IMPULSE
Connecting the Northern California Psychoanalytic Community


JULY 2006

Welcome
President's Remarks
Piece of Mind
Event Spotlight
Appointment Book
Classifieds

About NCSPP

Masthead

Submissions

Subscriptions




WELCOME TO IMPULSE, AN ELECTRONIC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY NCSPP

In the summer months, space often opens for vacation, rest, and reflection. This month we hope you'll devote a bit of that space to helping us strenghten IMPULSE. Taking as inspiration IMPULSE's mission of serving and nourishing the Northern California psychoanalytic community, what new additions would you like to see in future months? What do you value in IMPULSE so far? And how might we best serve your needs overall as a member of the Northern California analytic community? While we may not be able to respond individually to each message, we nonetheless welcome your feedback in any form via our online form.

In this issue, Mardi Horowitz, M.D. describes a unique new service wherein a team of integration-minded clinicians offers a comprehensive "second opinion" on psychotherapy cases, while NCSPP President Beth Steinberg, Ph.D. invites discussion of the controversy surrounding mental health practitioners' role in interrogations and other wide-reaching issues.

Before closing, we would like to thank Louis Roussell, Ph.D. for his contributions to CANDIDATE'S BLOG over the past six months. We wish him the best on his preceptorship. We look forward to having a new analytic candidate share his or her experiences in that space in the coming months. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this month's issue, and we hope you'll join NCSPP to assist us in fostering a vibrant psychoanalytic community in Northern California.

PRESIDENT'S REMARKS: BETH STEINBERG, PH.D.

While it's a pleasure to foster social connections, intellectual vibrancy, and professional growth in the Northern California psychoanalytic community, recent events serve as a reminder that our community has the opportunity, and also the obligation, to be involved in larger societal debates and ethical issues of a more weighty nature.

By now many of you have heard about the chain of events leading to the United States Department of Defense giving preference to using psychologists over psychiatrists as advisers to its interrogation teams at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and other unnamed locations. The American Psychological Association's failure so far to echo the American Psychiatric Association's robust and clear policy against its members taking part of these interrogation teams brings up arrestingly timely questions about the role of mental health practitioners in larger societal debate and action.

While the NCSPP has encouraged its members to sign a petition opposing psychologists' participation in interrogations, it is not our aim to assume or dictate anyone's perspective on this or other important matters. Our community values discovery over dogma and expression over suggestion. So in this spirit I have been working to create a space in which our community can talk to one another about issues facing us and the world we live in. In the coming weeks you'll see an interactive component added to the NCSPP website. Whether this takes the form of an online bulletin board or a group discussion email list, I hope that it becomes a space where our community's thoughts and opinions can find a home and where lively debate gives rise to insight and inspiration.

Please send me your ideas and comments at besteinberg@comcast.net.

Beth Steinberg, Ph.D.
President, NCSPP

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PIECE OF MIND: MARDI HOROWITZ, M.D., SECOND OPINION ON PSYCHOTHERAPY CLINIC

In health care, clinicians and patients commonly seek independent second opinions about diagnoses and treatment approaches. In psychotherapy, "second opinions" often arise through supervision. Supervisors' viewpoints may be distinctly colored by a school of thought under which the supervisor and therapist practice. Even those conversant in a variety of therapeutic methods risk missing the complete view of a challenging case unless skilled in integrating different perspectives.

Many training centers teach diverse psychotherapy techniques yet offer little formal instruction in how the techniques overlap, how and when to shift between different approaches in a single therapy, or how to incorporate the various approaches into an integrated model. The field is already eclectic; I see integration of the various approaches as its future.

With this in mind, colleagues at UCSF and I have established a new psychotherapy consultation service that takes an integrative approach. The Second Opinion on Psychotherapy Clinic at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute-UCSF offers clinicians advice about ongoing psychotherapies. Consultation will usually involve obtaining information from the therapist and interviewing the patient, followed by a case conference with input from senior psychiatric residents and attending faculty. Occasionally, the psychotherapist may request a consultation for him or herself that does not involve interviewing the patient.

A written formulation and recommendation guidelines will be prepared for the therapist. The advice will draw from psychotherapy research literature as well as theoretical integrations of diverse schools. All practicing psychotherapists are welcome to make use of the service. For appointments or further information please call (415) 476-7510.

Mardi Horowitz, M.D.
Director
Second Opinion on Psychotherapy Clinic at LPPI-UCSF

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EVENT SPOTLIGHT

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

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APPOINTMENT BOOK

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.

Marin Art & Wine Event
Sat, Jul 22 / 5:30 - 7:30 PM / CFA Gallery, 20 Greenfield Ave. / San Anselmo
NCSPP / (415) 309-0222 / open to all mental health professionals, students, interns / $5

Program on Poetry and Psychoanalysis
Sun, Jul 23 (begins) / 4 - 5:30 PM / Library, SFPI&S, 2420 Sutter Street / San Francisco
SFPI&S / (415) 563-5815 / Poet Brenda Hillman with Susan Kolodny, D.M.H. / free

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 (ongoing) / 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

Bion's Theories of the Mind
Fri (ongoing) / 10:30 AM - 12 PM / 550 Hamilton Ave. #240 / Palo Alto
Individual Sponsor (Lynn Alexander, Psy.D.) / (650) 328-8505 / $45 per session

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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CLASSIFIEDS

CLINICAL TEAM LEADER needed at Boyer House Foundation. Responsibilities: 1) managing treatments, 2) facilitating clinical team, 3) organizational management team. Salary DOE. Fax CV, letter of interest to (415) 456-9965.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES now available to get involved with Spectrum 4, the art auction and cocktail partry fundraiser for Access Institute. The event, which will be held on October 15, provides a chance to mingle with the psychoanalytic community, while helping our efforts to keep mental health services affordable for uninsured San Franciscans. For information, please contact Judy Curtis.

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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ABOUT NCSPP

NCSPPThe 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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MASTHEAD

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 1,400 psychoanalytically oriented professionals and students in Northern California.

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IMPULSE CONTROL: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

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.

ORIGINALITY: To maximize the value of our limited space and preserve the newsletter's quality, IMPULSE does not accept submissions the essential substance of which has been or will be published elsewhere, whether in part or in whole.

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

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SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT

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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Copyright 2006, The Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology.