A lush and wildflower-filled spring has swept away our wet and gloomy winter in Northern California. Like the roots and blooms of new growth, psychoanalytic work and thinking in our area reaches for depth even as it spreads out broadly and brilliantly. This month's IMPULSE reflects this uncommon vitality.

In PRESIDENT'S REMARKS, Beth Steinberg anticipates Christopher Bollas' provocation not to stop at the surface of our patients' experience but to plumb the unconscious. EVENT SPOTLIGHT describes an exciting event that looks at the therapeutic relationship from an array of theoretical vantages, reaching out across schools of thought. As we've come to expect, our blogger Dr. Louis Roussel peels back the layers of a clinical hour to expose the rawness of one therapist's subjectivity. And APPOINTMENT BOOK offers chances to explore aging and oedipal victory, erotic transference and impasse, autism and the unconscious — truly a fresh breadth of spring.

We're inspired to be part of this fertile expansion. We hope you enjoy the issue, and we hope you'll join NCSPP or contribute to our scholarship fund to assist us in fostering a vibrant psychoanalytic community in Northern California.

Looking forward to hearing Christopher Bollas' insights this month into distinctions between engaging conscious and unconscious material in psychoanalytic work leads me to reflect on the inspiring and remarkable growth of our Northern California psychoanalytic community over the past two decades.

When the NCSPP welcomes Dr. Bollas on June 17 for his presentation "The Escape from Free Association," it will be our 19th Annual Lecture. The Annual Lecture has been a cornerstone program for NCSPP since the organization's inception. At that time, the lecture was the large annual public event — there were no others. Nowadays we are accustomed to many large exciting psychoanalytic events throughout the year, many put on by NCSPP and many others offered by other psychoanalytic organizations. It's remarkable to reflect that back in those days — 12, 15, 18 years ago — the Annual Lecture stood alone in providing a large forum for psychoanalytic psychotherapists to gather and to think, listen and learn together about an important topic.

In this year's lecture Dr. Bollas will share his view that much of contemporary technique and theory focuses on material that is largely conscious. He will attempt to refocus the lens through which we view our work on what he believes we have lost sight of: the unconscious. In particular, he will challenge the use of "here and now transference interpretations" as impairing our capacity to be in contact with the patient's unconscious. It seems that he will be interested in opening up space for free association between ourselves and our patients in a way that he feels has been closed down.

I hope to see a wide representation of our vibrant community at this year's lecture and hope it will not only be a rewarding day itself, but also a reminder to us all of how the dedication and care of psychoanalytic practitioners and scholars in our area has created a community where an illustrious day like this is just a small sample of what's offered to us throughout the year. If you want to learn more or register for the Annual Lecture, please visit the Events section of our web site.

Beth Steinberg, Ph.D.
President, NCSPP

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The term "blog" refers to a web-based journal wherein individuals offer up their personal experiences to anyone with a web browser. The editors at IMPULSE sought out a local analytic candidate willing to "blog" his experience in training. Our intrepid volunteer is Dr. Louis Roussel, Ph.D., a 4th year candidate at SFPI who maintains a private practice in Oakland. Following is his fifth entry. Note that identifiers and details have been altered to protect confidentiality.

2006 May: I returned from a short vacation feeling a sense of dread, sensing this patient's wish to exact revenge on me for leaving him. I can feel his hate for me seething and burning through the cold eyes fixed on me from across the room. My mind drifts away from the unbearable rays of contempt boring into me. A memory emerges. It was three in the morning when the telephone rang. Shockwaves of dread radiated throughout my body as I thought about the possible tragedies this call could herald. I remember these late night calls when I was a child. I would peek out my bedroom door and see the orange light of my father's cigarette shining in the dark as he tried to console whoever it was calling with the dreadful news. It was my sister phoning to tell me that a member of my family had been murdered. I dreadfully anticipated and tried to brace myself for the violent imagery soon to intrude into the tranquil morning of my mind.

My reverie was intruded upon by my patient's thoughts, those prophesied by his unbearable gaze bombard me without respite. Murderous fantasies and imagery permeate the room.

Suddenly everything feels surreal. My patient's sadistic fantasies begin to look like replicas of the reverie in my mind. Why is this happening? Why haven't I heard these fantasies before today? The intolerable intrusion of blood-drenched pictures begins to take on a new emotional coloring whichkindles a sense of fascination in me as I scan mental archives for something that might help me grapple with the uncanny matrix I find myself in.

I feel less anxiously overwhelmed and captivated by what this experience means on a more abstract, theoretical level. For the first time I feel myself returning to the tranquil place I was in before the early morning invasion. Theoretical speculations begin to take me out of the murderous chaos that had shaken my illusions of safety. I want to wrap myself tightly in the blanket of my thoughts, close the gaps that had been cut open in me, simmer in the warm sun of quiet reflection.

