Last July 36 analysts from The American met with an equal number of colleagues from the European Federation of Psychoanalysis at Cork, Ireland.
Coordinated by Ronald Baker, Secretary of the European Federation, the meeting was organized to increase understanding of the variations of clinical practice and characteristics of technique of analysts from different locales and with different theoretical orientations.
The weekend meetings included a series of short seminars centered on case presentations; a reception and dinner provided opportunities for social interaction. A concluding evaluation session gave rise to a number of suggestions for future meetings.
Sander M. Abend, speaking for all his colleagues, expressed appreciation for the efforts of those responsible for initiating the conference: HanGroen-Prakken, President of the EFP; Homer Curtis, Past-president of The American; and George Allison, President.
Leo Rangell represented the field of psychoanalysis in an interdisciplinary symposium, “Identity and Development: Adolescents at Risk,” held in Amsterdam last September. The subject of Dr. Rangell's address was “Identity and the Human Core: The View from Psychoanalytic Theory.”
George Allison and Homer Curtis attended the Congress of the European Federation for Psychoanalysis in Stockholm, Sweden, in March of this year. Allison and Curtis met with an EFP representative about plans for future clinical meetings in the summer of 1992 in the Copenhagen area.
Following the EFP Congress, they traveled to the Soviet Union, where they attending meetings, interviewed potential candidates for psychoanalytic training, and presented and discussed clinical material with colleagues in Moscow and Leningrad. The second part of the journal was supported by the Committee on Soviet Educational Exchanges, chaired by Curtis. Allison and Curtis were impressed by the continued enthusiasm of Soviet colleagues for psychoanalytic education and possible formal training under the long-term plans of Curtis's committee.