As January rapidly approaches, I am sure that many of our members have pored over the 2010 National Meeting Preliminary Program, eager to learn about this year's panels and clinical workshops. In addition to providing some information about these popular programs, I will also describe some highlights from the program that members might not be as familiar with.
We are fortunate to have an abundance of symposia at the National meeting, presenting members with some tough choices. The symposia format explores the interface between psychoanalysis, society, and related disciplines, with brief presentations by distinguished professionals who are leaders in their fields, and ample opportunity for audience participation.
Our Presidential Symposium: “Health Care Reform: What It Means for Our Patients” will feature presentations on privacy, preserving the right to private contracting and comparative effectiveness (aka, evidenced based medicine).
“Community Psychoanalysis: Bullying in the Schools: The Future of Our Children,” includes analysts Mark Smaller and Stuart Twemlow, with chairs Ethan Grumbach and Marie Rudden. Also presenting will be Thomas Krever, the executive director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, a social services organization for LGBT youth, and founder of Harvey Milk High School in New York City.
Clinicians interested in using computers to reach patients with limited access to analysts or therapists should attend “Cross-Cultural Issues in Analytic Treatment via Skype with Chinese Patients.” Chaired by Lana Fishkin, the presenters include Anna Burton, Ralph Fishkin, Ubaldo Leli, and Elise Snyder. Also of multicultural interest is Saturday's “The Experience of the American Psychoanalytic Association in Russia 1998-2005.” The Ad Hoc Committee on Russian-American Educational Exchanges arranged a program of teaching psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Russia. Gary Goldsmith, Frederick Fisher, Richard Cornfield, Sheldon Roth, and Homer Curtis will discuss their experiences.
Those who would like to learn about creative approaches to the prevention of youth violence will want to attend the symposium on “The West Side Story Project (WSSP): Violence Prevention on a New Stage,” chaired by Julie Nagel. Several members of the WSSP from Seattle and White Plains, New York, will discuss and illustrate the use of theater arts to reduce youth conflict. Also addressing today's youth is “Drowning in Itself: The Plight of Adolescence in America,” chaired by Tillie Garfinkle and featuring T. Elijah Hawkes, principal of The James Baldwin School in New York. Finally, you won't want to miss Saturday afternoon's Special Symposium, “Inside In Treatment: Turning Therapy into Drama.” Chaired by Glen Gabbard, this entertaining presentation features several writers from HBO's compelling television drama, In Treatment, including Tony Award winning playwright and the show's executive producer, Warren Leight, and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Marsha Norman. Analyst Justin Richardson, psychiatric adviser to In Treatment, will also be on hand.
Psychoanalysis has a long history of turning its attention to artists and their creations as another means of deepening our understanding of the human condition. January's University Forum continues with this tradition in collaboration with two renowned Shakespeare scholars. Maurice Charney of Rutgers University and Peter Platt of Barnard College will join analysts Henry Smith and Paul Schwaber in an exploration of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Reading the play prior to the forum is highly recommended.
We are fortunate to have two very exciting, and exceptionally different, plenary presentations at the 2010 National Meeting. Harvard University professor of psychology Daniel Schacter will give the Friday morning plenary address, “Constructive Memory and the Episodic Simulation of Future Events: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective.” Schacter's research has focused on psychological and biological aspects of memory, with a particular interest in the distinctions between conscious and unconscious memory. His most recent book, The Seven Sins of Memory, received the American Psychological Association's William James Book Award in 2003 and was a New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year in 2001. Highly esteemed psychoanalyst and sociologist, Nancy Chodorow, will give Friday afternoon's Plenary Address: Beyond the Dyad: Individual Psychology, Social World. Best known for bringing a feminist perspective to contemporary psychoanalytic theory and for deepening our understanding of gender, Chodorow's presentation explores the complex interactions of individual psychology, the analytic relationship, and culture.
Psychoanalytic research will be plentiful at the National meeting, beginning with a research seminar: “Personality and Personality Disorders: A Critical Realm of Research for the Cross-Fertilization of Psychoanalysis and Descriptive Psychiatry.” Chaired by Lois Choi-Kain and sponsored by the Fellowship Committee, this Wednesday afternoon seminar features presentations by APsaA Fellows Luis Ripoli,
Gary Grossman, Ph.D., is a member and faculty at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, where he also serves as chair of the Community Education and Service Division, and is a member of APsaA's Program Committee.
who will discuss his studies of self-representation, emotion, and borderline personality, and Nicole Pérez, who will describe her research using the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual. Glen Gabbard and Otto Kernberg will be the discussants. The 2010 Research Associates of the American Psychoanalytic Association (RAAPA) Research Forum: “Studies of Empathy, Conflict, and Affect Regulation from Neural, Cognitive, and Psychoanalytic Perspectives,” chaired by Wilma Bucci, is a full day program on Saturday. The forum includes presentations by Kevin Ochsner and Andrew Gerber from Columbia University and Amit Etkin from Stanford University. On Thursday Peter Fonagy and Anthony Bateman, recipients of the Sixth Annual Paper Prize for Psychoanalytic Research, will present their work and Barbara Milrod will be the discussant.
Investigations into the key factors of successful psychotherapy have increasingly focused on therapist characteristics, one of which will be highlighted in Friday afternoon's Research Symposium: “Attachment Patterns of Therapists—Do They Matter?” Henning Schauenburg, psychoanalyst and researcher from the University of Heidelberg, will present the results of a study that examined the effects of therapists' security of attachment on the therapeutic alliance and on treatment outcome. Diana Diamond, professor of psychology at City University of New York will be the discussant, with Robert Waldinger as chair.
January's panels cover a range of clinical topics and feature several international speakers. Unfortunately, Ronald Britton, who was to participate in two panels, will not be able to attend the meetings and his replacements are indicated. Anne Erreich chairs the Friday afternoon panel, “Is Infant Research Useful in Clinical Work with Adults?” M. Nasir Ilahi and Doris Silverman of New York will present adult clinical material and Jorge Canestri, from Rome, is the discussant. Saturday morning's panel, “The Problem of Masochism: Contemporary Approaches,” features Glen Gabbard, James Grotstein, and Kerry Kelly Novick with Henry Smith as the discussant; Nancy Kulish chairs.
How far can we let ourselves go in our wishes, fantasies, desires, and temptations in our analytic work? How do we sort out our own needs from our patient's? These are some of the questions to be addressed in Saturday afternoon's panel, “Behind the Couch: Uses and Misuses of Temptation,” with presentations by London's Michael Parsons, Dominique Scarfone from Montreal, Joyce Slochower, and Wendy Jacobson. Stan Coen will chair.
Sunday morning's panel, “Updating Developmental Approaches to Clinical Listening,” chaired by Stephen Seligman, explores the current status of developmental theory in clinical analysis. Panelists include Virginia Goldner, Adrienne Harris, and Steven Cooper.
A rare opportunity to closely explore the processes in analytic treatment, the Two-Day Clinical Workshops have become one of the most popular activities at the APsaA meetings. This winter we will have three workshops focusing on “Psychoanalytic Process and Technique” with Michael Parsons, Antonino Ferro, and David Tuckett as the featured discussants. The “Psychotherapy Technique and Process Workshop” features Sydney Phillips. As space is limited for these programs, be sure to register early.
In addition to these highlights, the 2010 National Meeting will feature nearly 100 discussion groups, a variety of committee sponsored workshops, and several individual paper presentations. There will also be special programs for students, residents, and Affiliate members and a variety of social events. So register early, book your flights, and reserve your room at the Waldorf and we'll see you in New York.