Newsletter - December 2015 - Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Associate Director of Member Relations

Martha Blechar Gibbons, PhD, APRN, BC

Martha Gibbons, PhD, APRN, BC
This is the most precious gift…the experience of knowing we always belong.
– Bell Hooks

Years ago I attended my first ICP+P conference by invitation of a friend who was a member. I knew the person presenting would be speaking a language that I did not know – psychoanalytic theory and particularly Self Psychology. My friend’s enthusiasm was so infectious that I decided to take the risk and accept.

I assumed that I would spend the entire day with my friend since I did not know anyone in the Institute. At a break I was introduced to members who introduced me to more members who invited me to lunch. There I met members in various positions of leadership, learned about what was then the Psychotherapy Training Program and the concept of study groups. I did not see my friend again until it was time to go home!

As a nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist I had participated in leadership positions with local and national nursing organizations. Following my doctoral program I was forming a new identity as a nurse psychotherapist and I found that these associations no longer felt like home. Although I was not aware of it at the time, I was missing the experience of belonging.

Following the conference I decided to become a member so that I could learn to speak this new language. With consistent encouragement from others I found myself caught in a current of new experiences and joined a study group, became an MIT and graduated from the Psychotherapy Training Program, joined another study group and became the co-facilitator, entered and graduated from the Couples Training Program, joined the faculty of the Psychotherapy Training Program, presented my first paper to ICP+P at Scientific Day and went on to present in other forums. I was elected to the position of Membership Coordinator and became a Board member.

Throughout all these experiences I was still striving for the experience of belonging. I continued to believe that others were more fluent in this language than I was. Finally, in the position of Membership Coordinator I was able to extend to others the welcome that I had received with the understanding that they too were probably seeking a professional home. I was able to access my creative spirit with a hands-on approach when I executed our 20th Anniversary party where we honored our founders. Yes, I was the one who stuffed your invitations with those annoying multicolored strips of foil!

When I was asked to pioneer a new position as Associate Director for Member Relations I welcomed the opportunity. In this role I am responsible for membership, membership benefits, the Mentorship Program in which experienced members provide guidance for those who have recently joined, our newsletter, and elections. I have been able to work closely with innovative people dedicated to the growth and development of our organization. Although I still do not believe I am fluent in the language, I have found ways to contribute with the roles that I have assumed.

I encourage you to join us as we strive to enhance our Institute! We have openings on our Election Committee and our Membership Committee as well as our Mentorship Program. We welcome contributions to the newsletter, and I am in search of members who will share what they enjoy besides psychotherapy and psychoanalysis for the Did You Know? newsletter column.

I have found that by uniting with those taking responsibility for the direction of our organization I have settled into a professional community and I am experiencing the coveted feeling of knowing that I belong.

Contact Martha at marthagibbons123@verizon.net.

Note from the Editor

Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW, CGP

Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, LCSW, CGP

Dear ICP+P’ers,

Happy Holidays! Those of us who have not yet celebrated Eid or Diwali will soon be celebrating Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Christmas, or just some time off from work. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue of Connections, featuring a timely, cogent blog from Trish Cleary, MS, LCPC-MFT-ADC, CGP about dealing with holiday anxiety, and a report from our Associate Director for Member Relations, Martha Blechar Gibbons, PhD, APRN, BC. Martha writes movingly about her evolution as psychotherapist and an ICP+P’er, including her growing sense of belonging. It’s not so long ago that Martha was welcoming me as a new member of ICP+P, and a warm welcome it was. Let’s make next year the best yet for ICP+P, our clients, our loved ones–and ourselves.

Yours,
Jonathan
therapy@doctor-jon.com

It’s that Time of Year when Anxieties Appear

Trish Cleary, MS, LCPC-MFT-ADC, CGP
Holiday happiness is often driven by soaring expectations about the seasonal festivities ahead. These events, combined with already-busy schedules, can confound even the best of intentions. The 4 Rs Model is helpful when coping with unexpected pressures.
“Home for the holidays” is a phrase that evokes poignant feelings and the promise of comfort and joy. For many the holiday season, with its implied requirement of Good Cheer, awakens feelings associated with the childhood game “Musical Chairs” where efforts to stay in the activity are upended time and again, as one struggles not to be excluded.

