Program Committee

Last year with Bear Korngold new at the helm of the Program Committee we experienced a rebirth within our group — new chair, new members, fresh outlook. This year as I join Bear as co-chair of this fertile committee, the births seem to keep rolling in and we're enjoying myriad creative fruits of our collective labor.

In the spirit of late fall 2008′s monumental U.S. Presidential election, we celebrated the possibility of great change in grand style at our Annual Holiday Party, appropriately themed with Americana comfort food and Dixie musical delights to usher in the 2009-2010 year. We continued the theme of imminent change on the horizon by inviting Dr. Stephen Hartmann to present “Reality 2.0: When Loss is Lost,” at our Spring Scientific Meeting. Dr. Hartman welcomed us to reality 2.0, which thrives in cyberspace. Compared to our historical psychoanalytic emphasis on a boundaried reality, which can be modified by fantasy to mediate inevitable loss, the new cyber-reality is limitless. Dr. Hartman's thought-provoking talk and innovative perspective inspired us to think beyond the confines of our traditional classroom studies and journal research.

Spring continued to blossom when world-renowned Italian psychoanalyst Stefano Bolognini, M.D., joined us in May for our 21st annual event and lecture entitled, “Notes from the Deep: Empathy and Unconscious Communication in the Psychoanalytic Relationship.” In a voice at once cultured, conversational, intimate, and rigorous, Bolognini engaged our community with a lively and thoughtful discussion of what he called “complex empathy.” Together with enthusiastic discussant Charles Spezzano and case presenter Rachel Peltz the group embodied a warm and gentle, yet deep and curious “complex empathic” approach, which transformed the audience.

Looking forward, we have a very special line-up of new programs for fall and winter. The Student Paper Event kicks off the season on Friday, September 25, with Elizabeth Bradshaw presenting her pa