The program for the Traveling Woman Psychoanalytic Scholar, sponsored by the American Psychoanalytic Association's COPE (Council on Psychoanalytic Education) Workshop on Issues in the Psychoanalytic Education of Women, was launched in 1998 at graduation ceremonies at the Western New England Institute and at a weekend at the Chicago Institute. Both institutes competed with others to be awarded the visit. Helen Meyers, the first Traveling Woman Psychoanalytic Scholar named, was presented with a certificate of appreciation at the May 1999 business meeting of the American. The second Traveling Woman Psychoanalytic Scholar will be Malkah Notman. She will visit one of the institutes that made a request to the COPE workshop's committee overseeing the Traveling Woman Psychoanalytic Scholar program.
Meyers' weekend in Chicago, April 9–10, 1999, was organized to allow her to spend both formal and informal time with the candidates and faculty. Meyers was introduced at a cocktail party held at my office on Friday night. On Saturday morning Meyers presented a paper on “The Erotic Transference.” The paper session was open to all mental health professionals. A lively question and answer session followed her presentation.
That afternoon, in a session restricted to candidates and faculty, an advanced candidate, Lallene Rector, presented a case to Meyers. The beautifully prepared clinical material engendered such eager discussion among the members of the audience that Rector was unable to finish her presentation. Everyone was eager to engage Meyers in discussion, and we all felt eager for more opportunities to consult with her.
I had enjoyed my committee work with Meyers for more than ten years in the COPE Workshop on Issues in the Psychoanalytic Education for Women, but I had never experienced Meyers the teacher. What a delight! She was able to cover a wide spectrum of theoretical and clinical issues with empathy and intelligent insight.
Now is the time for other institutes interested in a Traveling Woman Scholar visit to send their requests to Beth Seelig, Chair of the TWS Committee, Emory Psychoanalytic Institute, 1701 Uppergate Drive, Room 414, Atlanta, GA 30322. The requests are granted according to the needs of the institutes' candidates. In your request, please tell why your institute or society would benefit from a Traveling Woman Scholar visit and how her time would be spent.
The program was initially funded by the Psychoanalytic Foundation and personal contributions of analysts involved with the inception of the program. In order to continue the program, the committee is now seeking personal contributions of any size; any other foundation that may want to contribute inevitably examines the generosity of those in the organization. Please send these checks, made out to the TWS Fund of the American Psychoanalytic Association, to Muriel Laskin, M.D., Treasurer of the TWS Fund, 200 East 68th St., New York, NY 10021.
A fundraising lecture is planned for Thursday evening, May 11, 2000, in Chicago.
Brenda Clorfene Solomon, M.D., is a training and supervising analyst at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and co-chair of the COPE Workshop on Special Issues for Women in Psychoanalytic Training.