When I returned from the second annual spring retreat of the Former Fellows Organization (FFO), I could not help but be grateful to The American for the growth, both personal and professional, that I have experienced since being selected an APsaA Fellow in 1996–97.
The Fellowship award came at a time when I was struggling to integrate many differing views in psychiatry. As I met and got to know my colleagues in the Fellowship, it became apparent to me how many were similarly struggling.
We were sequestered (thus Elise Snyder, chair of the Fellowship Subcommittee, arranged things) and required to dine, wine, and attend meetings together for days. We got to know each other very well indeed and established lasting friendships. The committee members and other senior analysts we met encouraged us to be curious and open concerning The American. We met many of the former Fellows who had remained very attached to the program and who “mentored” us through the meetings.
Indeed, the buzz phrase of the FFO was “this is the Fellowship that keeps on giving.” The committee members felt that we had a claim on them for life and showed their commitment by helping us understand psychoanalysis and introducing us to many psychoanalysts. We presented material at the meetings to analysts whose names were legend.
We spent a major part of our free time figuring out what we had in common — the underlying thread binding the 19 of us. I have continued to reflect on that topic during the last four national meetings I have attended. It appears that we all have a genuine unapologetic curiosity about people and life. Though starting from different vantage points, we all seemed to have delved into learning more than many of our peers: linguistics, cultural issues, religion, managed care, attachment, etc. Our conversations have been lively, refreshing, and of course thought-provoking.
I believe this bond led to the formation of the FFO six years ago. Two years ago, Sara Bolton, a 1996–97 APsaA Fellow, and I planned a spring meeting in Stockbridge, Mass., with the collaboration of the Austin Riggs Center.
The seminar at the Second Annual Austin Riggs Spring Retreat, which took place March 6–8, 1998, was titled “Body Image and Self-Representation in Long-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.” The weekend provided the participants with rich, stimulating discussions with senior analysts from Riggs and the Riggs community as well as the joys of time spent in the Berkshires with friends.
On Saturday, March 7, Christopher Fowler, a third-year Fellow of the Riggs Center, presented a patient with eating disorders and a disturbance of body image. Later that day, Amy Silverman of Boston presented “Beauty and the Beholder.” Discussants included Jonathan Kolb of Boston and John Muller, Erick Plakun, and Ed Schapiro of Stockbridge. A tour of the facilities followed.
On Sunday, March 8, Jonathan Aranoff hosted a meeting in his office. Lorraine Corso of Boston presented “Eating Disorders Revised,” in which she addressed implications for treatment in a managed care setting. I presented “Cultural Identity, Body Image, and Growing Up: Case Study of a Latency-Age Boy.” The discussants of these two case presentations were Jonathan Aranoff (Stockbridge), Kirsten Dahl (New Haven), and Jonathan Kolb (Boston).
I left the retreat rejuvenated and ready to continue learning more about psychoanalytic principles formally and informally. We all left hungry for more.
The May meetings of The American are just around the corner. Members of the FFO will be there, attending committee meetings, presenting at discussion groups, in several cases running discussion groups, presenting papers, and “sponsoring” the new Fellows as they begin their journey through their Fellowship year.
Gauri Agnihotri, M.D., is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an attending psychiatrist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She is president of the Former Fellows Organization.