This fall's meeting of The American, to be held December 14–18 in New York, will feature two panels on the work of Erik Erikson. Given Erikson's recent death and a growing interest in the reciprocal influence of the inner and outer worlds, these presentations have special significance. The first of the two panels, both chaired by John Munder Ross and reported by Ellen R. Peyser, will focus on Childhood and Society. Panelists include Calvin Colarusso, Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, and Robert Wallerstein, while Arnold Cooper will serve as discussant. The second panel will look at Erikson's classic paper of 1950, 'The Dream Specimen in Psychoanalysis.“ Panelists are Harold P. Blum, Stanley J. Coen, and Stanley R. Palombo. The panels are scheduled for Saturday, December 17.
Also on Saturday, the Psychoanalytic Dialogue will feature a lively debate on whether enactments are essential components of the analytic process or an unnecessary residue. The subject of enactments will be taken up in a different context on Friday afternoon, December 16, in a panel entitled Enactments of Boundary Violations, a topic particularly pertinent given recently well-publicized cases in the mental health field, as well as the current emphasis on the relationship as a therapeutic tool. The panel, chaired by Glen O. Gabbard, includes panelists Marvin Margolis, Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, and Arnold Rothstein, with Theodore Jacobs as discussant and Margaret Keenan as reporter. The Meet-the-Author session, also on Friday afternoon, features John Kerr, author of A Most Dangerous Method: Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, and will be chaired by Arnold Richards. Sander Gilman and Nellie L. Thompson are discussants. The Plenary Address will be delivered by Arnold Rothstein, longtime chair of the Program Committee, noted teacher, and a passionate and enthusiastic proponent of psychoanalysis. He will be introduced by Charles Brenner. (For profiles of plenary speakers, see page 14.)
The Plenary Presentation will be given by the noted British analyst Betty Joseph. Well versed in the schools of British psychoanalysis and herself a unique voice, she will be introduced by Roy Schafer. Continuing this international bent, a Clinical Course for Psychoanalysts is being offered on the work of Jacques Lacan, the French analyst whose vast influence has spread beyond psychoanalysis to literary theory and philosophy. The popular Program for Spouses features an interesting panel entitled Legal Arbitration and Psychoanalysis, which will explore how psychoanalysis is informing a growing trend in legal practice, that of arbitration and negotiation. The film series features John Huston's rendering of Joyces The Dead, considered by many the finest American film of the last decade.
Also scheduled are seminars for psychiatric residents and graduate students in the mental health professions. In the past these seminars have been well received and have fostered an important dialogue between psychoanalysis and trainees in related fields. Members involved in teaching may want to encourage their students to attend.