Impulse is a community newsletter produced by the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP) and distributed electronically at no cost to subscribers. We envision Impulse as an integrative source for local news, events, and thinking of interest to the psychoanalytically inclined. Our goal is to be your guide as you explore the Bay Area's rich array of analytic resources.

We invite you to become a member of NCSPP, if you are not already. And, we welcome you as a subscriber to Impulse. Join us as we highlight the exceptional diversity of psychoanalytic thought and practice in Northern California.

by Shlomit Gorin, MA

"We all know that time, this undisciplined element, holds itself within bounds but precariously, thanks to unceasing cultivation, meticulous care, and a continuous regulation and correction of its excesses. Free of this vigilance, it immediately begins to do tricks, run wild, play irresponsible practical jokes, and indulge in crazy clowning" (Schulz 1978).

We are pleased to announce that Susan Lake has joined Impulse as the new Managing Editor. Susan is a Psy.D. candidate at the Wright Institute and is in private practice in San Francisco, where she works with children, adolescents, and adults. She is also a mitigation specialist/investigator on criminal defense teams representing individuals in their capital cases. For many years, Susan worked as a copy editor for Mother Jones and other publications. She holds a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Knox College and an M.A. in Spanish Literature from University of Texas at Austin.

We would also like to say goodbye to our former Editor-in-Chief, Loong Kwok, Potential Space Staff Writer, Suzanne Stambaugh, and Features Editor, Jessica Selvin. Many thanks to Loong for steering the ship, to Suzanne, for her creative and thoughtful contributions over the years, and to Jessica, for her editorial assistance with the Event Spotlight and Piece of Mind features.

by Shannon Dubach, Psy.D.

Stepping into this new role, I am once again struck by the multiple challenges facing psychoanalytic clinicians today. Managed care organizations continue to emphasize short-term treatment plans, graduate schools offer fewer analytically focused courses, and psychoanalytic internships are increasingly difficult to find. Against these odds, psychoanalytic training institutes continue to provide robust training programs. Although we are not surprised by the conclusions from research such as Jonathan Shedler's Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, tensions persist.

by Karisa Barrow, Psy.D.

I am enthusiastic about moving into the role of President-Elect after six rewarding years on NCSPP's Education Committee. I bring organizational experience as founder of inMind, a group practice invested in providing Bay Area psychotherapy, assessment, training and consultation services from a relational and integrated contemporary psychoanalytic approach. More recently, I served as president of Alameda County Psychological Association.

It is my honor to introduce to you the winner of the Community Service Award and the Student Paper Award.

by Loong Kwok, Psy.D.

DIVISION 39'S SPRING MEETING

Division 39 will hold its Spring Meeting in San Francisco on April 22-26, 2015.The theme, Life in Psychoanalysis in Life, reflects the conference’s invitation to participate in creative explorations of the intersection between the two. Event highlights include a conversation with local choreographer Joe Goode about dance, psychoanalysis, and the creative process; and a discussion on vicarious traumatization with Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist and retired Army Brigadier General.

by Julie Friend, LCSW

PSYCHOANALYTIC COUPLE PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 2015-16 INTENSIVE STUDY PROGRAM IN PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY OF COUPLES

PCPG's program offers immersion into the foundations of Tavistock and other psychoanalytic thinking about working with couples. Tavistock couple theory, rooted in Klein, Winnicott, Bion, Meltzer and others, explores a wide range of issues, including the implications of Oedipal development for couple functioning; unconscious object choice and shared unconscious anxieties; the role of projection in structuring couple relationships; sexuality; technical application of theory; and transference and countertransference in work with couples. The coming year will feature a rich array of theoretical classes, case conferences, and film events.

by Suzanne Stambaugh, Psy.D.

INFINITE DIVISIBILITY

The ability to exist in, and communicate from, intersubjective space can be seen as one measure of psychic integrity and thus is often either the focus, or the result, of psychotherapeutic intervention. The groundwork for the experience of subjectivity is, according to some relational theorists, first constructed between mother and child, when the mother verbalizes her best guesses of the child's experience. The child first becomes a subject in the mind of the mother, one step towards recognizing the subjectivity of others and being able to dwell in a space of mutually constructed constellations of meaning and identity.

Psychologists' Involvement In Torture. Psychoanalyst Frank Summers decries the American Psychological Association's implicit support of the Central Intelligence Agency's practice of "enhanced interrogation."

W. H. Auden's Cheeky Tribute to Sigmund Freud. To mark its 100th anniversary, The New Republic is republishing a collection of its most memorable articles, including this poet's celebration of Sigmund Freud's return to the historical human subject.
Early-Childhood Separations, Common in China, Said to Hold Hidden Dangers. Chinese psychoanalysts are exploring the ramifications of a widespread childrearing practice.

by Monika Telichowska, Psy.D.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BABY: THE EARLY PSYCHIC LIFE OF TWINS

Instructor: Ruth Simon, Ph.D.
CE: 3 CE credits

Location: The Wright Institute
2728 Durant Avenue, Room 109/110, Berkeley, CA 94704
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2015
Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Classifieds: 

POST-GRADUATE TRAINING IN PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY.  The Psychotherapy Institute in Berkeley offers a two-year clinical training program starting September 11, 2015. Trainees work in the Institute's moderate fee clinic under intensive supervision (individual and group) by outstanding Bay Area clinicians. Seminars cover major theoretical and technical aspects of psychotherapy, and professional development.  Eight positions are available. There is no fee, nor is there a salary or stipend. Contact Mark Bronnenberg, mbronnenberg@tpi-berkeley.org or visit www.tpi-berkeley.org.

