The International Psychoanalytical Association under the new leadership of president Otto Kernberg has creatively established a long-overdue international Committee on Women and Psychoanalysis (to be known as COWAP). This promises to be an exciting endeavor. The committee will address at least four areas of interest:
The current state of knowledge about female psychology: what is being taught, by whom, and in what manner and what is being written and lectured about, both theoretically and clinically, in psychoanalysis in relation to women.
The status of women in the hierarchy and power structure of psychoanalytic institutions, in academic institutions in general, and in political institutions: what is their actual status, what has changed, and what is in need of change.
The position of woman in relation to society and culture as wife, mother, professional, or independent agent: assigned roles and self-perception or identity.
The concerns of women analysts in their clinical practice: issues of referrals, timing in the development of the analyst, fees, pathology of patients, special transference and counter-transference, and other practice issues.
COWAP is led by Joan Raphael-Leff, overall chair; Helen C. Meyers, co-chair for North America; Monique Cournut-Janin, co-chair for Europe; Alcira Mariam Alizade, co-chair for Latin America; and Beth Seelig, North American secretary. The committee has begun to establish several subcommittees or study groups to pursue research in the four areas of interest; plan national and international symposia and meetings where the cutting edge of knowledge in these areas will be discussed; gather information on what is being pursued in these areas by institutes and societies worldwide; serve as a central information bank; and encourage, support, and initiate publications in the four areas of concern.
The committee is gathering and updating information on what is being taught on female psychology in various North American institutes and adding data from other continents. This information will contribute to an understanding of what is currently accepted knowledge and should lay the groundwork for further investigation. The committee will distribute information to any institutes or societies interested in reading lists and learning about other institutes' activities that will help them design their own curricula.
COWAP is also collecting data on other studies already completed on practice issues relating to women. A study group will update the information, look into what changes have been made, and recommend further progress. The committee is also setting up studies on the position and status of women in the hierarchy of psychoanalytic institutions, other academic institutions, and the political arena. Some beginning work has already been done in this area, but COWAP will research this more systematically and investigate it for publication and possible action.
Various psychoanalytic organizations are planning symposia on women's issues, such as a French-English meeting in June in London. COWAP will disseminate information about these symposia for the general IPA and APsaA membership and will sponsor or initiate symposia of its own. The first of the COWAP-sponsored symposia, “Conversations Between Female Analysts,” will take place in Buenos Aires May 28–29, 1999. A symposium on “Power Issues for Women” is planned for spring 2000 in Atlanta, and a third on “Current Cutting-Edge Understandings of Female Psychology” in New York City for the fall of 2000.
The committee has begun sponsoring the publication of books on issues for women in psychoanalysis and related disciplines, and several manuscripts are under consideration: for example, a collection of writings on psychoanalytic and social issues around pregnancy, arising out of several years of work done by an international study group on this topic.
COWAP encourages APsaA and IPA members to contribute their ideas, express their interest in participating in specific activities or areas, and help develop further important knowledge. Please contact Helen Meyers by telephone at 718-548-8301; write to her at 4560 Delafield Avenue, New York, NY 10471; or e-mail her at . You may also reach Beth Seelig at 404-727-8003; write her at Emory Psychoanalytic Institute, 1701 Uppergate Drive, Room 414, Atlanta, GA 30322; or e-mail her at .
COWAP members are enthusiastic about their projects, and IPA hopes this new endeavor will be of interest to APsaA members.