We hope that you enjoy this month's 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.

“BATMAN SMELLS”: THE RELEVANCE OF PLAYGROUND SONGS TO THE ANALYTIC ENDEAVOR

At its best, writing is a play space. From a pool of images and proto-ideas comes the experience of carving out something new, knowing it could be done in a million ways, knowing, too, that the end product is just one possibility. With a column like this, however, there is also a monthly deadline. That’s a linear thing, a potential problem given that creativity can’t be linearly produced.

This month, I found myself waiting for a creative spark for days. All was quiet on the internal front, until I was walking under green trees, in dense fog and crisp air, feeling spacious and at ease. As I walked, I found myself singing, “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, ...”, perhaps you know the rest. (I do have a 2nd grader.)

It became clear to me that, with pressure for creativity in the foreground, I was doomed; but, with myriad sensual pleasures and the autistic contiguous quality of a repeating simple song in my mind, creativity in the background could take hold. From this relaxed mental state, an almost physical sensation surprised me, as if I were suddenly tickled in a different sphere akin to Bion’s dream-work alpha.

This is just the process we rely on in our analytic work. Winnicott, Ogden, Bion, Boyer and others have spoken to the importance of suspended attention, reverie and potential space as necessary components of analytic contact. We cannot produce much for our patients when we feel too pressing a demand, either from within or without. More than technical knowledge, this, perhaps, is the gift of ageing as a clinician. Pressures to produce or "know" anything in particular recede as an ability, and willingness to linger within an analytic sandbox increases. So, for us and for our work, thank goodness for the ability to play, and thank goodness Batman Smells.

Warm regards,
Melissa Holub, Ph.D.
NCSPP President


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BEWARE THE IDS OF MARCH

It's bitter out there. I don't know what you're doing to stay cozy, but I'm bundling myself in some good, thick analytic interpretations of years past. In the great, dry, depressed winter of '09 came the Terrible Trio of paranoia, projection and psychosis. No need for a 5150 here, just a bit of creative license :) They howled fiercely in a big gust, but then just blew through town and off the coast like yesterday's fog. Pffft.

Thank goodness for the Big Bad Observing Ego. Coming soon to an analytic session near you. Initially provided by your analyst. Watch carefully. Much later, whether you're deep in a patient session or sumo wrestling with your own monsters, Big Bad Observing Ego may come to your rescue -- no cape, no spandex, no mask, but packing mighty muscle nonetheless.

Think of analysis as time-release medication, maybe not fast-acting, but surely long-lasting. The Energizer Bunny. It keeps on going. It's the gift that keeps on giving. It's a capital investment in you, with dividends for years to come, rates of return you dare never dream of. Madoff can't touch this.

When the ill winds blow and bite, and the ids of March pounce, what will you swath yourself in?

Cleopatra Victoria, MFT
IMPULSE Editor


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Last year, the APA released findings in support of same-sex marriage, concluding that, "denying same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage is discriminatory and can adversely affect the psychological, physical, social and economic well-being of gay and lesbian individuals." In January, the President and Faculty of Antioch University of LA challenged the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists – the statewide organization representing 29,000 MFTs – to do the same. In a quickly deliberated meeting, CAMFT's board decided to remain silent on the issue, citing that to do otherwise would deviate from its mission and result in an inappropriate use of resources. The San Francisco Chapter of CAMFT believes differently. Last month, our chapter’s board sent a formal response to CAMFT, objecting to the association's position, citing a belief that we have an ethical obligation to take a stand on societal issues that affect our clients’ emotional well-being. It's as if the association repressed the fact that the word “marriage” appears in its title. Our chapter Board is disappointed and outraged by CAMFT's silence, but more so, that the issue was decided without a survey of or discussion with its membership. If you have a view, let your voice be heard. Contact CAMFT and insist on a process that includes dialogue and debate. Email CAMFT's executive director, Mary Riemersma at maryr@camft.org and CAMFT's board president, Patrick Healy at patrickhealy@cox.net.

Sincerely,

Bruce Weitzman, MFT
President, San Francisco Chapter, CAMFT
bweitzman@sbcglobal.net


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Dr. Arietta Slade will present results of her pioneering work applying attachment, mentalization, and psychoanalytic theories to the real world.