Old couches, new books, hot jobs, cool internships, office rentals? List them in Impulse's Classifieds for a modest fee. Please see our submission guidelines for details.   

Appointment Book: 

A Jungian View of Clinical Work - Winter Segment 2015
Mon, Jan 5 / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 2040 Gough Street / San Francisco
Jung Institute / (415) 780-9795 / G. Lipsyte, Ph.D.; J. Swanger, Ph.D. / $90 

Seasoned Clinicians Program 2015
Wed, Jan 7 / 11:30 am - 1:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / Mary Margaret McClure, DMH / $575 

East Bay Psychotherapy Forum - Child Case Presentation
Wed, Jan 7 / 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm / 2001 Dwight Way / Berkeley
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / V. Arnand, MA; R. Epstein, M.D.; M. Donner, Ph.D. / free 

Analytic Listening, Analytic Thinking, and Analytic Speech
Thu, Jan 8 / 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm / 401 Quarry Road / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / Lynn Alexander, Psy.D. / free 

Memory, Fantasy, and the Dynamic Unconscious
Fri, Jan 9 / 11:45 am - 1:15 pm / 1900 Addison Street / Berkeley
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / Maggie Zellner, Ph.D., LP / $525 - $600 

Second Fridays: Black Psychoanalysts Speak
Fri, Jan 9 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm / 530 Bush Street, Ste 700 / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 923-9919 / F. Gonzalez, M.D./ free - $20 

Mourning and Melancholia Revisited: A Contemporary Look
Fri, Jan 9 / 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm / Private home / Palo Alto
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / Julie Gerhardt, Ph.D. / $115 - $185 

Reflective Spaces/Material Places
Sat, Jan 10 / 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm / 2919 Mission Street / San Francisco
PINC & NCSPP / (415) 377-0345 / G. Desierto, Psy.D., et al. / free 

Clinical Sensibility
Thu, Jan 15 / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / Clara Kwun, LCSW / $270 

South Bay Psychotherapy Forum
Tue, Jan 20 / 7:15 pm - 9:00 pm / 401 Quarry Road / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / L. Coleman, MFT; M. Ruffell, M.D.; J. Mill, Ph.D. / free 

Reading Kristeva - A Moderated Discussion
Wed, Jan 21 / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 530 Bush Street / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 420-7409 / M. Aniel, Ph.D.; F. Gonzalez, M.D.; E. Essman, M.A. / free 

Case Conference: Countertransference with a Borderline Patient
Fri, Jan 23 / 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm / 2727 College Avenue / Berkeley
TPI / (415) 552-5343 / J. Riley, MFT / free 

"The Boy Who Didn't Know He Was Hurting Himself"
Sat, Jan 24 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / M. Mann, M.D.; H. Bloch, M.D. / free 

Cost of a Relationship: Give and Take of Money in Therapy
Mon, Jan 26 / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 2232 Carleton Street / Berkeley
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / P. Alexander, Ph.D.; L. Slome, Ph.D. / free - $75 

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Gay Men
Wed, Jan 28 / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / Gary Grossman, Ph.D. / free 

The Mummy at the Door: Play Therapy and Surviving Loss
Wed, Jan 28 / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 530 Bush Street / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / S. Pass, Ph.D.; A. Sweetnam, Ph.D. / $10 - $25 

Student Paper Presentation
Fri, Jan 30 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm / 2232 Carleton Street / Berkeley
NCSPP / (415) 689-1580 / David Cushman, Psy.D. / free

The Electro-magnetic Iron Cage
Fri, Jan 30 / 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm / 401 Quarry Road / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / Roger Karlsson, Ph.D., ABPP / free

Sexual Exploitation of Children and Unthinkable Horrors
Wed, Feb 4 / 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / TBA / $15 or donation

East Bay Psychotherapy Forum
Wed, Feb 4 / 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm / 2001 Dwight Way / Berkeley, CA 94704
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / J. Cheryl, Psy.D.; M. Wilson, M.D.; M. Donner, Ph.D. / free

Psychoanalytic Case Formulation
Thu, Feb 5 / 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm / 401 Quarry Road / Stanford
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / Michael Loughran, Ph.D. / free

San Francisco Psychotherapy Forum
Thu, Feb 5 / 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / G. Grossman, Ph.D. / free 

Supervision in the Analytic Field
Fri, Feb 6 / 9:00 am - 12:00 pm / PINC/530 Bush Street / San Francisco
NCSPP / (415) 529-0281 / Robert A. Carrere, Ph.D. / $90-$210 

Transference and Countertransference
Sat, Feb 7 / 10:00 am - 4:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-3366 / Stanley Leiken, M.D. / $60