How We Grow
Dawn Taylor, Associate Director of Conferences
While Jen Bissell takes on the challenge of motherhood, I have decided to take on the position of AD for Conferences. Jen, Eleanor Howe and Nancy Der jumped in and introduced me to the intricacies of planning and coordinating our events. I’m enjoying learning about, and helping shape, the direction our Board wants us to go: retaining a focus on cutting edge theory and deepening our understanding of diversity.
My first hands-on experience was in preparing for Suzanne Iasenza’s conference in September. I made a decision to reframe my thinking from “What am I going to say to her when we meet?” to “Wow, what an opportunity to get access to a renowned expert!” Dinner with her the night before the conference was all I had hoped it would be, with members of the faculty, training program graduates and Suzanne eagerly discussing sex therapy and couples work.
The day of the event went extremely well with Jen showing me the ropes. Membership feedback has been positive via Survey Monkey and the trainee luncheon with Suzanne after the presentation was well attended and appreciated. A great deal of work by Michael Wannon, Rachel Miller, Jen Bissell and Nancy Der contributed to this incredibly satisfying success, And I have a new appreciation for how much care, thought, and energy goes into each conference.
As I focus on the next seven conferences coming up in 2018-2020, it becomes clear that few of us are willing to chair a conference. Why? I believe the reason is what initially made me hesitant about taking on this position: “That sounds like a lot of work! And where is the fun?” I am growing to appreciate my role and what I’m gaining in the process.
I would like to clarify the expectations of a conference chair and encourage you to reframe it as an opportunity to connect with, and learn from, some of the top experts in our field. As AD I look forward to meeting all the speakers, but the chair is the original contact and ongoing liaison between ICP+P and our speakers.
Ideally, the chair is someone knowledgeable about the speaker’s specialty and is comfortable discussing the speaker’s clinical theories. The chair has the opportunity to explore with the speaker how a presentation would be tailored for our organization. For example, the chair lets the speaker know that ICP+P wants speakers to include diversity awareness.
The chair takes on the role of personal host once the speaker comes to DC, so gets opportunities to spend time with them one-on-one. The chair truly serves as a face for ICP+P. While Nancy and I may be making arrangements at the venue and preparing for the event administratively, the chair gets the chance for a closer connection with the presenter.
Very exciting speakers are lined up for these next two years, and I’m looking forward to understanding their work more deeply through their visits to ICP+P. So, if you receive a call in the future from me or another member of the board, I hope you will say yes to chairing a conference and working with me to ensure that we all get the most out of each one!
Upcoming Training + Education

Sunday, December 2, 2018 from 12:30-5:30 pm immediately followed by reception for Rosemary
The Georgetown University Conference Center, Washington, DC
About the Conference:
Group therapy adds a broadened perspective to individual treatment. Expanding beyond an emphasis on the client’s inner experience as well as their immediate environment to their engagement with larger and more complex worlds offers the therapist and client increasing awareness of the impact of these larger contexts.
Conference attendees will have the opportunity to consider the impact of a combined treatment model of individual and group therapy. A panel of group experts will discuss the value of such a model and how it can be implemented.
Small and large groups will be part of the program, giving participants the opportunity to discuss the panel’s presentations as well as processing their own experiences in both the small and large groups. There will be an emphasis on the relational dimensions of group therapy.
At the conclusion of this conference, participants will be able to:
1. Describe when it may be beneficial to the patient to incorporate group psychotherapy into an individual treatment.
2. Discuss the pros and cons of working in a combined treatment model of individual and group psychotherapy.
3. Compare treatment outcomes between individual treatment and a combined treatment model.
4. Effectively utilize both individual and group therapy theories to create an individualized combined treatment model.
5. Utilize large group experiences in order to gain greater awareness of relevant social contexts such as race, gender, culture etc.
About the Reception:
November 2018 marks the 80th birthday of Rosemary Segalla. In honor of Rosemary’s passion for groups, we celebrate this occasion as a large group — As the warm professional community Rosemary co-founded and actively sustains. Your registration includes the champagne/wine and hors d’oeuvres reception that directly follows the conference.
Register Here!
Other 2018-2019 Training
- December 2, 2018, Conference – Contextualized Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis: Creative Input from Groups, Large and Small and 80th Birthday Celebration for Rosemary Segalla, Georgetown University Conference Center, from 12:30-5:30 pm immediately followed by reception for Rosemary, 4 CEs. Click here to register.
- January 26, 2019, Conference – Attackments: Subjugation, Shame, and the Attachment to Painful Affects & Objects, with Richard Chefetz, MD, Silver Spring Civic Building, 9:00am-12:30pm, 3 CEs.