She will show video clips of her ongoing research and interventions with high-risk mothers and babies from her clinical paper "Minding the Baby": Attachment, Trauma, and the Development of Reflective Capacities". Her program intervenes with mothers to break cycles of abuse by developing the capacity to envision their own and their child's internal experience.

In another paper, the 2008 Bowlby Memorial Lecture, "Better Safe Than Dead: Attachment, Fear, and the Clinical Process", she argues for the centrality of fear in psychoanalytic formulation.

Dr. Slade is Professor of Clinical and Developmental Psychology, City University of New York, and Associate Research Scientist, Yale Child Study Center. Co-editor of Mind to Mind: Infant Research, Neuroscience, and Psychoanalysis (2008).

Saturday March 28, 2009 – Laurel Heights, Auditorium, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

To register call/fax: 831-335-5526 or email: bwootten@mac.com

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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.

Lutecium Workshop: Gender, Lacan, and the Psychoanalytic Encounter
Sun, Mar 1 / 10 AM - 2 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Kristopher Lichtanski, Ph.D. / $40 - $80

SFCP Community Members East Bay Clinical Forum
Wed, Mar 4 / 7 PM - 9 PM / Herrick Hospital 2001 Dwight Way, Rm. CC / Berkeley
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / T. Schulman, Ph.D., K. MacVicar, M.D., & W. Glover, Ph.D. / free

SFCP South Bay Student Outreach: Couples Therapy – Love’s Work
Wed, Mar 4 (begins) / 7:30 PM - 9 PM / Psychiatry Buiding, 401 Quarry Rd. Rm. 2209 / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Dana Wideman, Ph.D. / free

SFCP SF Student Outreach: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Gay Men
Wed, Mar 4 (begins) / 7:30 PM - 9 PM / 2340 Jackson St., 4th Fl. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Gary Grossman, Ph.D. / free

Group Psychology in Clinic and Culture
Thu, Mar 5 (begins) / 7 PM - 8:30 PM / SFCP, 2340 Jackson Street, 4th Fl. / San Francisco
NCSPP / (415) 457-9949 / Paul Alexander, Ph.D. / $55 - $165

Lecture: What does the psychotic teach us about psychoanalysis?
Fri, Mar 6 / 7 PM - 9 PM / Golden Gate University, 536 Mission Street, 5th Fl. / San Francisco
CPA / (415) 577-1449 / W. Apollon, Ph.D. & Faculty of GIFRIC / free

Clinical Days ‘09: Two Days of Lacanian Psychoanalytic Teaching and Cases
Fri, Mar 6 (begins) / 9:30 AM - 5 PM / Golden Gate University, 536 Mission St., 5th Fl. / SF
CPA / (415) 577-1449 / W. Apollon, Ph.D. & Faculty of GIFRIC / $100 - $250

SFCP Ext. Div. Pen. Sem.: Treatment of Patients with Addictive Disorders
Sat, Mar 7 / 9 AM - 12:05 PM / Christ Episcopal Church, 1040 Border Rd. / Los Altos
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Susan Hamlin, LCSW / $75

Lutecium Workshop: The Absence of Desire; Introduction to Perversion
Sun, Mar 8 / 2 PM - 4 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Michelle Baker, M.A. & Aden Neumeister, M.A. / $20

SFCP Scientific Meeting with Maria Longuemare
Mon, Mar 9 / 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM / 2340 Jackson St., 4th Fl. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Maria Longuemare, M.D., Ph.D. / free

SFCP Public Lecture Series: Savage Melancholia
Wed, Mar 12 / 7:30 PM - 9 PM / 2340 Jackson St., 4th Fl. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Jed Sekoff, Ph.D. / free

PINC: Colliding Idealizations in Psychoanalysis: Winnicott and his patients
Fri, Mar 13 / 7 PM - 9 PM / 2252 Fillmore St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 922-4050 / Joyce Slochower, Ph.D. / $20 - $40

Friday the 13th Movie Night: The Shining
Fri, Mar 13 / 6 PM - 10 PM / The Variety Club Preview Room, 582 Market St. / San Francisco
NCSPP / (917) 405-3308 / / $10 - $12

SFCP Child Colloquia with Mrs. Dannette Graham
Sat, Mar 14 / 10 AM - 12 PM / 2340 Jackson St., 4th Fl. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Mrs. Dannette Graham / free

