Newsletter – February 2015

Director’s Column – Roger Segalla

Roger Segalla, PhD

Are you finding your community in ICP+P? Are you finding friends and colleagues that you can connect to when the isolation and stress of clinical work starts taking its toll? If you’re not feeling these feelings or making these connections you’re missing out of one of the biggest benefits of being a member of ICP+P. Sure we all love the CE’s we get for going to the presentations and programs. It’s great to learn about the latest developments in self psychology theory and practice and the most recent developments from the relational perspectives. This learning is important, but the real value of being a member of this institute lies in the people that join together to create a warm, receptive and caring community of people who spend time together building connections, sharing experiences, and building a history.

Simply put: the people that are intuitively drawn to self psychology are thoughtful, empathic caring people that want to hang out with other thoughtful, caring empathic people (okay – I may be a little biased on this one). This makes for a great chemistry that provides the ingredients for wonderful friendships and a sense of community that is rarely found in a professional institute. Those of us that have been around for a while, enjoying the benefits of this community, want those of you who aren’t yet ‘feeling it’ to have this experience. But you’ve got to jump into the pool. Join a study group (or two!), come to a short-course or one of our three terrific training programs. Better yet, volunteer to help out on a committee, to be a part of putting together a program, or setting up for a pot-luck dinner. Run for a seat on the ICP+P Board (we actually have a lot of fun), reach out to the person next to you at a program – introduce yourself and get to know someone you don’t know. It’s okay if you’re a little shy (I know I am) but you’ve got to take that leap because we’ll be there to catch you (I promise!). You won’t regret it and we can’t wait to get to know you! See you soon.

Roger

Note from the Editor – Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW, CGP

Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW, CGP

Greetings! I hope that all of you are enjoying the new year and the changes we are making to our newsletter. Last month, we published our first study group report. This issue will include our first review of the International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, the journal of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, of which ICP+P is a member. It includes articles on the sense of humanness, white shame and guilt, dreams, and metaphor. Future issues will include reviews of Psychoanalytic Dialogues, as well as our reviews of Psychoanalytic Inquiry. PI has a fascinating, free supplement available on-line about empirically informed psychoanalysis at https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hpsi20/35/sup1#.VLQge3
YWFRk. Be sure to contact me at (804) 683-4536 or Therapy@Doctor-Jon.com if you’re interested in reviewing a journal article, issue, or book, or submitting a study group report, original artwork, or poetry. I look forward to hearing from you!

Jonathan

Review of Psychoanalytic Inquiry

Eileen Boyle, PhD

Bornstein, M. (2014) Psychoanalysis and Evolution. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 34:8, 789-900.

Eileen Boyle, PhD

This issue of Psychoanalytic Inquiry takes up the challenging task of addressing the intersection of evolution and psychoanalysis. Editor Melvin Bornstein frames this issue as an effort at demonstrating the effect of evolution not only on the body, but on the mind as well. As an orientation for the reader, Dr. Bornstein cites the transformational impact of the ideas of Edward O. Wilson. With his 1975 book, Sociobiology: A New Synthesis, Wilson shifted the paradigm of understanding animal behavior. Dr. Wilson introduced the ideas that animals are capable of practicing reciprocal altruism, that their behavior could be understood in terms of game theory, and that biology may be at play in such human characteristics as gender differences, aggression, religion, homosexuality and xenophobia. Like other revolutionary ideas, Wilson’s work was met with criticism, as well as a cascade of new research, and later became part of the accepted foundation of what we now “know” about human behavior.

Mauricio Cortina, whom we can proudly claim as one of our own ICP+P members, coauthored with Giovanni Liotti, an article on the role of motivation in evolution.

Click Here to Read the Full Article… 

Review of the International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, 9 (4), October – December, 2014

Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW, CGP

Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW, CGP

This issue of IJPSP opens with Koichi Togashi’s compelling article, “A Sense of ‘Being Human’ and Twinship Experience”. Togashi suggests that Kohut’s focus shifted “from ‘the psychology of the self’ to ‘the psychology of being human'” near the end of his life, as he developed the concept of twinship as “‘confirmation of the feeling that one is a human among other human beings'” (p. 271). If you were moved by Tolstoys’s Death of Ivan Ilych, you will value Kohut’s description of Ivan’s abandonment by his wife and “friends”; Ivan “would have died miserably had there not been one selfobject, a servant or serf, who stayed with him and massaged him and at least stayed in some degree of emotionally meaningful contact with him” (pp. 274-275). This is particularly poignant because Kohut, at this time, was dying from lymphoma, and did not permit himself to reach out for support. Togashi concludes by suggesting “three components of experiencing oneself as human…: the connection of a person’s subjective experience from the past to the present, from the present to the future, and the realization of a person’s experience in the present” (p. 276). We may use this in practice by exploring “how the therapist and patient happened to meet and have been together, how parts of the analytic dyad experience their relationship as honest and authentic, and whether or not the therapist and patient can find themselves in each other” (p. 277). Doris Brothers’s response to Togashi sensitively applies his model to an understanding of social trauma and its effects.

