Impulse is a community newsletter produced by the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP) and distributed electronically to subscribers at no cost. 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 Katherine Eng, Ph.D.
As a child of the ‘80s in Georgia, I remember the items my mother often purchased for class party snacks. Long before Asian goods were in vogue, she chose items that were, let’s say, not the most popular. Funyuns instead of Doritos. Mint grasshopper cookies instead of Chips Ahoy! She was an immigrant from Hong Kong and bought flavors reminiscent of a place no longer accessible. A taste of culture. A taste of home.
Last spring, when tariff proposals were announced, I thought of the impact they might have on those from communities that, like my family, made the decision to live in the United States but continue to yearn for reminders of their homeland. A taste of culture. A taste of home.
by San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis (SFCP)
SFCP: CURIOUS ABOUT BECOMING A PSYCHOANALYST?
Join us to eat, drink, and learn about psychoanalytic training at SFCP!
When?
Thursday, November 13th, 2025
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Where?
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
444 Natoma Street, San Francisco
Anyone interested is invited for dinner, drinks, and a discussion of training to become a psychoanalyst at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis.
by Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group (PCPG)
2025 ANNUAL PSYCHOANALYTIC COUPLE PSYCHOTHERAPY LECTURE
Link Theory: The Interpersonal and Social Dimensions of Psychic Life in Couples
Saturday, October 25th, 2025 | 9:00 am – 3:00 pm | In-person (Zoom available)
Please join PCPG for our Annual Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Lecture of 2025 at the Brower Center in Berkeley, CA.
by Nicholas Hack, Psy.D.
THE DANCE
We’re in a dance, you and I, and I’m slow to learn the steps.
My first mistake was thinking we’d both want harmony. I’d come to the dance assuming we’d seek a rhythm, that we’d strive to sync up. I knew we’d stumble and step on each other, but I thought we’d share the goal of working well together. My thinking was limited.
I move towards you, reaching to make contact, but you behave like an electron, blinking out of existence in one place and then reappearing somewhere else. The dance is fragmented. There’s no Step A, Step B, Step C. Instead, it’s Step 5, Step A, Step %.
“Here’s the work,” I think, and I describe what I see, wondering about what happened right-here, right-now. You smile and nod—that’s right, that’s right, so insightful—but I realize, slowly, that I’m interacting with a hologram—a more real “you” has disappeared again.
by Loong Kwok, Psy.D.
CALL FOR ANNUAL WRITING AWARD SUBMISSIONS
Do you have ideas you’ve been developing in supervision, class, or your private thoughts? Are you exploring questions that feel alive in your clinical work, your reading, or your experience of the world? NCSPP invites all graduate students and early career clinicians to put those ideas into writing and submit a paper for our 2025 Annual Writing Award.
We’re looking for original work that engages psychoanalytic ideas in creative and meaningful ways. Papers can be clinical, theoretical, or interdisciplinary, as long as they make use of psychoanalytic ideas. This is an opportunity to refine your voice and take part in a wider conversation about what psychoanalysis can be today.
The winning paper will be published in fort da, NCSPP’s journal, and the author will be invited to present their work at a Scientific Meeting alongside an invited discussant. The winner will also receive a $250 cash prize.
Submissions are due by October 31st, 2025.
To learn more about the award and how to submit, visit our website here.
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.
Teaching Amongst Diversity in the Psychoanalytic Classroom
Fri, Oct 3 / 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / (415) 496-9949 / B. Ngo-Smith, LCSW / $30 - $70
Fighting Fire with Fire: Aesthetics, Exigent Sadism, Insurgency
Mon, Oct 6 / 5:00 pm / 315 Wheeler Hall / Berkeley
Townsend Center for the Humanities / (510) 643-2340 / A. Saketopoulou, Psy.D. / $0
Avgi Saketopoulou in Conversation
Tue, Oct 7 / 5:00 pm / 220 Stephens Hall / Berkeley
Townsend Center for the Humanities / (510) 643-2340 / A. Saketopoulou, Psy.D., et al. / $0
Early career case conference - distance learning
Tue, Oct 7 / 5:15 pm - 6:45 pm / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / L. Chow, Ph.D., et al. / $300 - $500
Early career case conference - local
Wed, Oct 8 / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Private office / Berkeley
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / C. Bacchi, Psy.D., et al. / $300 - $500
Clinical Approach to Jungian Work: Prelicensed Case Conference
Begins Thu, Oct 9 / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Zoom
Jung Institute / (415) 771-8055 / G. Lipsyte, Ph.D.; J. Swanger, Ph.D. / $150 (for 5 mtngs)
Why War?
Sat, Oct 11 / 10:00 am - 2:00 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / (415) 496-9949 / M. Korson, MA / $60 - $180
Why Should a Psychotherapist Care About the Brain?
Sat, Oct 11 / 9:00 am - 12:00 pm / 530 Bush St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / M. Zellner, Ph.D. / $25 - $65
What Makes the Supervision Process Relational?
Fri, Oct 17 / 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / (415) 496-9949 / J. Sarnat, Ph.D. / $30 - $90
The Breach: Do We Find or Lose Ourselves in the Negative?
Sat, Oct 18 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 530 Bush St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / J. McGleughlin, LCSW / $0 - $20
Annual Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Lecture 2025
Sat, Oct 25 / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm / Brower Center / Berkeley (and Zoom)
PCPG / (415) 508-7664 / E. Palacios García, M.D. / $55 - $255