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JUNE 2010
From the Editor
Potential Space
Psychoanalysis on the Street
Appointment Book
Classifieds
About NCSPP
Masthead
Submissions
Subscriptions
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WELCOME TO IMPULSE, THE ELECTRONIC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER BY NCSPP
FROM THE EDITOR: MATTHEW MORRISSEY, MFT
In Pursuit of Vapidity
Have you ever thought of getting your ears insured? To do so would not be without precedent. Robert Parker, the wine critic, took out a million dollar policy on his nose. How much do you think our skilled ears are worth?
I don’t know about you, but after a day of intense sessions, I resemble the bandaged Van Gogh. My ears feel chaffed, as if a mildly abrasive stream of phonemes has rubbed up against them a little too long. I find myself in need of a balm.
Recently, I have discovered the perfect ointment: vapid pop music.
In particular, my relief is aurally dispensed by radio station 99.7. And, how instantly is quenched the fire in mine ears – the emollient and catchy melodies, the deep bass, the deliciously un-enigmatic signifiers. The DJ suddenly comes on and tells mall-bound listeners to pick him up “some orange chicken from Panda and a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s.” Hell yeah! I am transported back to far less ambiguous and youthful times, when it was all about skateboarding, cilia-destroying punk rock shows, and acting morose at the mall. What concern did I have about the autistic-contiguous position?
At first, I only listened to 99.7 on the way home from the office. Now, the siren-like-hold of the various hits has eroded the time otherwise spent listening to the sobering realities of National Public Radio. My wife, who at first was convinced I must be losing my mind, now appreciates that B.o.B. and Bruno Mars instantly soothes our five-week-old infant.
Another unforeseen benefit of listening to 99.7 has been the way it helps me connect with teenagers in my practice. Not only does the regression it induces help me keep in touch with something of their mentality, it also supplies me with fun lingo with which to potentially embarrass myself. Recently, during a session, the continual vibrations emanating from a teenager’s cell phone had me commenting, “Wow, someone’s really blowing up your phone!” She flashed me a textbook Cheshire grin.
So, then, I imagine many practitioners of our art have found similar vapid pursuits for themselves in one sensory modality or another. But, if not, maybe you too will succumb and, to repeat the station’s mantra, “make the move to 99.7.”
Warm Regards,
Matthew Morrissey, MFT
IMPULSE Editor
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POTENTIAL SPACE: JANE REINGOLD, MFT
Jung's Red Book: A Visionary's Journey
The posthumous unearthing of Carl Jung's Red Book – a 205-page leather bound manuscript detailing the controversial figure’s dialogue with his psyche – is reminiscent of an archeological finding. However, instead of mere fragments of an object yet to be reconstructed, we have a fully formed piece of art that answers pivotal questions and gives us a glimpse into not only the evolution of a visionary's journey, but also the genesis of his theory.
The Red Book was recently exhumed from its underground vault in Zurich where it had lain hidden for the past 23 years. Begun in 1913 during a turbulent time in his life – shortly after his split with Freud and just prior to World War I – this disputed manuscript proves to be the foundation from which Jung's seminal work took form. Consisting of reflections in medieval calligraphy, 53 vivid paintings and drawings, and dialogues with internal guides, this major opus, written over the span of 16 years, illuminates his experiment with his unconscious and exploration of his soul. Jung later remarked that it also laid the foundation for his work on archetypes and the collective unconscious.
In describing the rationale for his journey, Jung said, “In order to grasp the fantasies which were stirring in me ‘underground,’ I knew that I had to let myself plummet down into them.” Indeed, throughout the Red Book, Jung descends into realms inhabited by otherworldly creatures and mythic beings in a journey he often feared was psychotic and referred to as “doing a schizophrenia.” The terrain in which he traveled was one between conscious and unconscious. Sara Corbett comments in her New York Times article, titled The Holy Grail of the Unconscious, “He found himself in a liminal place, as full of creative abundance as it was of potential ruin, believing it to be the same borderlands traveled by both lunatics and great artists.”
The Red Book is a stunning depiction of how Jung traversed a realm he urged his analysands and the collective to discover. And perhaps it is a reminder to the analytic community of the importance of the analyst's inner journey and how we as therapists must delve deeply so that we may assist others in their journey.
A conference dedicated to the Red Book will be hosted by the CG Jung Institute of San Francisco on June 4-6.
Jane Reingold, MFT
IMPULSE Staff Writer
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PSYCHOANALYSIS ON THE STREET: LORRIE GOLDIN, LCSW
Psychoanalytic thinking has always been at odds with societal norms. In this guest article, Lorrie Goldin, LCSW, critiques our culture’s predilection for positive thinking and explores the question of what it means to offer depth therapy against such a backdrop.