At the heart of this IJPSP issue is Lynne Jacobs’s article, “Learning to Love White Shame and Guilt: Skills for Working as a White Therapist in a Racially Divided Country”.
Click Here to Read the Full Article… 

Psychoanalytic Training  Program Activities

Sandra Hershberg, MD

I am delighted to inform the membership of the success of a variety of activities sponsored by the Faculty and Graduates of our Psychoanalytic Training Program.

Congratulations to Leslie Smith, Roger Segalla and Shoshana Ringel who have each presented a short course, demonstrating the scholarship of the graduates and faculty.  The presentations and feedback have been uniformly excellent.  Shoshana’s presentation on attachment was so desirable that it sold out and had a waiting list.

Currently we are recruiting for a class for Fall 2015. We are the only Institute in the area offering training that focuses on a contemporary self psychological/relational approach.  Please contact Elizabeth Carr (emcarr@aol.com) or myself (hershbs@verizon.net) for further inquiry.

We hope everyone will join us for the conference sponsored by the Graduates and Faculty of the Psychoanalytic Training Program on February 28,  Expanding Self and Relational Capacities: Psychoanalysis as a Developmental Process at the 4H Center (see the details below).  This conference will reflect on psychoanalytic clinical processes from the viewpoint of restoring and enhancing patients’ developmental capacities in the dual areas of self-experience and relational experience.  The papers selected for presentation are by Monica Callahan and Marie Hellinger, with discussions by Elizabeth Carr and myself.  Members-In-Training from all programs will be enjoying lunch and participating  in a case presentation and discussion with Monica and Marie.

Call for Vignettes for Annual Conference on May 2nd, 2015

News and Notes

• You are invited to a joint book signing featuring ICP+P’s Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP.  Her two newly published books, It’s Not You, It’s What Happened to You and Spiritually-Oriented Treatment of Trauma, will be available.  The book signing is February 6th at 7:00 pm, at the Capitol Grille in Friendship Heights.  There will also be an introduction to a new residential trauma addiction treatment program Christine is affiliated with, Brightwater Landing in Wrightsville, PA outside of York, PA. If you can attend, please RSVP to stacy.brumage@theelements.com.
• New Study Group Forming: Psychotherapy with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients
  • Cleveland Park, with ample street parking; one Friday a month at approximately 3:15 pm. Meet to discuss cases and the literature.  Primary text is Trans Bodies, Trans Selves by Laura Erickson-Schroth and Jennifer Finney Boylan.
  • Which Friday in the month and exact meeting time are still to be decided. Contact clinicians: Marge Coffey, LCSW-C, 301-802-4971, margecoffeymsw@verizon.net, and Lucy Pugh, PhD, 202-365-7379, lucypugh@gmail.com, for questions.
• Psychotherapy Supervision Group to begin in early February, 2015
  From a broadly psychodynamic standpoint, our group will focus 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 will 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.
  • The group will meet 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.
  • Fee is set at $85 per weekly 75 minute session.
  • Group Leaders are:
    • Cherian Verghese – (202) 296-2822; cverghese@mindspring.com
    • Barbara Wayne – (202) 363-0185; bhwayne@verizon.net

  Click here for more information on the Psychotherapy Supervision Group.

• Richard A. Chefetz, MD has written a  new book that will be released on March 2nd, Intensive Psychotherapy for Persistent Dissociative Processes: The Fear of Feeling Real by W.W. Norton in their Interpersonal Neurobiology Series. People in the U.S. can pre-order the book online at a 20% discount, but outside North America it may not work:
  https://books.wwnorton.com/books/Intensive-Psychotherapy-for-Persistent-Dissociative-Processes/.  At checkout, next to the space where credit card info is required, enter the promotional code: FEELREAL.
• Contemporary Approaches to Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Program OUTREACH GROUP
  ICP+P’s CAPP Program is offering a six (6) week discussion group for advanced graduate students, or interested clinicians  with a focus on the basic tenets of Self Psychology.  It would be particularly useful for people who are considering further training in a self- psychological and relational orientation.
  • Dates:  The group will meet on six Thursday evenings.  March 12, 19, 26 and April 9, 16, & 23.
  • Time: 7:15 to 8:30 pm
  • Place: ICP+P Office, 4601 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite 8, Washington, DC
  • Cost:  There is no fee for this group.
  • Leader: Gail Winston, LICSW is a Founding Member and has served on the Board of ICP+P.  She is also a graduate from the ICP+P Couples Training Program.  Currently she is facilitating one of the Institute’s study groups on The Reading of Novels and Memoirs through the Lens of a Psychotherapist.   Gail has maintained a private practice in Washington, DC for over 30 years, focusing on individuals and couples.

