February 2019 Newsletter – Full Text Version

Alexandra Kaghan and Nancy Wachtenheim, Associate Co-Directors of Membership

As Associate Co-Directors of Membership, it was exciting and heartwarming for us to watch the swearing in of the freshman class of the House of Representatives on January 3rd. This 116th Congress has the most diverse House of Representatives’ freshman class in American history. Over 40% of the newly elected representatives are women and 25% are people of color. This class has the first two Native American congresswomen and the first two Muslim congresswomen. This class also boasts the youngest woman to be elected to the House. She is 29 years old. In fact, this is the youngest class since 2011.

Watching this historic event reminded us of the ways in which ICP+P strives to be inclusive and diverse in its membership. We welcome members from graduate school through retirement, from all cultures, with a spectrum of sexual orientations and from many different psychotherapy approaches. Admittedly, we do not see as much diversity as we would wish, especially in terms of clinicians of color.

We also experienced why such diversity is important when we attended ICP+P’s conference, Contextualized Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis: Creative Input from Groups Large and Small, last month. The panel of presenters was composed of five clinicians from diverse cultural backgrounds. When we convened in the large group, some members showed concern for one of the panel members, whose time to present her material was shortened. The question of possible racial bias was raised, and what followed was an in depth exploration of the unconscious and conscious biases that may exist among a group of diverse members. It was rewarding and enlightening to be able to discuss these issues openly in both the small and the large groups throughout the day.

It is this type of experience that ICP+P offers its members. For example, members have the opportunity to participate in the Diversity Interest Group, DIG, which is led by Jen Sermoneta. This group meets monthly and delves into diversity-related topics by reading papers and/or sharing personal stories of identity. As our community strives to bring diverse people together, we have the opportunity as individuals and collaboratively to examine our thoughts, feelings and experiences. This process allows us to deepen our awareness and appreciate differences among individuals and groups, thereby allowing us to become better clinicians.

Another area of interest that we focus on is the diversity of age and of clinical experience within our membership. Currently, ICP+P has 252 members. As our organization ages and in order to keep ICP+P vital and thriving, we concentrate on attracting new members across several categories. These categories include experienced professionals who are new to ICP+P, emerging professionals and graduate students. Last year ICP+P implemented a new fee structure which reduced membership and conference fees to attract these three categories of membership. Since we joined the Board in September 2017, we have thirty-two new members. Out of those new members, twelve are emerging professionals or graduate students.

As Associate Co-Directors of Membership, we feel fortunate to be able to welcome new members and orient them to our community. We are able to interview many of them for the newsletter and help them make connections to existing members. Connection, after all is what ICP+P is about.

Alexandra and Nancy would be happy to connect with you! Contact them at askaghan@yahoo.com or nancyw.lcsw@gmail.com.

Jane Jacobs, ICP+P Short Courses

On occasion, the newsletter will feature brief articles that preview upcoming Short Courses, spotlight topics of special interest to members, and invite people to let us know what we should be learning more about.  

• To Group Or Not to Group? A well chosen therapy group can provide a superb experiential setting for our individual clients to explore new insights and skills. Group process can also evoke important issues that may not be as evident in the one-to-one setting. On February 8, Rob Williams, Liz Marsh, David Heilman, and Jennifer McLish will present a short course that provides the skills we need (a) to identify the clients who will benefit most from group, (b) to assess their readiness, (c) to seek the most fitting group setting, and (d) to prepare our clients for a successful entry. This dynamic team will demonstrate the clinical steps that will lay the groundwork for a well-timed and fruitful expansion of the therapy work.

• On March 1, Sandra Hershberg will be teaching an exciting course exploring the work of artist Paula Modersohn-Becker, who challenged negative cultural bias toward women and their sexuality. She will use these striking images as a backdrop for discussing the concept of epistemic injustice.  This term refers to the process by which one’s knowledge or experience may not be spoken or validated due to factors such as oppression and gender/racial prejudice.  Sandra will examine prejudicial gaps in the psychoanalytic literature and will discuss the implications of epistemic injustice for ethical practice with women. This course meets the requirements for Diversity CEs.

