Director’s Column
Welcome to 2018-2019
Eleanor Howe
Two years ago, my idealized view that, “We’re on our way toward becoming a post-racial world” was popped for good. Now, I muse on what I see as humankind’s course away from the Age of Reason. With no illusions of changing the world, still, I want to give what I’ve got in me against the social poisons of racism, the ill effects of tribalism, and intolerance against those who do not conform to stereotypic gender roles, to name a few. My spirit is open to discern which paths to pursue. Fortunately for me, there is synchronicity between this personal intention and insights I get through my professional connectedness. Because, concurrently, the ICP+P board is determined for our organization to be true to its identity as contemporary: informed, open, and welcoming to all. Our vision is to incorporate clinical and theoretical awareness of diversity into all our educational offerings.
With these goals in mind, I welcomed the spirit of multiculturalism I found at the June International Association of Relational Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis meeting. The conference theme was “Therapists and Patients in an Uncertain World,” certainly apt for the world I’m living in. The presentations portrayed co-construction of clinical moments within the interplay of therapist’s and patient’s respective identities with regards to race, culture, gender orientation and sexual behavior. Many speakers had such a sophisticated grasp – be it of gender fluidity, immigrant experiences, or what it can be like to be racially “other” – that I found my own awareness expanding. It surprised me to realize that there is much for me yet to learn, and I feel enlivened as I dig in. I’m learning that the gender nonconforming population is growing. A 2017 study (Wilson, et al., 2017) found that 27 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 in California are gender nonconforming. There is a growing sense of alarm in public health circles over the high incidence of suicide attempts in adolescents who are gender non-conforming in sexual and gender minorities, with recent studies finding that 20% of adult sexual minority individuals have attempted suicide (Hottes et al., 2016). As you can hear, this is an area of vitalized interest for me. Returning home, I looked at my patient registration form and, sure enough, there was the binary identifier of “Male or Female.” I had to wonder, “What might I have not heard about, if I didn’t signal that it is safe to say?” I’ve since changed my form to ask for “Preferred Pronoun.”
The ICP+P conference planners do consciously keep in mind that the more we know about what it is to be different, the better able we are to help our patients when they feel they are different. We are always learning what to ask, and how to ask, to comprehend what is really transpiring in a patient’s world. We are fortunate that an increasing number of early career professionals are joining the ICP+P board. They bring to our governing body informed knowledge of all manners of diversity – gained formally via their graduate programs, and informally through personal exposure to discourse on changing social norms.
Suzanne Iasenza, our fall speaker, discusses the importance of shifting from “a binary system consisting of two sexes that are opposite and different from one another to one where sex and gender are socially constructed and potentially fluid.” This is important, she states, because “not only [does it “normalize”] transgenderism and transsexuality, which is sorely needed in psychotherapy practice, but also provides an expanded sex/gender approach for all people (p.294).” We are excited to have Dr. Iasenza as our speaker September 22. At this free-to-members conference she will speak on “Close Encounters: When Sex Therapy and Psychodynamic Therapy Meet in Couples Treatment.” The conference is designed to teach us how to inquire with sensitivity and skill into the sexual practices of couples, and to develop a treatment frame to work with a couple’s sexuality. Whether or not you engage in couples therapy, this conference will directly train participants in their openness and skill addressing sexuality in a relationship, a skill we all will use. These skills may be strengthened through a short course with Deborah Fox scheduled on Friday, October 26 and called, “Building Intimacy – Connecting Couples Sexually and Emotionally.”
Our co-founders Rosemary Segalla and Joe Lichtenberg continue to impress us with their vitality and generosity of spirit. On the afternoon of Sunday, December 2, we will celebrate the 80th birthday of Rosemary Segalla through a conference she will present with her colleagues, “Contextualized Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis: Creative input from Groups, Large and Small.” A cocktail celebration of our community of learning and sharing together will follow. Rob Williams will teach a relevant short course on “To Group or Not to Group: Assessment and Preparation of Potential Group Members” on Friday, February 8.
I look forward to seeing you on these occasions – but first, we shall meet at the Potluck and Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, September 16 from 11 am – 2 pm. Don’t forget that the event is moved this year to the Silver Spring Civic Building. Your input at the Town Hall Meeting does shape future planning – Please come make new friends and share your ideas!
In Peace,
Eleanor
References:
Hottes, T. S., Bogaert, L., Rhodes, A. E., Brennan, D. J., & Gesink, D. (2016). Lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts among sexual minority adults by study sampling strategies: A systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Public Health, 106(5), e1-e12. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303088
Iasenza, S. (2010) Family Process, 49, 291-308.
