psychoanalysis and the arts (poetry and film), imagination, and play, as well as on female development. In addition, Ainslie is a member of the Board of Women & Their Work.

Richard G. Michael, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Austin, working with individual adults, couples, and groups, as well as consulting and supervising. He is a training and supervising psychoanalyst, and is chair of the curriculum committee at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies in Houston. He has held clinical, administrative and supervisory positions at a number of public and private inpatient and outpatient facilities mainly in the Boston, Massachusetts area where he was also on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He has written and presented on topics including:  the role of play in psychological development and in psychotherapy, disorders of hope, the therapeutic use of imagination, and masochistic disorders.