Over the past ten years, dramatic changes have revitalized the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and Society, bringing back some of the excitement and novelty that characterized the Institute at its founding in 1942. As the SFPI celebrates its 50th anniversary, its creative energy can be credited to the open and experimental atmosphere that has been fostered in recent years. A major factor in this revitalization is the fruitful interaction between medical and non-medical candidates.
The atmosphere of openness and experimentation has been created by the Education Committee, by the leaders and members of the Society, and by the candidates. In 1991 the Education Committee expanded its membership to include key faculty members who are not training analysts, reviewed and published procedures for appointing faculty members and training analysts, worked with non-training analyst faculty members to give the faculty greater authority in curricular decisions, and initiated and sponsored a thorough review and evaluation of the Institute curriculum. Morris Peltz, Chairman of the Education Committee through 1991, Philip Spielman, Dean of Students, Maurice Marcus, Chairman of the Committee for the Appointment and Development of Faculty, Richard Greenberg, Chairman of the Committee for the Appointment and Development of Training analysts, and Joseph Caston, Chairman of the Curriculum Committee, have been particularly involved in these changes. Samuel Hoch is the new Chairman of the Education Committee. Under the direction of Daniel Greenson, Chairman of the Admissions Committee, applications to the training program in psychoanalysis have increased markedly in recent years and have yielded a group of candidates with outstanding qualifications. Entering classes have ranged in size from five to nine.
In addition, the training program in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis has been revitalized under the direction of Joseph After-man and George Kaplan. There are presently eleven candidates in the program, seeing ten child and adolescent patients in analysis. These numbers represent a substantial increase in a program that only a few years ago was in jeopardy. Two candidates in Child and Adolescent Analysis graduated in 1991. Members of the Child Analysis Committee, whose enthusiasm and dedication sparked this renewal, eagerly anticipate the opening of a low fee clinic for child and adolescent analysis.
Two years ago the Society inaugurated an annual retreat for members and candidates at an oceanside hotel in Monterey. This retreat, modeled in part on CAPS meetings, emphasizes informal discussions of psychoanalysis in small group settings. The idea for this retreat was proposed by Stanley Goodman and further developed by a committee chaired by Suzanne Gassner, who was succeeded by Karen Johnson.
Another annual event added to the calendar is a Leadership Retreat held each spring. Samuel Marty, Jr., Past President of the Society, and Joseph Lifschutz, currently President, initiated the program, which brings together training analysts, faculty members, committee chairs, members of the Society, and candidates in informal groups to discuss organizational, educational, and practice-related issues. A Strategic Planning Task Force, chaired by Charles Fisher, is charged with evaluating, selecting, and implementing innovative proposals developed during the retreat.
One such proposal led to the creation of a Division of Psychoanalytic Development, chaired by Stanley Osher. This group focuses on the continuing psychoanalytic development of members of the Society throughout their careers, targeting recent graduates, older analysts, and candidates who have completed seminars. The Division has a formal structure parallel to that of the Institute's Education Committee and functions as a higher level body, integrating the activities of such groups as the Postgraduate Education Committee with its own programs. These include orientation meetings to help members take on new roles in the Institute and the Society. The Division will also assist in developing study groups, courses, and small groups to discuss new ideas in psychoanalysis.
Candidates are involved as members on almost all committees of the Society and have in recent years built an active Candidates' Organization that welcomes new candidates, communicates with the Dean of Students and the Chairman of the Education Committee, and organizes activities throughout the year. A candidate selected by the Candidates' Organization is now a voting member of the Institute's Board of Trustees. Eight or nine years ago, when the Institute did not have such an organization, an Ad Hoc Committee on Associate [Candidate] Involvement was created to address the widely held perception that, aside from seminars, candidates were not involved in the overall functioning and intellectual life of the Institute and Society. The Ad Hoc Committee, which included both analysts and candidates, generated a number of programs that brought members and candidates together in work groups and meetings. An atmosphere of collaboration was created among candidates, members, and training analysts that seems favorable for the continued existence of an active and significant Candidates' Organization.
The intellectual vitality of the Institute is reflected in its outstanding scientific meetings, organized by Owen Renik and, more recently, Lee Grossman. Papers to be presented are circulated in advance to members and candidates, and guest presenters are often surprised to find that audience members have taken the trouble to read them. At these meetings, presenters speak for about twenty minutes, usually discussing the background of their paper or choosing particular points for elaboration. This format leaves time for two prepared discussants, an opportunity for the speaker to respond, and a substantial period for discussion and questions from the floor. At most meetings, one of the two discussants is a candidate.
Curriculum review, an annual procedure at the Institute, has been amplified considerably. Joseph Caston, Chairman of the Curriculum Committee, and Adrienne Applegarth have organized an intensive review of teaching in six areas of the curriculum, to evaluate the thoroughness, coherence, and relevance of each sequence of seminars. A special effort is being made to incorporate instruction which moves outside the stream of American ego psychology, thereby allowing candidates access to developments in psychoanalysis in England, France, and Latin America.
A great strength of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute today is the creative interaction between medical and non-medical candidates. Their differing backgrounds have enriched classroom discussions, prompted a reevaluation of training needs, and challenged and stimulated faculty. This same tradition is alive today in the Institute's Extension Division, chaired by James Dimon, which organizes an extensive schedule of programs for colleagues in various mental health disciplines. The series of Colloquia for Academicians, organized by Joseph Weiss, promotes scholarly interdisciplinary studies, while the multi-disciplinary Friends of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, with its journal, Dialogue, supports similar aims. In this atmosphere, a multidisciplinary psychoanalytic institute seems as natural as it is productive.
Charles P. Fisher, M.D. is a member of the faculty of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.