Maybe this year the holidays can be carefree and easy … think those challenged by sorrow, physical or emotional distress, addiction, or family misfortune or tragedy.
Maybe this year the holidays will be different …hope those burdened by outdated family roles, expectations, and grudges.
Maybe this year the holidays will be better if…I get to sit at the grownups table, if…I get that perfect gift, if…

Could you recognize and respond to someone struggling with difficult feelings? This isn’t a trick question. Many people, year after year, make gallant efforts throughout the holiday season to conceal painful feelings from family, friends and loved ones. Disappointments can be masked by perfectionism, elation, isolation, agitation, thoughtlessness, teasing, inflexibility, as well as excesses of food, alcohol and other compulsive activities.
Click here to read on…

December 4th and 5th, 2015
Two Days of Programs on Contemporary Self and Relational Concepts

with Shelley Doctors, PhD, Jackie Gotthold, PsyD, and Janna Sandmeyer, PhD

Information and registration for December 4th pre-conference

Information and registration for December 5th conference

Beyond Betrayal: Couples Therapy After The Affair

Couples Conference

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Information and registration

Upcoming Events

Friday, December 4, 2015, 2:30-4:30 pm, The Big Tent of Contemporary Psychoanalytic Thinking: Playing with Intersubjective, Self and Relational Constructs with Shelley Doctors, PhD and Janna Sandmeyer, PhD and a paper by Donna Orange. Click HERE to register.
Saturday, December 5, 2015, 9:00 am-12:30 pm, ICP+P Conference – Authenticity, Openness, and Spontaneity: A Contemporary Psychoanalytic View of Adolescent Development and Treatment with Shelley Doctors, PhD and Jackie Gotthold, PsyD. Click HERE to register.
Saturday, January 23, 2016, 10 am – noon, Contemporary Approaches to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program (CAPP) Open House and Case Presentations – ICP+P Office, 4601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 8, Washington, DC 20008. Contact Sharon Ballard for more information at sfballard@gmail.com.
Saturday, February 20, 2016, 10 am – noon, Contemporary Approaches to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program (CAPP) Open House and Case Presentations – ICP+P Office, 4601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 8, Washington, DC 20008. Contact Sharon Ballard for more information at sfballard@gmail.com.
Saturday, February 27, 2016, 9:00 am-12:30 pm, ICP+P Couples Conference:
Beyond Betrayal: Couples Therapy After The Affair
Chaired by Tybe Diamond, MSW this free-to-members half-day program will be created and presented by Couples Training Program Faculty and Graduates. Click HERE to register.
Saturday, March 19, 2016, 10 am – noon, Contemporary Approaches to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program (CAPP) Open House and Case Presentations – ICP+P Office, 4601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 8, Washington, DC 20008. Contact Sharon Ballard for more information at sfballard@gmail.com.
Saturday, April 16, 2016, 9:00 am-4:30 pm, ICP+P 22nd Annual Conference, Connectedness: Transforming the Clinical Relationship with Richard Geist, EdD

