A diversification of formats and topics and an increasing focus on selected groups of registrants were features of the scientific sessions of the 1973 Fall Meetings. There were panels, plenary meetings, individual papers, interdisciplinary colloquia and seminars, and two days of discussion groups. The breadth of topics reflected the increasingly broadening scope of psychoanalytic pursuits and interests. Many seminars were restricted to candidates or geared toward interdisciplinary specialists.
The discussion groups included dream-problems, studies of “the adult profile” and individual case presentations. A major panel, jointly sponsored by the Association of Child Psychoanalysis, compared child and adult clinical work. Individual scientific presentations surveyed questions of assessments, of analyzeability, re-analysis, special problems of affects, as well as certain clinical configurations.
Interest in research was also widely evident. There were several discussion groups focussing on investigations of infancy and childhood and one which was devoted to research on the psychoanalytic process itself. A major panel dealt with the issue of sensory deprivation, and still another involved dreams and dreaming. Dr. Edward Joseph, Past President of the Association, offered a plenary address on the breadth and value of twin studies.
Conceptual matters were also prominently represented. Discussion groups considered basic concepts, models of the mind, and the concept of the self. A major panel discussed the psychoanalytic theory of affects; it was followed by coordinated workshops where pre-registered participants had an opportunity further to discuss issues that evolved out of the morning panel presentation. Several scientific papers were devoted to special theoretical considerations; among them, transference, the life instinct, identity, and aggression. And Dr. Paul MacLean, Chief of the Laboratory of Brain Evolution and Behavior of the NIMH, held a plenary session on “Psychoanalyzing the Triune Brain.”
One hundred and fifty-one registrants actively participated in a series of interdisciplinary seminars on Sunday, December 16, the last day of the scientific sessions. Anthropology, social work, education in general, and medical education in particular were among the topics discussed.
Such diversification of subject and style has been evolving as a distinctive feature of the Association meetings in recent years. The record registration of at least 1770 was testament to the popularity and effectiveness of these approaches. More impressive, 830 individuals actively participated in one or more scientific sessions.
Dr. Nathan Segel, Program Committee Chairman, announces that Dr. Rene Dubos, Professor Emeritus of the Rockefeller University in New York City, Microbiologist and Experimental Pathologist, will be Plenary Speaker at the December 1974 Meeting of the Association. The title of his address will be “On Choosing to Be Human.”