Short Course

To Group or Not to Group: Assessment and Preparation of Potential Group Members

Friday, February 8, 2019 from 12:30-3:45 pm ~ ICP+P Office, 4601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 8, Washington, DC 20008

Presented by:

Register Here!

About the Short Course:

Group therapy can be integrated with, or follow, individual treatment to expand and broaden the client’s therapeutic experience beyond the traditional dyad. This workshop is an exciting opportunity for clinicians who may or may not run groups themselves: to learn specific ways in which participating in group may be beneficial; to explore having a dialogue with clients about group; and to connect clients with a group experience, if appropriate.

This workshop explores a process for answering three basic questions: Is a client suitable for long-term, open-ended, psychodynamic group therapy? If yes, is the client suitable for the specific group I have in mind? If yes, are they ready to join the group now? Tools for identifying potential group members, assessing readiness for group, and preparing new members for group entry will be demonstrated.

At the conclusion of the short course, attendees will be able to:

1. Evaluate potential group members’ suitability for long-term, open-ended, psychodynamically-oriented group therapy.
2. Prepare exclusion and inclusion criteria.
3. Conduct a clinical interview for pre-screening.
4. Identify items required for preparation prior to group entry.

This program is appropriate for introductory and intermediate level clinicians and offers 3 CEs.

Register Here!

Friday, March 1, 2019 from 12:30 – 2:45 pm ~ ICP+P Office, 4601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 8, Washington, DC 20008

Register Here!

About the Short Course:

The work of artist Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) who in 1905-07, painted her body and those of mothers and babies in the nude, defied centuries of representations of idealized female nudes and nudes painted through the male gaze. It was a remarkable achievement. While she was painting in a mode congruent with what would become the leading edge of modern art, she refused to yield to the pressures of the traditional art establishment at the time, to erase her own subjective knowledge of her body, as no woman artist had painted her own procreative body until that moment. I will discuss the significance of this achievement from the perspective of psychoanalytic theory (with contributions of Balsam, Benjamin, Chodorow, Harris) related to women artists’ representing their procreative bodies in art and the philosophical concept of epistemic injustice (Fricker, 2007). This undergirding philosophical notion provides additional understanding of the way prejudicial treatment impacts “the injustice that a speaker suffers in receiving deflated credibility from the hearer owing to identity prejudice on the hearer’s part” and impinges on the way such knowledge is disseminated and can be invalidated in the public discourse.

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Describe how artist Paula Modersohn-Becker’s unique vision and subjectivity in depicting her nude body, and that of mothers and babies, exposed negative cultural bias toward women and their sexuality.
2. Discuss the relationship between the work of Paula Modersohn-Becker and the prejudicial gap in psychoanalytic theory regarding the procreative female body.
3. Describe the philosophical concept of epistemic injustice and its implications for ethical practice with women.

This program is appropriate for clinicians at all levels of experience and offers 2 CEs.

Register Here!

Other 2019 ICP+P Training

• February 8, 2019, Short Course – To Group or Not To Group: Assessment and Preparation of Potential Group Members, with Rob Williams, LICSW, CGP, Liz Marsh, MSW, LICSW, Art Therapist, David A. Heilman, PsyD, and Jennifer McLish, LCSW, ICP+P Office, 12:30-3:45pm, 3 CEs. Register Here Now.
• March 1, 2019 – Short Course – The Female Gaze in/on the Female Body in Art and Psychoanalysis: The Case of Paula Modersohn-Becker and Epistemic Injustice, with Sandy Hershberg, MD, ICP+P Office, 2 CEs. Register Here Now.
• April 5, 2019 – Short Course – Congruent with material presented during our Embodied Self Institute, Mary Choi, LICSW, will discuss and demonstrate the use of somatic psychotherapy techniques to uncover client dynamics. ICP+P Office, 3 CEs.
• April 28, 2019 – Psychoanalytic Training Program / Joint Institutes Candidates’ Committee (JICC) 22nd Annual Conference, Washington DC Metropolitan Area, 3:00-6:30 pm, 3 CEs.
• May 4, 2019, Annual Conference – Needed Relationships, The Forward Edge, and the Transformation of Traumatized States, with Steven Stern, Chevy Chase, MD, 9:00am-4:30pm, 5.5 CEs.
• September 28, 2019, Conference with Mark J. Blechner, PhD, Silver Spring Civic Building, 9:00am-12:30pm, 3 CEs.
• December 7, 2019, Conference with Anton H. Hart, PhD, Silver Spring Civic Building, 9:00am-12:30pm, 3 CEs.