News & Notes

Several ICP+P members will be participating in the national meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association in New York in January, 2016. Joe Lichtenberg, MD will chair the Workshop Series in Analytic Process and Technique, for which Elizabeth Carr, APRN, MSN, BC will be presenter. Joe will also be the discussant for the paper, The Interpersonal Words of the Infant, by Jeanine Vivona, PhD. Sandy Hershberg, MD will be the presenter, with Linda Gunsberg, PhD, of a discussion of Writing Lives and Hearing Lives: Collaborating on the Study of a Life: Multiple Meanings, Narratives and Moving Parts. Sandy will also co-chair the discussion of Intersubjectivity and Transformative Moments in Psychoanalysis and Creative Works: “A View from the Bridge,” by Arthur Miller, of which Curtis Bristol, MD is co-chair and presenter. Curtis will also co-chair and co-present a discussion of Love, Sex and the American Psyche: Erotic Fantasy, with Stefan Pasternak, MD. Finally, Jessica Brown, MD will be one of the co-chairs of a discussion of A Hall of Mirrors: Impingements on the Analytic Container.
Thomas Hoffman, MD‘s paper, Contemporary Neuropsychological and Behavioral Insights into Cheating: Lessons for the Workplace and Application to Consulting, has been accepted for publication by the OPUS (Organisation Promoting Understanding of Society) Journal, Organisational and Social Dynamics. This work is an outgrowth of a presentation given at ICP+P Scientific Day in February 2014. If anyone would like a pre-print, please contact thoffmd@att.net
Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW, CGP has a new full-time office in Downtown Silver Spring for his private practice of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis at 1001 Spring Street, Suite 110, Silver Spring, MD 20910. His telephone and e-mail remain the same – (240) 507-7696, Therapy@Doctor-Jon.com, www.Doctor-Jon.com. Jonathan sees individuals and couples, and is forming a Men’s Therapy Group to meet on Thursday evenings. He has day and evening hours, a sliding fee scale, accepts BCBS PPO plans, and files claims for clients with out-of-network benefits.
Opening in our ongoing Psychotherapy Supervision Group – From a broadly psychodynamic standpoint, our group focuses on the use of the therapist’s self in psychotherapy, while also paying attention to contextual and cultural factors surrounding the clinical work. Group members present cases on a rotating basis, and also serve as case consultants to other members. Group process will be used to illuminate the psychology of client, therapist, and their jointly created relationship, and also to clarify the therapeutic process itself. Meetings are weekly on Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. at 5225 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 310, in Friendship Heights (across from the Jenifer St. entrance to the Friendship Heights Metro Station), Washington, DC 20015. For more information contact,
Cherian Verghese – (202) 296-2822; cverghese@mindspring.com or Barbara Wayne – (202) 363-0185; bhwayne@verizon.net or click HERE to see a flier.
Monthly Sex Therapy Consultation Group with Deborah Fox, Certified Sex Therapist for over 30 years. Common topics include fundamental principles of improving sexual functioning; understanding the underlying sexual dynamics in a relationship and helping couples re-start or improve their sexual relationship; the role of anxiety, impact of early trauma, breaches of trust, aging – and how to work with these.
Where: 4600 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
When: Three meeting times are proposed, email your order of preference.Wed 1:30 pm; Fri 10:00 am or 2:00 pm. Six sessions, two hours each, $480.
Contact Deborah for more information, debfox2@verizon.net or 202-363-1740.
Contemporary Approaches to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program (CAPP) will hold open houses and case presentations for 3 Saturdays in the first quarter of 2016. All sessions will meet from 10 AM – Noon at the ICP+P Office. Contact Sharon Ballard for more information at sfballard@gmail.com. The dates and session details are below:
- January 23, 2016
  The Therapist’s Use of Self: A Self Psychological and Intersubjective Perspective
  The ways in which the therapist uses her self from a Self Psychological and Intersubjective perspective will be demonstrated and discussed with participants. Case material and discussion will illustrate concepts from Self Psychology and Intersubjectivity, how the therapist thinks about and experientially employs these perspectives, and how the therapist’s sense of self is challenged in her work.
  Mary Jean Kane, MSW, LCSW, is a contemporary relational psychoanalyst and a couple and group psychotherapist. She currently leads a mixed adult Relational Psychotherapy Group. Her training includes the ICP+P Psychoanalytic Training Program, the ICP+P Psychotherapy Training Program (now the CAPP Program), the Washington School of Psychiatry’s Group Psychotherapy Training Program, and training in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy and Imago Relationship Therapy. Mary Jean has a Private Practice in Falls Church, VA. She is on the ICP+P teaching faculty and does clinical supervision and consultation.
- February 20, 2016
  “Tigger, Eeyore, and the Crunch of (Mis)Recognition”
  Participants will be introduced to contemporary Relational views of therapeutic impasse. The central notion of the co-contributions of both patient’s and therapist’s internal and intermingling conflicts and psychologies to the treatment process, particularly when they catalyze to create treatment ruptures and/or impasses, will be discussed using an extended case example.
  William Pinney, Ph.D. holds faculty appointments at ICP&P’s Contemporary Approaches to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (CAPP) Training Program, the Washington School of Psychiatry’s (WSP) Supervision Training Program, Georgetown University’s Counseling and Psychiatric Service, and supervises at the University of Maryland’s Psychotherapy Clinic and Research Lab.
- March 19, 2016
  A Case Illustration of Core Concepts in Self Psychology
  Using a detailed case example, we will explore Kohut’s seminal contributions in empathy, selfobject transferences, and disruption and repair as they manifest in the therapeutic relationship.
  Janna Sandmeyer, Ph.D, is Chair of the Contemporary Approaches to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy program, and is faculty and supervisor at the Washington School of Psychiatry.
Monthly CAPP Pre-Program Study Group:
The CAPP Program is sponsoring a monthly pre-program study group beginning in January, meeting the second Tuesday of the month from 7:15 to 8:30 PM in Monica L. Callahan’s office in Bethesda. The group is designed especially for people who plan to apply to the program for the training class beginning in September, 2016. Discussion will focus on selected readings from the self psychology and relational literature. For further information, please contact Monica at Callahanml@erols.com or 301 587 6211.