Psychoanalytic Couples Therapy: Unconscious Conflicts and Fantasies
Sat, Mar 14 / 7 PM - 9 PM / 1330 Lincoln Ave., Ste. 201 / San Rafael
CIP/ (415) 459-5999 ext. 101 / Robert Waska, MFT, Ph.D., FIPA / $30

SFCP Community Members SF Clinical Forum
Tue, Mar 17 / 7 PM - 9 PM / 2340 Jackson St., 4th Fl. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Hugh Molesworth, Ph.D. & Barbara Mcswain, MSW / free

SFCP Community Members South Bay Clinical Forum
Tue, Mar 17 / 7 PM - 9 PM / Psychiatry Buiding, 401 Quarry Rd. Rm. 2209 / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Barbara Almond, M.D. / free

Lutecium: Clinical Case Conference
Thu, Mar 19 / 6 PM - 8 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Jacques Siboni, M.D. / $40 - $80

Lutecium: Writing Group "Letters" - Reception Night
Fri, Mar 20 / 7 PM - 8:30 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Michelle Baker, M.A. & group participants / free

Siblings: The Unconscious Web in the Family Structure
Fri, Mar 20 / 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM / Los Gatos (for location contact Tish Beyer)
NCSPP / (408) 243-3536 / Dennis Facchino, Ph.D. / $25

Lutecium Film Event: Are you going Hollywood? II
Sat, Mar 21 / 12 PM - 5 PM / Hobart Building, 582 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Eric Essman, M.A., Jacques Siboni, M.D., & Mark Olesko / $20 - $30

SFCP Conversation on Adolescents with Gary Grossman
Sat, Mar 21 / 10 PM - 12 PM / Flamingo Conf. Resort and Spa, 2777 4th St. / Santa Rosa
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Gary Grossman, Ph.D. / free

SFCP Dialogues : The Loewaldian Legacy
Sat, Mar 21 / 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM / 2340 Jackson St., 4th Fl. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Nancy Chodorow, Ph.D. / $35 - $45

PINC Neuropsych Series: Clinical Case Seminar with Brian Koehler, Ph.D.
Sat, Mar 21 / 2 PM - 4 PM / UC Laurel Heights, 3333 California St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 922-4050 / Brian Koehler, Ph.D. / $50

PINC Neuropsych Series: A Dialogue and Theory of Therapeutic Action
Sat, Mar 21 / 8:30 AM - 1 PM / UC Laurel Heights, 3333 California St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 922-4050 / Brian Koehler, Ph.D. / $40 - $100

PINC Neuropsych Series: Clinical Case Seminar with Brian Koehler, Ph.D.
Sun, Mar 22 / 11 AM - 1 PM / PINC Library, 2252 Fillmore St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 922-4050 / Brian Koehler, Ph.D. / $50

Lutecium Seminar: Objects of Desire and the Projective Plane
Sun, Mar 22 / 12 PM - 4 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Jacques Siboni, M.D. / $40 - $80

SFCP Grand Rounds at Stanford: From Shared Bodies to Nursing Couple
Wed, Mar 25 / 5:15 PM - 7:30 PM / Psychiatry Buiding, 401 Quarry Rd. Rm. 2209 / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Angela Sowa, LCSW / free

"Minding the Baby: A Mentalization Approach to Attachment Trauma"
Sat, Mar 28 / 9 AM - 1 PM / UCSF Laurel Heights Conf. Ctr., 3333 Cal. St. / San Francisco
ICP-North / (831) 335-5526 / Dr. Arietta Slade / $40 - 75

Reality 2.0: When Loss Is Lost
Sat, Mar 28 / 10 AM - 1 PM / CPMC Pacific Campus, 2333 Buchanan St., Enright Rm. / SF
NCSPP / (415) 738-8055 / Stephen Hartman, Ph.D. & Stephen Seligman, DMH / free - $30

PINC Graduation Paper: Is Termination a Phase or a Process?
Sat, Mar 28 / 9:30 AM - 11 AM / Laurel Heights, 3333 California St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 922-4050 / Barbara Short, Ph.D., & Mary Margaret McClure, DMH, discussant / free

Lutecium: Clinical Case Conference I
Wed, Apr 1 (begins) / 6 PM - 8 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Marian Joycechild, Ph.D. / $350

