In what may be the most extensive formal effort of the American to bring psychoanalytic principles to mental health professionals, the Program Committee under the chairmanship of Arnold Cooper, has designed a two-day workshop for qualified professionals who treat or counsel adolescents. Entitled “Special Problems in the Treatment of Adolescents,” the workshop will be given on December 11 and 12, 1976, the weekend before the fall Scientific Meeting. Its purpose is to give participants an opportunity to learn about recent developments in psychoanalysis and their application to the various forms of psychotherapy with adolescents.
The program will consist of morning panels and afternoon small group discussions. Saturday morning's panel, entitled “Developmental Issues in Adolescence and Their Relation to Treatment.” will focus on the following topics:
AN OVERVIEW: Peter Neubauer
SYMBIOSIS AND THE TRANSITIONAL OBJECT: Peter Giovacchini
SUPEREGO DEVELOPMENT: Fritz Redl
SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT: Samuel Ritvo
Sunday morning's panel, entitled “Therapeutic Issues in the Treatment of Adolescents,” will deal with:
AN OVERVIEW: Calvin Settlage
THE PATIENT, THE THERAPIST, AND THE FAMILY: Roger Shapiro
SPECIAL TRANSFERENCE ISSUES: Marjorie Harley
THE MANAGEMENT OF SPECIFIC PROBLEMS: Peter Blos
On both afternoons the participants will work in small groups where they will have the opportunity to discuss specific clinical problems with emphasis on the application of relevant psychodynamic principles. Small group discussion leaders, drawn from members of the American who have had wide experience in the treatment of and teaching about adolescents, will include: Harvey Bezahler, Gabriel Casuso, Virginia Clower, Everett Dulit, Eleanor Galenson, Eugene Kaplan, Clarice Kestenbaum, George Kochis, Harold Kolansky, Gustavo Lage, Helen Meyers, Cecil Mushatt, Robert Prall, Joseph Rudolph, Charles Sarnoff, Melvin Scharfman, Herbert Schiele, Herman Staples, Herbert Wieder.
If this pilot project is successful, similar workshops on various topics of interest to allied disciplines may be given yearly. In addition to filling a social and educational need, they should provide an opportunity to increase the communication between analysts and other mental health professionals.
—Sydney E. Pulver