False Positive
A nasty virus flattened me recently. Awash with green tea and self-pity, I curled up with Barbara Ehrenreich’s latest book, Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America. As a psychodynamic therapist who often feels alienated from the prevailing smiley-face craze, I was glad to find someone who shares my alarm about our current cultural obsession with positivism. Bright-Sided offers a tonic for these hollow, manic times.
Ehrenreich was inspired to write Bright-Sided after her experience with breast cancer. Barraged with pink ribbons, support groups that banished terminal patients, and advice to adjust her attitude when she expressed anger or fear, Ehrenreich came across the insidious pathology of positive thinking:
[What cancer] gave me, if you want to call this a gift‚ was a very personal, agonizing encounter with an ideological force in American culture ... one that encourages us to deny reality, submit cheerfully to misfortune, and blame only ourselves for our fate. (Ehrenreich, 2009, p. 44)
The virulent aspects of positive thinking have metastasized far beyond the cancer wards in American society. Ehrenreich notes their destructive influence in the workplace, religion, psychology, mass culture, foreign policy, and the current economic and housing calamities. A terrible insecurity underlies the ascendancy of the false positive. Today’s climate of fear and uncertainty induces a collective reaction formation.
What does it mean to be a depth psychotherapist against this backdrop of positive thinking run amok? It often feels like open season on the type of treatment we have been trained to provide. The emphasis on medication, managed care, and evidence-based practice makes it easy to doubt oneself. Therapists and clients alike feel pressured to show quick results and are readily demoralized if they don’t. Sometimes I feel ashamed of seeing clients for years, worried that I’m dragging them down in analytic quicksand. My misgivings are amplified when suspicions abound of therapists fostering dependency, self-indulgence, and victimization to feel needed or to sustain a cash cow. Read on ...
Do you have an unconventional perspective about psychoanalytic work? You're invited to write a PSYCHOANALYSIS ON THE STREET or just contribute an idea. email us.
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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.
C.G. Jung's Red Book: A Conference
Fri, Jun 4 (begins) / 7 PM - 9 PM / Hotel Kabuki, 1625 Post St / San Francisco
C. G. Jung Institute / (415) 771-8080 / Various / $250
SFCP: East Bay Clinical Forum
Wed, Jun 9 / 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM / Herrick Hospital, Conf. Rm CC, 2001 Dwight Way / Berkeley
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Rachel Licitra, MFT and Robin Deutsch, Ph.D. / free
SFCP: The Uncanny
Fri, Jun 11 / 5 PM - 7:30 PM / 2340 Jackson, 4th floor / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Dominique Scarfone, M.D. and Judith Butler, Ph.D. / $35-$45
SFCP: Opera on the Couch: Die Walküre
Sun, Jun 13 / 1 PM - 8 PM / Books Inc., Opera Plaza / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Steven Goldberg, M.D. and Milton Schaefer, Ph.D. / free
SFCP: Emanuel Windholz Memorial Lecture
Mon, Jun 14 / 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM / 2340 Jackson, 4th floor / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / Dominique Scarfone, M.D. / free
To submit an event, please see our submission guidelines.
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CLASSIFIEDS
PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATION MANAGEMENT for patients in psychotherapy. Victor Libbey is a physician assistant (PA-C) with over 10 years experience in psychopharmacology. Expert MD supervision and a convenient Castro area location, sliding scale available! Victor Libbey, PA-C. Victor@psychiatrybayarea.com or (415) 437-1339.
OFFICE FOR RENT IN LOWER PACIFIC HEIGHTS VICTORIAN: with 4 other long-term colleagues, waiting room with light system, kitchen. Easy street parking. $850 Call Scilla Ballas (415) 922-1880.
FAMILY SERVICE AGENCY OF MARIN: bi-monthly consultation and support group beginning mid-September for licensed therapists building a practice and prelicensed therapists with completed hours. $90 per month. Contact Nancy Gump, MFT (415) 453-5333.
CREATE & MAINTAIN YOUR OWN WEBSITE QUICKLY & EASILY. Affordable, private tutorials for therapists - visit http://tinyurl.com/28ug5b8 for details.
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
 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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MASTHEAD
Andrew Harlem, Ph.D., NCSPP President
Matthew Morrissey, MFT, Editor-in-Chief
Bruce Weitzman, MFT, Managing Editor
Meg Earls, M.A., Features Editor
Terra Morais, M.A., Appointment Book Editor
Shlomit Gorin, M.A., Potential Space Feature Editor
Michele McGuinness, Production Manager
Jane Reingold, MFT, Blair Davis, M.A., Staff Writers
Mark McKinley, M.A., Elizabeth Bradshaw, M.Sc., Staff Writers
Cleopatra Victoria, M.A., MFT, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
Cate Corcoran, Psy.D., Brad Falconer, M.A., Editors Emeriti
Each month, IMPULSE reaches over 1,830 psychoanalytically interested professionals and students in Northern California.
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IMPULSE CONTROL: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
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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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 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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