Expanding the Field:

Thinking Creatively about Gender and Sexuality

Challenging Normative Frameworks in Psychoanalysis

Date: Sunday, May 31st, 2026

Time: 1:00pm – 3:00pm EST

IN PERSON & ON ZOOM

3 CE credits

PRESENTERS:

Diana Moga, MD, Ph.D.

Neuroqueering the Psychoanalytic Lens

&

Daniel Polyak, MA, LP

Cis Pathology: Psychoanalysis of Cisgender

Moderators: Anna Fishzon, PhD, LP & Susanna Stephens, PhD

Fees:

Candidates: $50

IPTAR Members: $85

Non-IPTAR Members: $95

The Program Committee is delighted to host its third and final event for the speaker series, Expanding the Field: Thinking Creatively About Gender and Sexuality. We are pleased to have papers from Diana Moga, MD, PhD and Daniel Polyak, MA, LP, followed by a dialogue between the presenters and a Q&A with the audience. Both speakers will address problematic normative frameworks in psychoanalysis, including those that privilege certain neurotypes, sexual orientation and gender identity & expression.

Neuroqueering the Psychoanalytic Lens

Diana Moga, MD, Ph.D.

Abstract: Autism and queerness frequently overlap but little is written about this intersection psychoanalytically and queerness or gender atypicality are often viewed as underlying symptoms of autism. Autism itself gets reduced to a problem within a person’s brain by the medical model, while the disability model focuses on the social construction of autism. Psychoanalysis is uniquely positioned to theorize the interweaving of the body, mind and the social: the intrapsychic development of the autistic queer child, the way they interact and make meaning of their interaction with caregivers, and the impact of social stigma and harsh disciplining of neurodiversity and queerness alike. This paper illustrates the central role of understanding neurodiversity in fostering our autistic queer patients’ ability to reclaim their developmental narrative, process trauma, and come into an overall sense of vitality and healthy self-esteem in their gendered bodies, without which desire is compromised. For many autistic queer individuals, gender queerness is intrinsically linked to the ways they experience their autistic bodies. Neuroqueering our psychoanalytic lens means coming to terms with the ways that we participate in the disciplining of divergent bodies and minds in response to the primitive anxieties elicited by autistic and trans desire, to the detriment of our patients and theories

Cis Pathology: Psychoanalysis of Cisgender

Daniel Polyak, MA, LP

Abstract: The expanding psychoanalytic literature on transsexual, transgender, and gender-nonconforming embodiments corrects the problematic legacy of pathologizing gender transgression. Despite the more prevalent use of the term cisgender in everyday speech, critical psychoanalytic interrogation of the concept of cisgender is mostly absent from the literature. If cisgender holds a privileged place in psychoanalytic discourse, why would further engagement with the concept be important? Turning to Freud’s work on anxiety alongside contemporary psychoanalytic and political thinkers work on difference, race, and gender, the author aims to pathologize cisgender not as an identity, but as a compulsory system. A psychoanalytic understanding of cis as pathology makes possible the exploration of sexed embodiment beyond the terms of self-enclosed identities.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to describe normative frameworks and compulsory systems that predominate psychoanalytic thinking and practice.

Participants will be able to articulate the ways these normative frameworks pathologize and oppress groups of people, specifically trans and autistic queer patients.

Participants will be able to describe the ways in which we as psychoanalysts play into these compulsory systems and the ways in which we can challenge them.

Diana E. Moga, MD, PhD, received her medical degree and doctorate in Neuroscience from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and completed her psychiatric residency and psychoanalytic training at Columbia University. She is currently a training and supervising analyst at Columbia University’s Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, where she chairs the sexuality course. Dr. Moga has taught extensively on topics including gender and sexuality, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and neurodiversity at institutions nationwide. She has published book chapters and peer-reviewed articles on psychodynamic and psychoanalytic education, gender and sexuality, and neurodiversity. Dr. Moga serves on the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Inquiry and as an associate editor for the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association where she also co-chairs the Roughton Award. Dr. Moga maintains a private practice on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, specializing in trauma, neurodiversity, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.

Daniel Polyak, MA, LP practices psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and parents in New York City. He completed psychoanalytic training at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR) and he supervises at the IPTAR Clinical Center. He is a co-founder/coordinator of Free Clinic NYC. He lectures in the Women and Gender Studies program at Hunter College, is a contributing editor at Parapraxis, and teaches at the Psychosocial Foundation and Pulsion Institute. His most recent publication appeared in Studies in Gender and Sexuality and is called “Cis Pathology: Psychoanalysis of Cisgender.”

IPTAR Programs Committee:

Masha Mimran (chair), Steve Ellman, Nancy de Holl, Anna Fishzon, Gabriel Heller, Judy Ann Kaplan, Susanna Stephens, Aneta Stojnić, Lissa Weinstein

The Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (1651 3rd Ave, Suite 205, NY, NY 10128) is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists (#PSY-0026), and the State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers (#SW-0226) and the State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychoanalysts (#P-0011), Licensed Creative Arts Therapists (#CAT-0037) and Licensed Mental Health Counselors (#MHC-0112). This certificate is not applicable to any other New York State profession.

3 CE credits will be granted to participants who have registered, have documented evidence of attendance of the entire program and have completed the on-line evaluation form. Upon completion of the evaluation form a Certificate of Completion will be emailed to all participants who comply with these requirements.

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