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 Natasha Oxenburgh, Psy.D.
SUMMARY OF EVENTS
NCSPP has had an engaging start to 2026. We began with a reading salon featuring Liza Veale, LMFT, winner of our Annual Writing Award, alongside Mara Gerson, Psy.D., Clare Knudson, Ph.D., Laura Rivera Rodriguez, LMFT, Finn Sonder, AMFT, and Lila Zimmerman, LMFT. They read curated essays and poetry to a large audience in Oakland, affirming our focus on community-building and in-person gatherings this year.
At the end of January, nearly 200 participants from around the world joined our virtual workshop with Dr. Jonathan Shedler, Ph.D., on personality styles in psychotherapy, featuring lively case discussions and role plays. In February, Dr. Ortal Kirson-Trilling, Psy.D., began our in-person couples course using the Tavistock Relations model. Given strong demand for the course, we plan to expand our couples’ trainings in the future.
Upcoming events include a CMH Botanical Tour in Berkeley (now on March 21st), an in-person course on launching a private practice on April 20th, and additional in-person events in May, including the Annual Lecture. Be sure to hold the afternoon of May 16th in Berkeley for Jamieson Webster, Ph.D., in discussion with Francisco J. González, M.D.
by San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
SAN FRANCISCO PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY TRAINING PROGRAM (SF-PPTP) FREE DINNER / INFORMATIONAL OPEN HOUSE
Wednesday, March 11th | 7:30pm - 9:30pm
In-Person at SFCP
444 Natoma Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis (SFCP) is excited to open the application process for our two-year Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program (SF-PPTP) or one-year Foundations program.
Through seminars, case conferences, and long-term individual clinical consultation, SF-PPTP offers an in-depth introduction to psychoanalytic psychotherapy theory and technique.
by David Cushman, Psy.D.
EXPLORING AMERICA’S RACIAL CONSCIOUSNESS: AN EVENING WITH CATHY PARK HONG
Friday, April 10th | 5:30pm - 7:00pm
CIIS Public Programs and the Clinical Psychology Department are honored to feature Cathy Park Hong in a unique event at CIIS' San Francisco campus and online. Award winning poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong’s work weaves together personal stories, historical context, and cultural criticism to create an emotional and impactful exploration of Asian American personhood. Her widely praised book of essays Minor Feelings explores her experiences as an Asian American woman and is an essential text for reframing our understanding of race in America.
by Rebecca Deibert, M.A.
There’s more to perversion than meets the… foot?
Seriousness in playfulness and playfulness in seriousness are traits of experiencing that give magnificence a point of access to an individual’s self-esteem without shame, incapacity to adapt, and torturous self-destruction needing to occur (Morgenthaler, [2020]).
In a recent consultation, a few colleagues and I sat in the congealed emotional movement Fritz Morgenthaler describes as a ritualistic occurrence for the society-broken fetishist. Importantly, the molasses through which we waded was our own doing as a group—it was a mode of interaction devoid of pleasure or ease, and it mirrored the therapist’s experience of the patient and his perversions. We were stuck; we saw nothing there.
Morgenthaler presents the original perverse fascination as the “colorful stone” located and carefully placed in the mosaic of the self. It filled a hole, maybe literally. In addition to the pleasurable satisfaction of wholeness, the perverse aim prescribed a return to childlike omnipotence. It was a magical solution on all accounts, and this process isn’t unique to those with perverse features. Morgenthaler argues that each of us “suffers a shipwreck” and attempts to fill the gap as gracefully as our individual lives allow.
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Memory, Loss, and Legacy: Directed by Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Fri, Mar 13 / 6:30 pm - 8:45 pm / Online via Zoom / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / R. Seed; R. Cowan, Psy.D., LCSW / $0 - $20
Interactive Dream Workshop
Sat, Mar 14 / 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm / 1330 Q St. / Sacramento
Sacramento Psychoanalytic Society / (916) 800-2044 / N. Shieh, MFT / $20
Visiting Professor Weekend: Psychoanalysis and Nothingness
Sat, Mar 14 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / Online via Zoom
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / R. Vermote, M.D., Ph.D.; L. Goldsmith, Ph.D. / $0 - $70
Visiting Professor Weekend: Professor’s Choice: Bion’s Clinical Seminars
Sun, Mar 15 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / Online via Zoom
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / R. Vermote, M.D., Ph.D.; G. Dvorak, Psy.D. / $0 - $70
Community Mental Health Botanical Tour
Sat, Mar 21 / 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm / 1550 Wildcat Canyon Rd. / Berkeley
NCSPP / (209) 552-1559 / $10
Movie Matinee: Aftersun
Sat, Mar 28 / 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm / 1901 P St. / Sacramento
Sacramento Psychoanalytic Society / (415) 814-6585 / D. Martin, M.A. / $20