After a year's absence, the Fall Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association returns to the familiar surroundings of New York's Waldorf Astoria. A fortuitous aspect of this return is that attendees will have the opportunity to view the Sigmund Freud Antiquities exhibit at the Jewish Museum. During the period that Freud's collection is shown in New York, an additional 20 objects will be added from the Library of Congress and from the Freud Museum in London, as part of an exclusive showing related to Freud's Jewishness and to the exhibit's theme, “the search for ancient roots.” [SEE page 4]
In recognition of this unique convergence of events, the Program Committee has scheduled related presentations. The Seminar for Psychoanalysts will be entitled Freud's Jewish Heritage and will be co-chaired by Lynn Gamwell, organizer of the antiquities exhibit, and Alexander Grinstein. Presenters include Susan Braunstein, Curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum, and Emanuel Rice. Discussants will be Harold Blum, Executive Director of the Freud Archives, and Ellen Handler Spitz.
Also on the program is a two-session film workshop, Jewish Identity in Film, organized by Bruce Sklarew. Part I will be a showing of Waszynski's 1937 The Dybbuk, which will be discussed by Jacob A. Arlow and Ira Konigsberg. Part II will feature Lumet's 1965 The Pawnbroker, which Robert J. Winer and Milton E. Jucovy will discuss.
As usual, three panels on controversial topics in the field and one panel in the Classics Revisited format will be on the program. Panel I, Self-Observation, Self-Analysis, and Reanalysis, will be chaired by Shelley Orgel. The panelists include M. Robert Gardner, Milton H. Horowitz, and Austin Silber. The discussant will be Paul H. Ornstein, and Herbert Gomberg will serve as reporter. Panel II, chaired by Owen Renik, is entitled Contemporary Theories of Female Sexuality: Clinical Applications. Panelists are Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, Ronda Shaw, Martin A. Silverman, and Phyllis Tyson. The reporter will be Lee P. Grossman.
The concept of interaction has generated a good deal of debate among psychoanalytic clinicians in recent years. In recognition of the importance of this topic, Panel III, Toward a Definition of the Term and Concept of Interaction, will be an all-day affair. Melvin Bornstein will chair the panel, which includes as panelists Dale Boesky, Arnold Goldberg, Jay Greenberg, Jerome D. Oremland, Joseph Sandler, and Evelyne Albrecht Schwaber. Edward M. Weinshel will discuss, and David M. Hurst will report.
This year's Classics Revisited panel focuses on Richard Sterba's The Fate of the Ego in Analytic Therapy. Lawrence Friedman will chair a panel that includes Paul Gray, Stephen Mitchel, and Vann Spruiell. Robert Michels will be the discussant, and Eslee Samberg will serve as reporter.
In keeping with the established tradition of the December meetings, there will be two plenary speakers. Sander M. Abend, editor of the Psychoanalytic Quarterly and Secretary of The American, will deliver an address entitled “An Inquiry into the Fate of the Transference in Psychoanalysis.” The second plenary speaker, Professor Martin S. Bergmann, has written eloquently on the psychoanalytic understanding of love in addition to turning in a memorable performance in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors. His plenary presentation is entitled “Reflections on the History of Psychoanalysis.”
Members with an interest in art history and psychobiography will enjoy the Meet-the-Author seminar. Francoise Gilot will discuss her much acclaimed book, Matisse and Picasso: A Friendship in Art. Jerome D. Oremland will moderate the discussion, which will include comments by Donald Kuspit, Milton Viederman, and Laurie Wilson. The Psychoanalytic Dialogue format provides the opportunity for two prominent analysts to debate a current issue of controversy. This year Charles Harily and Joseph Schachter will present their views on the subject of The Therapeutic Alliance: Resistance and/or Enabler. Leo Rangell will moderate.
The Psychoanalytic Forum, designed for Associate and Affiliate Members, will feature Leo Rangell speaking on The Psychoanalysts and Political Crisis: The Super Ego in the Group. Special programs for psychiatric residents and psychology and social work students include four seminars on The Value of Psychoanalytic Principles in Understanding Hate and Violence. The sessions will be chaired by Dan H. Buie, Glen O. Gabbard, Brandt F. Steele, and Barry L. Siegel.
A special video presentation, What We Can Learn from Infant-Parent Videotapes, will be included in the December program, featuring Jack Novick, Donald Silver, Kerry Kelly Novick, and Kay B. Campbell as presenters. Joseph D. Lichtenberg will chair this special feature. Finally, the Oral History Workshop will continue in its traditional Thursday morning slot, with Robert S. Grayson chairing a session entitled Psychoanalysis in New York Part III: 1956 to the Present. Panelists include Harold P. Blum, Kenneth T. Calder, Helen C. Meyers, Robert Michels, and Austin Silber.
Interdisciplinary seminars, two-day workshops, and various discussion groups round out the program. In addition, the opportunities for informal dialogue and the renewal of friendships in the halls of the Waldorf are an indispensable part of the Fall Meeting.