Louis Roussel, Ph.D.

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Everything you ever wanted to know about the psychotherapeutic relationship will be covered in this exciting conference!

"Perspectives on the Therapeutic Relationship" featuring David Burns (Feeling Good), Hanna Levenson (Time-Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy), George Silberschatz (Transformative Relationships), Patricia Wood (The Wright Institute), and John Young (UCSF). Cognitive, psychodynamic, and control mastery perspectives on the therapeutic relationship will be described. A detailed clinical case will be presented and each speaker will use this case material to conceptualize the nature of the therapeutic relationship.

After the seminar participants will understand: 1) the role of the therapeutic relationship in psychotherapy and 2) how to apply different perspectives on the therapeutic relationship to clinical material.

Sat, June 3, 9 AM to 4:30 PM. Langley Porter Auditorium (LPPI-190), Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, UCSF, 401 Parnassus Ave., San Francisco. 6 CEUs (MD, PhD, LCSW, MFT) $135 pre-registration; $150 at door. Students and trainees: $30/$45 door. Register online here.

Want EVENT SPOTLIGHT to shine on your upcoming analytic happening? You'll find our submission guidelines illuminating.

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Appointment Book offers a sampling of the psychoanalytically oriented events taking place in Northern California over the coming month. Where available, simply click an event title to view details on the sponsoring organization's web site.

Aging from a Psychoanalytic Perspective
Sat, Jun 3 / 9 AM - 12 PM / PINC Library, 2252 Fillmore Street / San Francisco
PINC / Nancy Drooker, Ph.D. / $75

Lacanian Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Supervision
Sat, Jun 3 / 10 AM - 4:30 PM / 2820 Adeline / Berkeley
Lacanian School / Raul Moncayo, Ph.D. / $100 - $135

Perspectives on the Therapeutic Relationship
Sat, Jun 3 / 9 AM - 4:30 PM / see EVENT SPOTLIGHT for location / San Francisco
SFPRG / (415) 561-6771 / David Burns, M.D.; Hanna Levenson, Ph.D.;
George Silberschatz, Ph.D.; Patricia Wood, Ph.D.; John Young, M.D. / $45 - $150

Trauma of the Oedipal Victor
Sat, Jun 3 / 9 AM - 12 PM / Center for Healthy Development, 100 N. Winchester / Santa Clara
NCSPP / (415) 457-9949 / Cheryl Goodrich, Ph.D. / $35 - $50

NCSPP Annual Event: The Escape From Free Association
Sat, Jun 17 / 9 AM - 5 PM / UCSF Laurel Heights Conference Center / San Francisco
NCSPP / (415) 457-9949 / Christopher Bollas, Ph.D. / $40 - $150

Friends of SFPI&S Clinical Forum
Tue, Jun 20 / 7 PM - 9 PM / SFPI&S Library / 2420 Sutter Street / San Francisco
Friends of SFPI&S / (415) 563-5815 / V. Comelli, Psy.D.; R. L. Friend, M.D. / free but must RSVP

Francis Tustin's Legacy in Analytic Work on the Autistic Spectrum
Sat, June 24 / 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM / Berkeley
Frances Tustin Trust / Dr. Judith Mitrani / $140

Psychoanalytic Impasses: Case Consultation and Reading
Tue (ongoing) / 1:10 - 2:15 PM / 550 Hamilton Ave. #240 / Palo Alto
Individual Sponsor (Mary Jane Otte, Ph.D.) / (650) 326-6663 / $60 per meeting

Case Conference: Negative & Erotic Transferences in Child & Adult Patients
Wed, Jun 7 (begins) / 1 - 2:05 PM / 550 Hamilton Ave., #240 / Palo Alto
Individual Sponsor (Mary Jane Otte, Ph.D.) / (650) 326-6663 / $60 per session

Psychoanalytic Case Conference
Wed (ongoing) / 10:30 AM - 12 PM / Albany
Individual Sponsor (Maureen Franey, Ph.D.) / (510) 527-6141 / $45 per meeting

Current Views on Psychoanalytic Core Concepts: Transference
Wed (ongoing) / 11:20 AM - 12:50 PM / 550 Hamilton Ave. #240 / Palo Alto
Individual Sponsor (Lynn Alexander, Psy.D.) / (650) 328-8505 / $45 per meeting

Collaborative Group Consultation — Independent Psychoanalytic Perspective
Wed (ongoing) / 11:40 AM - 1:05 PM / 301 B Saratoga Road / Los Gatos
Individual Sponsor (Hugh Grubb, M.A.) / $45 per meeting