For further information, please contact Gail at 202.686.1177 or GWINSTON@GAILWINSTON.COM.

• Shoshanna Ringel, PhD, LCSW-C, in collaboration with Faye Mishna, will be presenting a paper titled: “Developing a Reflective Self in Cyberspace”, at the IARRP conference in Toronto, June 25-28.

Upcoming Events

• Saturday, February 7, 1:00-3:00 pm – Short Course – Comparing Self Psychological Approaches to Sadism & Masochism with the Approaches of Freudian & Kleinian Drive Theorists with John McComb, PhD, MSW, at the ICP+P office. SOLD OUT.
• Saturday, February 28, 9:00 am-12:30 pm – ICP+P presents Expanding Self and Relational Capacities: Psychoanalysis as a Developmental Process with graduates and faculty of ICP+P’s Psychoanalytic Training Program, discussant Sandra Hershberg, MD, at the National 4-H Conference Center, Chevy Chase, MD. Click here to register.
• Sunday, March 8, 1:00-3:00 pm – Short Course – The Yin and the Yang of Psychoanalytic Transformation: Balancing the Explicit & Implicit Processes That Promote Growth with Elizabeth M. Carr, APRN, MSN, BC at the ICP+P office. Click here  to register.
• Saturday, April 11, 9:30 am-12:45 pm – Short Course – Basics of Sex Therapy with Deborah Fox, LICSW at the ICP+P office.  Click here to register.
• Sunday, April 26, 1:00-3:00 pm – Short Course – Varieties of Interaction: Self Disclosure & Other Methods of the Analyst’s Use of Self with Rhoda Spindel, MSW, at the ICP+P office.
• Saturday, May 2, 9:00 am-4:30 pm  – 
  2015 Annual Conference ~ The Many Faces of Eros: Countertransference Revelations,
  with Andrea Celenza, PhD
  Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC 20057. Click here to register.
• Friday, May 22, 10:00 am-1:00 pm – Short Course – Couples with Rachel Miller, PsyD, and Adrienne Simenhoff, MSW, PsyD at the ICP+P office.
• Sunday, May 31, ICP+P Graduation Ceremony and Luncheon, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Chevy Chase Pavilion, 5333 Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC 20015. SAVE THE DATE

Bulletin Board

• Spacious, sunny offices with collegial suite-mates – Beginning February 1st, we have sublet availability in our office suite in the historic Anchorage building, steps away from the Dupont Circle North metro stop. The available times are:
  Mondays from 2PM, Tuesdays from 3PM, Thursday from 3PM, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays all day
  Please contact Kathy Beck (202)462-0404, if interested.  Thank you.
• Office to sublet: Old Town Alexandria – one block from the King Street Metro. Handicap accessible in a secure building.  Suite includes two offices, a bathroom, kitchen and waiting room.  One office can be rented on a full or part time basis beginning May 1, 2015. Contact Susan Horne Quatannens, LCSW, 1600 Prince Street, Suite 102, email Susanhq@aol.com or telephone, 703-549-1787.     
• Large beautiful office for lease in 2 office psychotherapy suite. Prime location at Connecticut and K . Lease would start on May 1 with sublet option if interested. Please contact  Susan Mann at 202-659-3681. Or susanmann123@gmail.com.
• Half-Time ($375/month) and Part-Time (variable depending on blocks of time) office space available in psychotherapists’ suite in Medical Building. Located almost directly across from convenient Virginia Square Metro in North Arlington, just minutes from DC. Suite is working home to warm community of Psychologists, Social Workers and Counselors. Includes sizable waiting room, interior kitchenette and bathroom and has free WiFi. Please contact Janice Sanchez at 703-841-5446 or jkpsanchez@gmail.com.
   
• SUNNY, WELL PRICED DC PSYCHOTHERAPY OFFICE located in well-maintained Connecticut Avenue building between Chevy Chase Circle and Nebraska Avenue. It is part of a lovely four-office suite with waiting room, two bathrooms and a full kitchen.  Friendly independent practitioners have Wifi access and ample street parking.   Contact us at jjacobsdc@aol.com or 202-362-6693.
• Subletting office in downtown Bethesda – The office is in a sunlit two-office suite with shared waiting room, three blocks from the metro.  It is available from February: weekdays after 3:30 pm and weekends.Please contact Sophia Coudenhove by phone or email, 202-821-5562 or sophiacoudenhove@yahoo.com.
• Bethesda Office Space Available –  Furnished office, 10′ X 10′ with window, is now available 3/4 time.  Building is near Metro and parking garages.  Suite has waiting room, kitchen, WiFi, water cooler, and copier/fax.  Stable group of independent practitioners enjoys sharing the suite. If interested, contact Monica Callahan, Callahanml@erols.com, or 301-587-6211.
• Office Space Available – 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.

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) (804- 683-4536) 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.

Read the past newsletters