- February 8, 2019, Short Course – To Group or Not To Group: Assessment and Preparation of Potential Group Members, with Rob Williams, LICSW, CGP, ICP+P Office, 12:30-3:45pm, 3 CEs.
- May 4, 2019, Annual Conference, with Steven Stern, Chevy Chase, MD, 9:00am-4:30pm, 6 CEs.
- September 28, 2019, Conference with Mark J. Blechner, PhD, Silver Spring Civic Building, 9:00am-12:30pm, 3 CEs.
News + Notes
- Linda Kanefield’s Surrogates and Egg Donors: Deconstructing Layers of “Mother” has been published in The American Psychoanalyst (Volume 52, Number 3, Fall 2018.) Click here to view the article.
- Monica Meerbaum and Margo Silberstein will sing with the Georgetown Chorale on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 3 PM, Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St., NW, Washington, DC 20015. Giacomo Puccini’s Messa di Gloria will be performed with soloists and orchestra. Puccini’s most elaborate choral work (written at the age of 18) overflows with drama and lyricism and points ahead to his celebrated career as an opera composer.
- Mauricio Cortina will be teaching the short course, Erich Fromm: social critic, radical humanist and clinician, at the Washington School of Psychiatry in February 2019. Click here to learn more.
- Jan Gump, ICP+P member, will present on the experience of slavery, its emotional burden still haunting us through the transgenerational transmission of slavery’s traumas, its relevance and effect on our clinical work, and the ethical imperatives to confront it. Saturday, March 3, 2018, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm.
Bulletin Board
Space
- Cozy, sunny office available for rent in Washington Professional Group suite beginning on July 1, 2018. 112 sq ft office overlooks Washington Circle across from GWU and 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. Contact Virginia Voigt, 410-808-3422 for more information.
- Two of the sub-tenants in my Dupont Circle Office have ‘graduated’ to their own spaces, opening up Monday thru Wednesday mornings until 1:15 pm and all day Friday. Anyone interested should email Sheila Cahill at sheilacahill@mac.com or call or text to 202-322-6236.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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/.
- Supervision Group Opening starting in January: Looking for seasoned therapist to join our group. Supervised by Michael Wannon, the group meets alternate Wednesdays, 11:45 am-1:15 pm in Chevy Chase at Michael’s office. Couples and Individual cases are all welcome. Send an email with any questions to: bdhirschel@gmail.com or cynthiapostphd@gmail.com.
- Groups for Area Clinicians Facilitated by: Trish Cleary & Ginger Sullivan – Process Group for Therapists: experiential opportunity to grow in relational awareness, self-reflection, and expressive connection. For more information: https://bit.ly/2NCe2J0 ~ Supervision/Case-Consultation Group: provides a confidential setting to explore clinical cases. For more information: http://bit.ly/2N1VUZC.
- Tybe Diamond, tybediamond@gmail.com, has openings in two mixed, interpersonal, experiential groups. A pre-group evaluation is necessary to determine a good mutual fit. Tybe is happy to discuss any referral in more detail to help you determine the appropriateness of group therapy for your client. Individuals can also self-refer. Please forward this announcement to any interested client or colleague.
- Space for men and women age 30 – 65 in a long term interpersonal group from 7-8:15 pm on Tuesday in upper NW DC. Group members are high functioning, creative professionals, who are motivated and seek personal and professional growth. Group interactions are processed in real time with a focus on relational development, interpersonal dynamics, self-reflection and self-awareness.
- A second, women’s group (age 28 – 60) is starting at the end of September and meets from 6:30 – 7: 45 pm though the time of the group will be determined based on the possible times for members. High functioning women will be included in this interpersonal, process group where the focus is on relational development, interpersonal dynamics, self-reflection and self-awareness.
Event
- Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work in Alliance with American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work will present, When LGBT ‘Cured’ Psychiatry: The History You Never Knew! An Ethical Retrospective on Saturday, November 3, 2018 for this year’s Alice Kassabian Memorial Conference. The presenter is William Meyer, MSW, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Ob/Gyn, Duke University who also hold faculty appointments at the University of North Carolina, Smith College School of Social Work and the Psychoanalytic Education Center of the Carolinas.The clinical and ethical exploration of this multimedia presentation focuses on the psychiatric diagnosis of homosexuality as a treatable psychopathology and the civil rights struggle that got it deleted from psychiatry’s official nomenclature. Over the years, many people suffered severe psychological injury from that diagnosis and unfortunately, some of its tragic legacy continues today.It will be held at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC from 9AM-12:30PM and will award 3 LGBTQ+ and 3 Ethics CEU credits. Contact Golnar Simpson for questions, golsimpson@verizon.net.
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