The John W. Mudd Memorial Meeting has in its short two-year history gained a national reputation for its tone of open interaction, both social and professional. Since its inception the meeting has been organized with the specific intent of providing a clinical focus for analysts and an intellectually interesting and socially congenial program for spouses, guests, and children.
John Mudd, a young San Francisco analyst, husband, and father of two daughters, died suddenly four years ago. Shortly after his death, his widow, his twin brother, and a group of close friends and colleagues sought to create a suitable memorial. According to Richard Shore, M.D., a colleague and close friend who has spearheaded the effort, “The idea was simple enough. From the sense of loss came a wish to create something that hadn't existed before and which honored John by including as many of his interests as possible. From our deliberations evolved the idea of a unique psychoanalytic weekend, exactly the kind that John Mudd would have enjoyed.”
Conceived as an annual event, this unique gathering revitalizes the idea of the Western Clinical Psychoanalytic Meeting. Under the umbrella of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society, the Mudd Memorial Committee has organized the meeting in the belief that it is possible to create a high-caliber format for clinicians that gives equal importance to the experience of spouses, guests, and families. It was the hope of the organizers that the meeting would be a personal event that would generalize to the interest and benefit of many by filling a need in the professional community to gather with colleagues and friends in an open, intimate, and nonpolitical ambience for stimulating exchange.
John Mudd had a zest for life and an enthusiasm for others that was reflected both professionally and personally. John is described by family and friends as loving to talk about patients, clinical data, and clinical theory. Although clinical psychoanalysis was his professional passion, John believed there was a strong need to counterbalance the isolation and reserve it imposes on the practitioner. Thus, throughout the format of the meeting, an effort has been made to combine his interest in the clinical with his beliefs about professional and personal interchange.
Each year the program begins with a Friday evening event that sets the tone and creates the camaraderie so essential to the meeting's stated goals. In 1992, the meeting began with dinner and a program at Cordoniu's spectacular new sparkling wine facility in Napa, California. Designed by Barcelona architect Domingo Triays, this avantegarde structure, built to harmonize with the natural beauty of the surrounding vineyards, proved the perfect backdrop for a very special concert by the Kronos Quartet. The dramatic setting, spectacular music, fine food, and social exchange started the second meeting off with a feeling of warmth and intimacy that was maintained throughout the weekend.
Each year, the psychoanalytic component has opened on Saturday morning, with nationally recognized analysts presenting their clinical work. In San Diego in 1991, Theodore Jacobs began his warmly received address, “Delphiniums Blue and Geraniums Red: On Disagreements, Impasses, and Problems of Communication in the Analytic Situation.” The paper, discussed by Robert Tyson and Jacob Jacobson, was followed by Edward Weinshel's moving presentation, “The Vicissitudes of Transference and Countertransference in the Analysis of a 57-Year-Old Child-Abused Woman,” which was carefully considered by Leonard Shengold. In 1992 Sander Abend led off with “The Problem of the Therapeutic Alliance,” which was discussed from contrasting points of view by Morton Shane and Martin Willick. Judith Fingert Chused followed with the clinically rich and emotionally challenging treatment of a young child, “The Story of a Child's Analysis.” Samuel Wagonfeld discussed the paper from the stimulating vantage point of his treatment of the same child at two different developmental stages.
The second component of the meeting, vitally important, follows each formal presentation, when clinicians meet in small discussion groups. These groups are central to the vision of the Mudd Meeting. John valued his ongoing study group, formed upon completion of classes during his psychoanalytic training.
The third component of the Mudd Meeting is the parallel program for spouses and guests. The impetus for this part of the meeting came directly from John Mudd's relationship with his own family. He enjoyed traveling to special places with them and enjoyed knowing that they too were having rewarding and stimulating experiences. According to Alexandra Mudd, “John spoke about his work and interests in an appropriate and ongoing way with our children. He was a family-oriented person who did not like meetings without spouses and children. He-believed that everyone needed to participate. Childcare and oraganized activities for children and teenagers were conceived as integral parts of the program from its very inception.
The program for spouses and guests opened in 1991 with a fascinating talk by John Steinbruner, director of foreign policy for the Brookings Institution, entitled “Prospects for a New World Order.” In the afternoon he led an open-ended discussion and shared insights from his Washington vantage point. Ellen Handler Spitz, an interdisciplinary psychoanalysts specializing in psychoanalytic perspectives on the visual and performing arts, spoke on the topic “Reflections on the Imagery in Children's Picture Books” and led a discussion following a film presentation Saturday night. In 1992, James E.B. Breslin, professor at UC Berkeley and the biographer of Mark Rothko, spoke on the artist's life and work, while Stanford economist John B. Shoven spoke on “Savings: Determining the Future of America.” Lively discussion followed each of these presentations.
An optional component of the weekend is the Saturday evening film presentation. This year the Disney Studio's Beauty and the Beast was shown in the afternoon for children of all ages, followed by Jean Cocteau's version of the story and a discussion led by Professor Breslin.