Please welcome Douglas Rugh!

Interview by Nancy Wachtenheim

Douglas recently moved back to Washington, DC, and has a private practice on P Street in Dupont Circle. He also has what he calls a “more integrated group practice” on Capitol Hill.

Douglas has spent a while overseas, specifically in Yangon, Myanmar and Tbilisi, Georgia for two and a half years each. He worked with individuals, couples and families that had moved from other countries and were transitioning into new and different cultures. As the only therapist, he also saw older adolescents dealing with separation issues and eating disorders. Prior to Douglas’s international endeavors he worked for NIH as a Scientific Administrator at NIDA, National Institute on Drug Abuse. He also worked with Diabetes and Hurricane Katrina and consulted with the State Department. Douglas moved overseas when his wife became re-engaged with the Peace Corps.

Douglas received his PhD in social welfare from Florida International University and his MSW from Barry University. He was the Clinical Director of St. Lukes Addiction Treatment, a dual diagnosis residential program, for four years, and a doctoral intern at the University of Miami’s Center for Family Studies for two years.

As you can see, Douglas has a wide array of interests and experiences. He believes his best learning has been experiential, and he uses a “mind/body, approach” as a clinician. He describes himself as creative and theatrical, and he appreciates performance as an emotional expression for the meaning of life. Douglas considers himself eclectic, using both psychodynamic and cognitive/behavioral approaches to treatment. He differentiates the American culture’s focus on shorter term therapy and the utilization of cognitive approaches, with that of the European culture’s use of a more psychodynamic focus on personality, spirituality, and relationships. He works with individual adults, couples, families, and older adolescents. Many of his referrals come from the U.N., State Department, Department of Defense, and USAID.

Douglas is looking for support and professional groups to be affiliated with, as this is his first time in private practice in Washington DC. He is in the Couples Therapy Training Study Group and is looking forward to being a part of ICP+P. He is married and likes to read, bike, cook, travel, and get out into nature.

Please join me in welcoming Douglas as a new member to ICP+P. If you see him at any of the many ICP+P events, please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself.

• Elizabeth M. Carr & Janna Sandmeyer were published in the Psychoanalytic Inquiry (Volume 38, 2018 – Issue 8) on December 4, 2018. The title of their article is Exploring the Vicissitudes of Safety and Danger in Psychoanalysis: Developing Trust Through Mutual Engagement.
• An article titled, The Intersubjective Safety/Danger Dialectic, by Roger J. Segalla, Jr. was published in the Psychoanalytic Inquiry (Volume 38, 2018 – Issue 8) on December 4, 2018.
• Stephen Stein is the current Director of Professional Development and Past President of the DC Psychological Association and wanted to share the Social Justice’s component of DCPA’s reaction and efforts concerning the current political zeitgeist. Click here to read the Open Letter.
• Joe Lichtenberg has two recent books out: From Autism and Mutism to an Enlivened Self: A Case Narrative with Reflections on Early Development, with Diana Thielst, was published on November 30th. In addition, Narrative and Meaning, with Frank Lachmann and James Fosshage, is an important contribution to the literature.
• Mauricio Cortina will be teaching the short course, Erich Fromm: Social critic, radical humanist and clinician, at the Washington School of Psychiatry February 1, 8, 15, and 22, 2019 from 12:30-3:30 PM each day.