Lutecium Seminar: Lacan's "Sinthome" - A close reading
Thu, Apr 2 (begins) / 6 PM - 8 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Rebecca Bauknight, Ph.D. / $350

Lutecium: Writing Group "Letters"
Fri, Apr 3 (begins) / 6 PM - 8 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / Michelle Baker, M.A. (coordinator) / $60

Lutecium: Freud/Lacan Seminar III
Sat, Apr 4 (begins) / 11 AM - 1 PM / Flood Building, 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / J. Gasperoni, Ph.D., M. Joycechild, Ph.D., M. Ewert, DMH, J.W. Bernstein, Ph.D. / $350

PINC: The Work of Peter Fonagy: Mentalization and Its Application to Practice
Sat, Apr 4 / 9 AM - 1 PM / PINC library, 2252 Fillmore St. / San Francisco, CA
PINC / (415) 922-4050 / Barbara Short, Ph.D. / $40 - $60

Working with Difficult Adolescents
Sat, Apr 4 / 10 AM - 1 PM / Center for Healthy Development / Santa Clara
NCSPP / (408) 247-9399 / Paul Alexander, Ph.D. / $25 - $100

To submit an event, please see our submission guidelines.

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CASE CONSULTATION GROUP: for psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists. Mondays 12:50 - 2:15 pm. Contact Beth Steinberg, Ph.D. at (415) 441-5302 or besteinberg@comcast.net.

ONGOING SEMINAR: Openings starting March 6. Alternate weeks of cases and readings. This section will focus on the work of Antonino Ferro. Three month commitment. $45/session. Oakland, Fridays 3 PM - 4:30PM. CE Approved. Annie Sweetnam, Ph.D., (510) 428-2913. Anniesweetnam@sbcglobal.net.

NEW WRITING GROUP: Support group for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists who are writing or want to start writing. Alternate Saturdays starting March 7, 10 AM - 1 PM. 8 session commitment. $65/session. Berkeley. CE Approved. Annie Sweetnam, Ph.D., (510) 428-2913. Anniesweetnam@sbcglobal.net.

WORKSHOP FOR MFT'S IN THE MAKING. Support and assistance with Trainee and Intern requirements, licensing paperwork, deadlines and procedures. March 9, 11, 16 and 18. 7-9pm. $350. For info call Markus Dobler, MFT (415) 375-9546 or Lisa Anderson Shaffer, MFT (415) 375-9541.

DREAM CASE CONSULTATION GROUP FORMING. Developmental and Archetypal perspective. Friday 10:30 AM - 12 PM, small group, $60 a session, six month commitment. For more information call Jane Reynolds, Ph.D. at (510) 524-9111.

ELEGANT, NEWLY DECORATED OFFICE: in historical building with beautiful gardens. Centrally located at Bush & Octavia. Office available Mondays. Parking space included! $200 per month. (415) 820-1414.

PSYCHOANALYTIC CONSULTATION GROUP. On-going group focusing on the use of countertransference responses, including the group's response, to discover the moment of alive contact in each session. Weds. 10:30 AM - 12 PM. Albany. $50 per meeting. Maureen Franey, Ph.D. 510-527-6141.

ANALYTIC GROUP THERAPY is an unique opportunity for a group relational experience that may be adjunctive to individual analysis or act as an independent therapy experience. Ongoing group meets Tuesday eve 7:pm to 8:30pm. Group Leader: Sue Saperstein, MFT, Psy.D. 415-641-4146.


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. Join us.

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Melissa Holub, Ph.D., NCSPP President
Cleopatra Victoria, M.A., MFT, Editor-in-Chief
Bruce Weitzman, MFT, Managing Editor
Meg Earls, M.A., Features Editor
Terra Morais, M.A., Appointment Book Editor
Michele McGuinness, Production Manager
Matthew Morrissey, Technical Editor
Cate Corcoran, Psy.D., Brad Falconer, M. A., Editors Emeritus

Each month, IMPULSE reaches over 1,830 psychoanalytically interested professionals and students in Northern California.

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IMPULSE is a monthly newsletter published by the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology for the purpose of connecting Northern California psychoanalytic practitioners, students, and scholars. IMPULSE aims to foster the development of psychoanalytic practice and thought in our region through collaboration and understanding.

For information on submitting event listings and other content to IMPULSE, please see our guidelines and policies page 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 contact 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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