Program Committee

The tenure of the current Program Committee began in January 2006, giving us enough time to host the late 2005 Winter Scientific Meeting featuring Kathy Sinsheimer. Ms. Sinsheimer presented the case of a very disturbed patient and the dream work/alpha work that was required to make sense of the patient's symbols. She invited the audience to muse on the process of trying to understand the disturbed patient's communications while surviving the inevitable contact with primitive aspects of the analyst's own mind. Sue von Baeyer offered a very lively and thought-provoking discussion of the paper.

The 18th Annual Lecture featured Christopher Bollas and was by all accounts a very successful event. The lecture and discussion departed from the usual format of annual events in that Dr. Bollas fittingly lectured extemporaneously about the concept of free association and the place of interpretation, rather than read a formal paper. The interaction between Dr. Bollas and the audience was very spirited, humorous, and reflected the air of curiosity and creativity appropriate to the subject matter. Dr. Bollas ended the lecture with readings from his works of fiction.

Not long after closing the books on this year's Annual Lecture, the Program Committee reconvened to begin plans for the 2007 and 2008 Annual Lectures. We contacted Patrick Casement, Antonino Ferro, Robert Hinshelwood, Jodie Messler Davies, Stuart Pizer, Peter Fonagy, and Judith Mitrani. Drs. Ferro, Hinshelwood, and Pizer expressed interest for the 2008 annual event. We will have some very exciting choices to make for 2008! At the time of press, we are still working on the final details for the 2007 invited speaker.

The upcoming 2006 Fall Scientific Meeting will also prove a departure from the usual format. Maureen Franey will present how the visual gaze and musical audio effects of a film, Ladies in Lavender, portray the transformative and healing journey of a psychoanalysis. We are looking forward to this creative event