Space

1. Cozy, sunny office available for rent or sale in the Washington Professional Group suite at 3 Washington Circle, NW. The 112 sq ft office overlooks Washington Circle across from GWU and the Foggy Bottom metro stop. Within walking distance of Georgetown. Paid parking is available in an underground garage in the building. Nightly cleaning, wi fi, and use of a printer is included. If you are interested in buying, the owner also owns shares in 2 other offices in the suite, both of which are rented. You may purchase those shares as well when you buy the office. The rental income from the shares in those offices covers the condo fees and property taxes. Contact Virginia Voigt, 410-808-3422 for more information.
2. Space available in therapy suite a block from the Tenleytown metro. Situated behind the Best Buy & Container Store in a professional building with a garden courtyard and easy neighborhood parking for your clients. The nicely appointed suite has been recently renovated and has a waiting room and kitchenette. Available Mondays & Fridays, Wednesday after 12 and Thurs evenings. Images of the building and one of the offices can be found here: https://www.kirstenchadwick.com/location/. Please contact Jennifer Grosman, jengrosman@yahoo.com or Kirsten Chadwick, kirsten_chadwick@yahoo.com.
3. Beautiful DuPont Circle Office Available to Rent in the Corcoran House Building at the corner of 18th and Corcoran Sts. NW, all day Friday + additional half day on Tuesday. Spacious, recently painted and re-decorated, a sunny office, waiting room and private bathroom. Many other amenities available, including wi-fi and fax. Excellent location, 2 blocks from DuPont Circle metro. 2 parking spaces available (1 inside bldg. and 1 outside for patients). If interested, please contact Sarah Pillsbury by email, pillsburysarah@gmail.com or by telephone at (202) 904-7510. Photos are available. Thank you.
4. Available for immediate long term, full time sublease, a large sunny office in our suite of five, and are hoping to find a psychodynamically oriented colleague join us. We’re located in the West End neighborhood of DC, convenient to the blue/orange and red lines of Metro, downtown, GW and Georgetown. Our suite is in a medical building with easy after hours and Saturday access. Please contact any of us for more information: Becky Bailey, babaileyphd@aol.com ~ Bill Pinney, drwgpinney@gmail.com ~ Lucy Pugh, lucypugh@gmail.com ~ Steve Van Wagoner, slwagoner@verizon.net.

Groups

1. Tybe Diamond, MSW, BCD has two (2) spaces in a mixed gender, long term, experiential psychotherapy group for high functioning adults from 30 – 65. One group meets 7-8:30 pm on Tuesday evenings and the other group meets on Thursday evenings at 6:45-8 pm. A pre-group screening appointment is necessary for all referrals to make certain the group meets the client’s needs and to determine if your patient feels like a good fit with Tybe. Group members are motivated to increase relational capacity and feedback is given in real time in the group. Most group members are in concurrent individual therapy with referring therapists or have had intensive, longterm, individual therapy in their background or with Tybe. Therapists have also self-referred themselves for group therapy. Tybe’s roots are in psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy and interpersonal psychotherapy with modifications using cognitive techniques.Tybe has been doing group therapy for 38 years and has completed the Washington School of Psychiatry group therapy program in addition to 10 years of additional training in group therapy and organizational consulting. She is happy to talk with you in more detail to help you determine if your client will benefit from this group. She also provides consultation to psychotherapists regarding their own groups or the nuts and bolts of starting a group. Contact Tybe Diamond at tybediamond@gmail.com.
2. Consultation Group for Group Therapists. This group is a combination of case presentations, process group, the business side of group, and journal readings/discussion. This is the group for you if you lead groups or want to start a group. Our goal is to gain first-hand insight into group dynamics allowing us to be more secure and effective in our own groups. Cases presented in the supervision group are worked with by association through the parts that are stimulated in the group members. This parallel material is then used to gain insight into what has taken place in the case presented and to inform future work with the group. The group meets biweekly at 1801 Connecticut Ave NW, on Fridays, 9 – 11 am. Contact Rob Williams for information: (202) 455-5546, rob.williams.msw@gmail.com, or this http://aida-therapy.com/aida/group-therapists/.
3. Process Group for Therapists – This long-term experiential group promotes self-reflection and relational awareness needed for clinical insight and therapeutic expertise.