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.

I begin by saying goodbye, and thank you, to Cleopatra Victoria. This newsletter was her brainchild. Her vision and creative spirit have inspired us to consider new ideas, play with the boundaries of psychoanalytic thinking, and expand our notion of community. It is a testament to her dedication and hard work that IMPULSE is now distributed to over 1800 psychoanalytic practitioners in the Bay Area. We are very grateful, Cleo!

The NCSPP board has begun the process of considering next steps for IMPULSE. We look forward to building upon its established features, including its invaluable calendar, in the months ahead. The mission to serve as a community newsletter one that speaks to all Bay Area psychoanalytic practitioners and organizations remains strong. While it will be impossible to replace Cleos unique voice on this page, we look forward to introducing new voices and perspectives. And, we invite your participation. If you have ideas or feedback youd like to share, please feel free to contact us.

The transition in IMPULSEs editorship brings to mind something about NCSPP that I find remarkable. We are regularly (constantly almost) saying hello and goodbye. Unlike many local Division 39 chapters and other organizations guided by long-term, established leaders, NCSPP finds direction from a new cast of characters each year or two. While this sometimes taxes our institutional memory, it also provides fertile ground for fresh and innovative ideas (like IMPULSE). New contributors come on board, devote their time and effort to our psychoanalytic community, and then make room for others to do the same. Meanwhile, despite the disruption of these constant changes, NCSPP continues to thrive. With that in mind, let me say that I am honored and ready to take my turn as NCSPP President in 2010.

Andrew Harlem, Ph.D.
NCSPP President


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Editorship Terminable and Interminable

Over four years ago, IMPULSE was birthed with the support of then NCSPP President Francisco Gonzalez. Our charter mission was to be a community psychoanalytic newsletter, published by NCSPP, to serve the needs of the Northern California psychoanalytic culture. Many organizations, such as PINC, SFCP, the Lacanian Institute and the Jungian Institute, agreed to provide their mailing lists to receive IMPULSE with the understanding that this was a community newsletter, not an NCSPP newsletter. Cate Corcoran, Brad Falconer and myself were the original staff, bringing professional technology expertise, as well as analytic vision to the table.

Our circulation is about 2000 now, and our volunteer, virtual staff includes Bruce Weitzman, who keeps us organized and on deadline every month and corrals the President's column to stay tightly edited and on-schedule. Bruce also reassures and edits me when I ask him, Is this piece too crazy to write???

Meg Earls commands our income-producing Piece of Mind and Event Spotlight and has been on board since Brad and Cate, providing continuity over time. Terra Morais is in charge of the highly comprehensive and detailed (whew-proofing!) Appointment Book, and Matthew Morrissey serves as our executive function for all things technology. Finally, Michele McGuiness manages production, allowing us to feel a going-on-being, thanks to her holding and containment of our org over the years.

Thank you, dear reader, for reading, and for stopping me on the street or in my inbox with comments like, I like your writing, or This is navel-gazing, or I enjoy your edginess, or Yes... I've seen your work, as it were. Some like it hot, and some not.

I thank my dear (and, at times, not-so-dear :) analysts and the couches that bore me for 10 years, 4x a week. (Just realized the slip -- bore as in tedious, or bore as in drilling, penetrating, or bore as in the past tense of bear weight or baby?) I'm grateful to my analysts for their unwavering reverie (my fantasy), their interpretations that keep marinating me over the years, and how these individuals helped shape me into someone who could deliver IMPULSE into our world. (Have you heard this joke? Before analysis, I was a raging narcissist...After analysis, I'm a raging narcissist... and I'm comfortable with that. :)

Without all of you, we would not be reading these words.

Cleopatra Victoria, MFT
IMPULSE Editor


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Looking for Community? Check out Community Membership at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis (SFCP)

Community Membership is a new category of membership at SFCP that was created to enrich and broaden the Center by inviting psychoanalytic psychotherapists in the Bay Area to join. We welcome mental health clinicians of all disciplines and levels of experience. Community Members benefit from a network of over 300 psychoanalytic psychotherapists ranging from students to established senior clinicians. They also benefit from a network of nearly 300 psychoanalysts (Analyst Members) and psychoanalysts-in-training (Candidates).

Through Community Membership at SFCP, psychoanalytic therapists can continue their professional development and build or broaden their community ties. Community Members enjoy opportunities to think together with analysts, present cases, discuss clinical material, take courses, teach, join study groups, network, socialize, and support one another. Smaller, more personal programs have been developed that are specifically aimed at helping Community Members expand their professional networks and feel part of the Centers community. In addition, Community Members serve on committees and help to shape and create exciting educational, social, and networking events.