Members in the Arts

Melinda Salzman will be singing in two concerts–and her husband, Sherm, joins her for one of them–in the coming weeks:

The Capitol Hill Chorale will be offering a jazzy Christmas concert, December 5 & 6, down on Capitol Hill. This attached flyer provides more information.
The Takoma Park Singers Concert will be Friday, December 11, at 7:30 pm, at Marvin Memorial United Methodist Church, 33 University Blvd E, Silver Spring, MD 20901. It will be a Concert of Christmas, Chanukah and Winter songs.

Bulletin Board

Heidi Block and Ann Ewing are co-facilitating a Daring Way Weekend Intensive on Dec. 4th, 5th and 6th in Dupont Circle Washington DC. The Daring Way is an experiential process based on the research of Dr. Brene Brown. We explore topics such as vulnerability, courage, shame, and worthiness. We examine thoughts, emotions and behaviors that are holding us back and we identified new choices and practices that will move us toward more authentic and wholehearted living. If you have patients who might be interested, please let us know. Please contact Heidi at heidiblock1@gmail.com or 301-651-6906.
Lovely, light-filled Dupont Circle suite. Available on Mondays and Thursdays. Many amenities and one block from metro. Contact Marty Tuohey, mmtuohey@gmail.com or 202-468-2286.
Share a lovely, sunny office in Tenleytown, steps from Metro. Beautifully furnished in a six-office suite with shared waiting room, restrooms, underground parking and garden entrance. Receptionist creates a welcoming atmosphere. Available 2 ½ days a week. Please contact Cynthia Rosenberg at cwbrosenberg@gmail.com or 202-244-0998.
Solo office suite in downtown Bethesda available for sublet Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and all day Friday and weekends. In an apartment building with indoor parking, 2 blocks from the Bethesda Metro. Suite has a small waiting room, a well decorated consulting room, and a large kitchen/workroom. If interested, please call Joseph R. Silvio, MD at 301-656-3010 or email to jrsilvio@aol.com.
For Sale – 2 sets of fabric anatomically-correct dolls. One boy and girl set is 14 in, and the other set is 18 in. Both are in excellent condition. If interested for your child practice, call me: Diana Kreiss, LCSW at (703) 524-6380.
Psychologist seeking office space sublet in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area for 2 or more days a week for a long-time ICP+P member starting a private practice. Please contact Nancy B. Hartsock, PsyD, at nbhartsock@verizon.net or 240-328-7924.
Large, private office (10 x 12) available for rent (part or full time) in small, well established Internal Medicine practice, in Bethesda on Rockledge Drive. Perfect for psychiatrist/therapist, acupuncturist, massage therapist, nutritionist, physical therapist, with good opportunity for cross referral. Shared or private waiting area. Rent and hours are negotiable. Please email kanteroffice308@gmail.com, if interested.
Private practice group looking for new therapist – Seeking a clinician to join an established, respected group practice in Old Town Alexandria. We collaborate and support each other, meeting weekly to discuss cases. Virginia license needed. If interested, please call or email Deborah Asher Hertzberg, LCSW 703-683-1399, Dahertz1@gmail.com.
Downtown Bethesda – office space. Interior therapy office, full time, furnished. Collegial atmosphere. Wifi and fax services included. En-suite restroom for staff only. Within walking distance of Bethesda metro station. On street and county garage parking. $750 per month. Contact Jacob Melamed, Ph.D. at jmelamed@jacobimelamedphd.com.
Offices available, Foggy Bottom, Washington Psychiatric Group: interdisciplinary practices. Two offices available, one (spacious) full and/or part time, other full time: professionally decorated waiting room, kitchenette, 2 bathrooms (professional one with shower), well equipped administrative office (fax machine, copier), subsidized parking w/I building, Metro accessible. For more information call Audrey Thayer Walker, MSW at 202-331-1547.

ICP+P Connections is the e-Newsletter of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, issued at the beginning of each month.

Please e-mail articles, announcements, and artwork in JPG/PNG format to Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW, CGP (Editor) (240-507-7696) at Therapy@Doctor-Jon.com or Nancy Der, ICP+P Administrator (Managing Editor) (202-686-9300 ext.5) at administrator@icpeast.org by the 23rd of the previous month.