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 Elise Geltman, LCSW

As this new year begins, I hope this finds you rested, strong, resourced, and resilient. There will be work ahead.

But what work must be done? What is possible? And how? On a bad day, we might add, "Is anything really going to impact meaningful change?" Such inquiry can be overwhelming. However, at the recent holiday party, I was reminded that it is possible to create something together. In a brief review of NCSPP history, past leadership including Maureen Murphy, Sam Gerson, Michael Guy Thompson, Francisco Gonzales, and Andrew Harlem discussed NCSPP's development and various struggles and accomplishments throughout the years. Through ideas, collaboration, curiosity, action, and passion over the past 30 years, NCSPP has become the largest chapter of Division 39, helped open up analytic learning in the Bay Area, led to the founding of PINC, and, more broadly, has contributed to the rich and varied analytic community we have here. Let's keep it up.

by Lorrie Goldin, LCSW

UNPREDICTABILITY AT THE HELM

The personal is political. As we have seen lately, the political is also personal. According to the APA, 52 percent of Americans suffered from significant election-related stress before November 8. Since Donald Trump's electoral victory, anxiety has escalated, at least in the Bay Area. Clients have come into our offices extremely upset about the president-elect. His bullying, bigotry, boasts about sexual assault, and denigrating remarks have triggered past traumas and intensified fresh fears. Many have experienced deep ruptures with friends and family. Their loved ones' support for a candidate who behaves so deplorably is reminiscent of non-protective parents who turn a blind eye to abuse.

Grete Stern's Rediscovered Dreams. The feminist artwork of Grete Stern is discussed in the context of dream interpretation, Kleinian theory, and social history.

The Mind of Our Narcissist in Chief. In an interview with Thom Hartmann, psychoanalyst Justin Frank describes how Trump came to be in power, and how thinking will be among our most useful tools during this presidential term.

Move Over Freud: Literary Fiction Is the Best Therapy. One psychoanalyst explains how literature can help us come to terms with the wider world to help us contextualize, understand, and expand our own experiences.

Classifieds: 
CONSULTATION GROUP IN MARIN. Integration of Psychoanalytic Theory and Clinical Practice. Will meet on Tuesdays or Fridays, time to be determined, in Corte Madera. Led by Terry Schulman, PhD, LCSW, faculty member and graduate of SFCP. Applications for CE credit pending. For further info, please contact tschulmanphd@gmail.com or (415) 847-5333.
 
PSYCHOTHERAPY OFFICE AVAILABLE. Full-time in charming Victorian Suite. Office has 3 large windows, 2 rooms, plenty of sunlight, good soundproofing, quiet. Includes use of waiting room, common area, deck, separate therapist bathroom. Centrally located near UCSF/Mt. Zion, Lower Pac Heights. Excellent public transportation. $1,400. Contact Howard Gillis (415) 346-2234.
 
FOR RENT: Small full-time psychotherapy office in Hayes Valley, SF, walking distance from Civic Center BART and Van Ness MUNI. Office is roughly 8' x 9' with large, adjacent walk-in closet. $525/month. Email: bweitzman@me.com with interest.

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: 

East Bay Psychotherapy Forum
Wed, Jan 3 / 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm / 2001 Dwight Way / Berkeley
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / J. Chess, PhD, et al. / free

Promoting Depth and Analytic Process in Psychotherapy
Wed, Jan 4 (begins) / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / B. Steinberg, PhD / $40

San Francisco Psychotherapy Forum
Thu, Jan 5 / 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / K. Beuthin, LMFT, et al. / free

2017 San Francisco Continuing Case Conference
Fri, Jan 6 (begins) / 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / M. Botkin, PhD, et al. / $440 - $550

Concept of Epistemic Trust: Can It Help Attachment Theory?
Mon, Jan 9 / 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / P. Fonagy, PhD; J. Ruskin, PhD / free

Social Work Practice: Foundation of Clinical Work: Year Two
Wed, Jan 11 (begins) / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / J. Bardacke, LCSW; A. Dunn, LCSW / $285 - $295

Social Work Practice: Foundations of Clinical Work: Year One
Thu, Jan 12 (begins) / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / 444 Natoma St. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / J. Bardacke, LCSW; A. Dunn, LCSW / $285 - $295

Holding Onto Reality Through Fantasy: The Wolfpack Film
Fri, Jan 13 / 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 530 Bush St / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / S. Purcell, MD; R. Cowan, PsyD / free - $30

Going Too Far? A Relational Self-Critique
Thu, Jan 19 / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 530 Bush St / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / J. Slochower, PhD, ABPP, et al. / free - $35

The South Bay Monthly Reading Group - January
Fri, Jan 20 / 6:45 pm - 9:00 pm / 530 Bush St / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / J. Gerhardt, PhD; A. Cabell, MFT / $15 - $35

Working With Life and Death Instincts: Destructive Narcissism
Mon, Jan 23 (begins) / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 5951 College Avenue / Oakland
NCSPP / (510) 852-9013 / R. Bartner, PhD / $160 - $315

Seminar I in Preparation for Visiting Scholar Anne Alvarez
Thu, Jan 26 / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 530 Bush St / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / R. Peltz, PhD / free - $20

Student Paper Presentation
Fri, Jan 27 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm / 2728 Durant Ave / Berkeley
NCSPP / (510) 915-4063 / J. Rousell, PsyD; P. Goldberg PsyD / $8 - $12

How Can Neuropsychoanalysis Inform Psychoanalytic Practice?
Sat, Jan 28 / 9:00 am - 12:30 pm / 530 Bush St / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / G. Kliman, MD, et al. / $45 - $105

Dreaming the Dream Onward With Active Imagination & the Arts
Sat, Jan 28 / 9:30 am - 1:30 pm / 2040 Gough Street / San Francisco
Jung Institute / (415) 771-8055 / L. Goldrich, PhD / $70 - $100

Child Colloquium Series: In the Beginning...
Sat, Jan 28 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 444 Natoma Street / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / J. Messer, MFT / free - $24

Desiring Deadness
Wed, Feb 1 / 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm / 530 Bush St / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / V. Venkatesh, PhD, et al. / free - $35

Integrating the Individual and the Collective
Sat, Feb 4 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 530 Bush St / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / J. Tubert-Oklander, MD, PhD / free - $30