For those who desire it, Community Membership offers a professional home at SFCP at whatever level of involvement suits your needs and interests. Click here to learn more about our programs, additional membership benefits and information about how to join. We hope to see you at upcoming events.

Vittorio Comelli, Psy.D.
Rene Spencer, MFT
Co-Chairs, SFCP Community Membership Committee


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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: Clinical Case Conference I
Wed, Jan 6 (begins) / 6 PM - 8 PM / 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium Psychoanalytic Group / Marian Joycechild, Ph.D. / $400

SFCP Candidate Hosted Gatherings in SF
Wed, Jan 6 / 7 PM - 9 PM / TBA / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / / free

SFCP Salon: "Why Isn't My Website Filling My Practice?"
Wed, Jan 6 / 7:30 PM - 9 PM / 2340 Jackson, 4th floor / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Jason Seidler, Robert Friend, M.D., Marc Wallis, LCSW / $35

SFCP: Child Development Program
Thu, Jan 7 / 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM / Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / E. Loewenstein, L. Banta, A. Martin, L. Mickelson, D. Bonomi / $35-$45

Neuerotics of Psychoanalytic Theory & Case Formulation
Thu, Jan 7 (begins) / 6 PM - 8 PM / 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium Psychoanalytic Group / Rebecca Bauknight, Ph.D. / $400

Lutecium: Writing Group Letters
Fri, Jan 8 (begins) / 6 PM - 8 PM / 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium Psychoanalytic Group / group members / $80

Lutecium: Seminar - Freud/Lacan V
Sat, Jan 9 (begins) / 11 AM - 1 PM / 870 Market St. / San Francisco
Lutecium / J. Wolff-Bernstein, M. Ewert, M. Joycechild, J. Gasperoni / $400

Free Study Group: Emotional Foxholes / Beyond the Borderline
Sat, Jan 9 (begins) / 7 PM - 9 PM / 1330 Lincoln Ave, Suite 201 / San Rafael
CIP / (415) 459-5999 x 101 / Robert Waska, MFT, Ph.D., FIPA / free

PINC Presents: Training Program Open House
Mon, Jan 11 / 7:30 PM - 9 PM / PINC Library 2252 Fillmore Street / San Francisco
PINC / 415 922-4050 / Faculty and Candidates / free; please RSVP

SFCP Candidate Hosted Gatherings in Berkeley
Tue, Jan 12 / 7 PM - 9 PM / TBA / Berkeley
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / free

SFCP Clinical Forum
Tue, Jan 12 / 7 PM - 9 PM / 4340 Redwood Highway / San Rafael
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Todd Finnemore, Psy.D., Marshall Bush, Ph.D. / free

SFCP Psychoa Students Seminar: Drugs on the Couch
Tue, Jan 12 (begins) / 7:30 PM - 9 PM / 2340 Jackson, 4th floor / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Marc Wallis, LCSW / free

SFCP Clinical Forum
Wed, Jan 13 / 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM / Herrick Hospital, Conf. Rm CC, 2001 Dwight Way / Berkeley
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Orit Weksler, MFT, Eileen Keller, Ph.D. / free

Clinical Conversations: Countertransference in a New Key
Fri, Jan 15 (begins) / 10 AM - 12 PM / CIP, 1330 Lincoln Ave., Ste 201 / San Rafael
CIP / (415) 459=5999 x 101 / Laura Schwartz, LCSW / free-$20

Seminar Series: Inside a Child's Mind/Inside a Mother's Mind
Sat, Jan 16 / 9 AM - 4 PM / The Creekside Room, Dominican University / San Rafael
CIP / (415) 459-5999 x101 / Barbara Waterman, Ph.D. / $100-$140

SFCP Clinical Forum
Tue, Jan 19 / 7:15 PM - 9 PM / 2340 Jackson, 4th floor / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Debora Fletcher, Ph.D., Jeffrey Sandler, M.D. / free

SFCP Clinical Forum
Tue, Jan 19 / 7:15 PM - 9 PM / Psychiatry Building 401 Quarry Road / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Ellen Russin, LCSW, Lee Grossman, M.D. / free

SFCP Candidate Hosted Gatherings in Marin
Fri, Jan 22 / 6 PM - 8 PM / TBA / TBA
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / free

SFCP: Theatre on the couch--Phdre (Jean Racine)
Fri, Jan 22 / 8 PM / ACT, 401 Geary / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Jed Sekoff, Ph.D. & Linda Lagemann, Ph.D.

