Arizona has always had only a limited number of practitioners, plus a few retired analysts. When I arrived in Tucson in June 1994, I was appointed training/supervising analyst for the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute. As such, I became concerned about how little was going on analytically in the area, particularly for the sake of some candidates of the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute in Tucson and Phoenix.
There was coursework with a few analysts under the active and dedicated guidance of David Rowlett, a training/supervising analyst originally from Seattle who had settled in Phoenix. There were only a few conferences, offered by a local institute, the Southwest Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, but it was only offered to its own candidates. The candidates from Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute did not attend.
Arizona analysts who were members of The American had formed a group called the Arizona Psychoanalytic Study Group (APSG). There is only one other psychoanalytic organization: the Southwest Center for Psychoanalytic Studies (SWCPS), an institute that is not part of The American. SWCPS was started by a group of analysts in Phoenix and Tucson. At present, it has about a dozen candidates. In 1995, I was asked to teach some of the SWCPS courses and found the institute doing a good job. The candidates, for the most part, were of good quality.
The chairman of APSG had wanted to step down in 1994, and I was asked to step in. In the spring of 1995 I undertook to organize a series of conferences twice a year: one in Phoenix (with the help of Rowlett) and one in Tucson. I sought Marvin Margolis's advice. A number of fine speakers (Jerry Jacobson, Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, Owen Renik, et al.) agreed to come and give papers. A speaker would give his or her paper in the morning and in the afternoon hold a seminar with the candidates of both institutes.
To my surprise, even though we had to charge, a number of people came to hear the papers, and we eventually built up a sizable mailing list. We almost broke even financially. The analytic community had some cohesion now. Then, in the spring of 1997, I invited Margolis to come and take a look at the situation.
During his visit, Margolis delivered a paper and met with both organizations. The enthusiasm he generated enabled APSG to form the Southwest Psychoanalytic Society, which was officially recognized at the Executive Council meeting of The American on May 15, 1997, in San Diego. Sydney Arkowitz agreed to become the society's first President, while I remain Chair of the Program Committee. Under the leadership of its president, Leonard Corte, SWCPS is now working to become an institute affiliated with The American. The announcement of SWCPS's involvement with The American has generated new candidate applications, and we do not have enough analysts to teach these people.
Why come to Arizona? We are enthusiastic and growing, we need analysts — and the scenery and weather are beautiful!
Monique V. King is a training and supervising analyst for the Southwest Center for Psychoanalytic Studies and a member of that organization's board. She is also an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Arizona Medical School.