Psychoanalytic Clinical Study Groups
Wed or Fri (ongoing) / 10 - 11:30 AM (W) or 11:30 AM - 1 PM (F) / 587 Walavista Ave. / Oakland
Individual Sponsor (Dawn Farber, Psy.D., M.F.T.) / (415) 673-7744 / $50 per meeting

Psychoanalytic Case Consultation and Reading Group
Fri (ongoing) / 10:30 AM - 12 PM / 20688 Fourth Street / Saratoga
Individual Sponsor (Alan Kessler, Ph.D.) / (408) 868-9405 / $45 per meeting

Ongoing Study and Supervision Group
Fri (ongoing) / 1 - 2:15 PM / 560 Oxford St. #8 / Palo Alto
Individual Sponsor (Miriam Bar, Ph.D.) / (650) 813-1270 / $45 per meeting

To submit an event, please see our submission guidelines.

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FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT: NCSPP's scholarship fund makes analytic classes available at reduced fees for students in need. Contribute today.

Old couches, new books, hot jobs, cool internships? Post classified ads on NCSPP's online bulletin board at no charge. We will also feature your listing in IMPULSE for a modest fee. Please see our submission guidelines for details.

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The Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP) is committed to the study of psychoanalytic psychology and the encouragement of its interest in the professional and general communities. We are a multi-disciplinary, non-profit membership organization open to mental health professionals and all others interested in the study of psychoanalytic psychology.

Our more than 650 members form a community that spans the greater Bay Area and Northern California. NCSPP is a local affiliate of Division 39 (psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association. Our vast array of lectures, intensive study groups, scientific meetings, courses, our journal fort da, and numerous special events and projects are all brought to you by scores of volunteers who work to support NCSPP's mission. Our educational programs include continuing education credit for psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and licensed clinical social workers. We welcome you into the psychoanalytic community in Northern California. Please join us.

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Beth Steinberg, Ph.D., NCSPP President
Cleopatra Victoria, M.A., MFT, Editor
Cate Corcoran, M.A., Features Editor
Brad Falconer, M.A., Managing Editor

Each month, IMPULSE reaches over 1,380 psychoanalytically oriented professionals and students in Northern California.

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Event listings in APPOINTMENT BOOK are available for your psychoanalytically oriented educational or professional event. To submit your event for consideration, please use our online form.

Contributions to PIECE OF MIND, our feature profiling Northern California psychoanalytic organizations, will be assigned on a monthly basis. If you'd like to suggest an organization to be featured in this space, please send an email via our online form with the subject PIECE OF MIND. Please do not send attachments or files.

EVENT SPOTLIGHT lets you promote your upcoming analytic event in more depth and detail than is possible in APPOINTMENT BOOK. The cost is $100 per month for up to 150 words describing your event. A maximum of one EVENT SPOTLIGHT will run each month. Please begin by expressing interest in EVENT SPOTLIGHT in an email via our online form. Once approved, send payment to NCSPP, c/o Michele McGuinness, 12 Hampton Ave., San Anselmo, CA 94960, and send your copy via our online form. Please do not send attachments or files.

POTENTIAL SPACE is a place within IMPULSE for play — a home for a creative, unconventional, or otherwise novel contributions. Submissions should be emailed via our online form. Due to length restrictions and thematic constraints, we cannot guarantee that your submission will be published. However, we encourage you to express yourself and help us open the space. Please note that you must be the copyright owner of anything you submit, and your submission constitutes permission for IMPULSE to publish your submission via email and on the web in perpetuity without any compensation.

You can list your psychoanalytically oriented jobs, internships, for sale items, announcements, etc. in CLASSIFIEDS. The cost is $20 per month for a 30-word ad. Please send payment to NCSPP, c/o Michele McGuinness, 12 Hampton Ave., San Anselmo, CA 94960. Email your ad copy via our online form with the subject CLASSIFIEDS.

DEADLINES: To be considered for publication, submissions must be received by the 15th of the month prior to publication. (For example, September 15 for the October issue.) NCSPP and IMPULSE staff reserve the right to decline any submission at our sole discretion.

IMPULSE's complete submission guidelines can be found on the NCSPP web site.

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IMPULSE is published electronically once a month by the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology. Comments are welcome and should be sent via our online form.

You are receiving this monthly newsletter from the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP) because of your interest in psychoanalysis. Any mental health professional or student interested in psychoanalytic thought may subscribe free to IMPULSE, regardless of organizational affiliation. To ensure that IMPULSE isn't misidentified as junk mail, we recommend adding impulse@ncspp.org to your email program's address book. If you haven't done so already, click to confirm your interest in subscribing. To unsubscribe, click the SafeUnsubscribe link at the bottom of this message.

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