When Boys Will Be Girls and Girls Will Be Boys
Sat, Jan 23 / 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM / East Bay, TBA /
NCSPP / (415) 457-9949 / Diane Ehrensaft, Ph.D. / $50-$110

SFCP Grand Rounds: Dreaming and Reality
Wed, Jan 27 / 6:15 PM - 7:30 PM / Psychiatry Building 401 Quarry Road / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Charles P. Fisher, M.D. & Beth Kalish-Weiss, Ph.D. / free

SFCP Candidate Hosted Gatherings in South Bay
Fri, Jan 29 / 6 PM - 8 PM / TBA / TBA
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / free

Control-Mastery Couple Therapy
Sat, Jan 30 / 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM / JCC, 3200 California Street / San Francisco
SFPRG / (415) 561-6771 / Dennis J. Zeitlin, M.D. / $55-$65

SFCP Ext. Div. Peninsula Saturday Seminar
Sat, Jan 30 / 9 AM - 12 PM / Christ Episcopal Church, 1040 Border Road / Los Altos
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Beth Steinberg, Ph.D. / $75

To submit an event, please see our submission guidelines.

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LEFT BEHIND? - GET ONLINE! Create Your Presence on the Web. Need a good website but dont know where to start? What about Twitter. Wiki. Blog. Facebook. Social Network. Demystify web terms and processes in a supportive environment and create your own position on the Internet. The key to a comfortable and effective web presence comes with understanding the choices and creating a fit thats right for you. If you are new to it, or if its just been awhile, Im here to help. Websites. Computer and Internet Basics and Beyond. Customized Individual Tutoring. sherri.ortegren@yahoo.com, 415-250-1034, www.sherriortegren.com.

CASE CONSULTATION AND STUDY with Eileen Keller, psychologist/psychoanalyst. Case presentation in a safe and creative environment improves our work with patients. In this group, we alternate doses of theory with case presentation as we work together to build our understanding of deep clinical work. We are currently reading Winnicotts Playing and Reality, alternating with case presentation. Thursdays, 12:30-1:45pm. $50 per session, twelve week commitment. Three spaces open. Oakland. Contact Eileen Keller at kellerphd@gmail.com or 510-654-2420. See also www.kellerphd.com.

PSYCHOANALYTIC ORIENTED CONSULTATION GROUP forming, Mondays 1:45-3:00, Palo Alto. Reading plus case material. For information contact: Carol Harrus, M.D., 650-328-8935 or Diane Strongwater, MFT, 408-737-1337.

PSYCHOANALYTIC CASE CONSULTATION GROUP. Ongoing consultation group with openings starting March 5th. The focus will be on working from multiple perspectives. Even though we may be familiar with a variety of theories, it is often difficult to work from a number of perspectives in any one case or session. We will be addressing the complexity of working from a multi-model approach drawing on Freud, Klein, Bion, Middle School and Intersubjective approaches. Friday afternoons. Oakland. 16 week commitment. $800. Annie Sweetnam, Ph.D (510) 531-5212. Anniesweetnam@sbcglobal.net

PSYCHOANALYTIC WRITING GROUP. Ongoing group with openings. A supportive group for those already writing or for those wanting to start. Focus will be on helping each member to develop their unique style and form of analytic writing. Saturday mornings once/ month. Oakland. 8 meeting commitment. $600. CE pending. Annie Sweetnam, Ph.D (510) 531-5212. Anniesweetnam@sbcglobal.net

ON-GOING WEEKLY PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY GROUP. Through reading and case presentations, we will address working with patients experiencing primitive anxieties, focusing on effectively using our own reverie and countertransference to discover the moments of alive contact in our work. Meets Thursdays 10:15-11:45AM. $45/meeting. Contact Dori Dubin, PsyD at (510) 547-2522 or ddubinpsyd@comcast.net.

TAKING OUR CLIENTS DEEPER. A five-week training group in Berkeley. Wednesdays beginning 1/27, 9-10:30am. $295 ($275 with registration by 1/15). For complete description and information visit the training page at megpatterson.com website.

PSYCHOANALYTIC CASE CONFERENCE: Thurs. Jan 7 - May 27, 3:15 PM - 4:45 PM, PINC Library, San Francisco, $55. Oakland Saturday Seminars: Contemporary Bionians. 9.30 - 1 p.m. Jan. 30; March 13, April 24, May 22, $85. CEUs. (510) 763-4531. Dr. Dawn Farber Psy.D. MFT.


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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Andrew Harlem, 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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