Wilson, BDM, Choi, DK, Herman, JL, Becker, T, Conron, KJ. (2017) “Characteristics and mental health of gender nonconforming adolescents in California: Findings from the 2015-2016 California Health Interview Study.” Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Changes
Welcome Our New Member
Meet Our New Member, Avi Margolies
Interview by Nancy Wachtenheim
Avi is building a practice and this year will be in the Fellowship Program with ICP+P. He learned about ICP+P while he was in the Psy.D. program at George Washington University where he graduated in 2017.
While majoring in Psychology as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University, Avi was able to intern at Sheppard Pratt Hospital’s Inpatient Child Psychiatric Unit, which helped him realize he had a keen interest in the field. After graduating, he moved back to New York City, where he had grown up, and was a “community worker” for close to six years in Brooklyn. His work involved taking histories from Holocaust Survivors, an emotional and interpersonal process for him. He identified the importance of being a listener for this population that needed to “have their stories heard.”
Avi then returned to D.C. in 2012 to begin the Psy.D. program at George Washington University. In his second year he worked at the GWU center clinic, a low fee clinic providing psychodynamic therapy in the community. He completed externships at the Washington School of Psychiatry, George Mason University’s Counseling and Psychological Services, and the Lodge Program at the Frost School, formerly part of Chestnut Lodge Hospital. The Lodge Program is a therapeutic day school with a focus on milieu therapy and Avi worked with adolescents with mood disorders and psychosis and ran a group as well.
During the final year of his doctoral program, Avi moved to Philadelphia for one year for an Internship at Pennsylvania Hospital, formerly the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, which focused on psychoanalytic and psychodynamic treatment. He specifically worked on 2 inpatient units that included a population of homeless and psychotic patients, as well as suicidal and “borderline” patients. He was also able to do a rotation in Psycho Oncology at the Abramson Cancer Center where he worked with individuals and couples with a cancer diagnosis. Avi expanded his training by also working with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, evaluating patients’ readiness for Bariatric Surgery. He enjoyed very much working with medical students and the staff of Psychiatry.
After his year in Pennsylvania, Avi moved back to D.C. and has just finished a Post Doc at Georgetown University’s Counseling and Psychiatric Service where he did individual and group therapy with students as well as outreach to late adolescents and young adults. Avi will soon be fully licensed, and is very excited to begin his practice. He uses a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic and relational approach and enjoys working with patients with trauma, personality disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, identity concerns, and people with severe medical diagnoses. Avi is interested as well in couples and group therapies. He is comfortable with adolescents, adults, and couples.
Avi describes himself as “approachable and open,” and wants to be part of the ICP+P community. He is a member of some of ICP+P’s study groups.
Avi is married, and has a 3-year-old daughter. He played baseball through college, which continues to be of interest to him, and he likes working with student athletes.
You will most likely see Avi at many of ICP+P’s upcoming activities, so please do not hesitate to introduce yourself and say hello.
Avi’s contact information is (202)642-3975, avi@dravimargolies.com or www.dravimargolies.com.
Annual Member Potluck + Fall Kick-Off
Sunday, September 16th, 11:00 am-2:00 pm, Silver Spring Civic Building
RSVP to schwanna@hotmail.com
We hope that all members will plan to join us on Sunday, September 16, 2018, 11:00 am-2:00 pm for the fall potluck and town hall meeting. This kick-off event gives us a chance to come together as a community to renew ongoing relationships as well as to welcome new members. Members-in-training and individuals who have joined ICP+P during the last year will be introduced. In addition, we are planning to have a town hall meeting, in which members can be a part of an open discussion about ICP+P, including the year’s upcoming programs, planning for future programs and other areas of interest or concern to the ICP+P community. The potluck is an informal, lively, and fun event with lots of great food!
Learn more about the day by clicking here.
Upcoming Training + Education
Close Encounters – When Sex Therapy & Psychodynamic Therapy Meet in Couples Treatment
Suzanne Iasenza, PhD
September 22, 2018 ~ Registration: 8:30-9am ~ Program: 9am-12:30pm
Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza ~ One Veterans Place ~ Silver Spring, MD 20910
Sponsored by the Couples Therapy Training Program
Some couple therapists feel unprepared to delve into sexual issues because they have not had sufficient training in human sexuality and don’t know how to integrate sexuality into couple psychotherapy.
- How does one raise the topic of sexuality if the couple doesn’t?
- What is the proper timing?
- How does one conduct assessment and develop a treatment frame to work on sexuality?
This workshop will describe expansive models of sexual response, offer guidelines for conducting a sexual history, and outline steps toward co-creating sexual frames that integrate new approaches to standard sex therapy techniques, systemic couple thinking and psychodynamic formulations.
At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:
- Identify major models of the human sexual response cycle.
- Explain how to formulate expansive therapeutic frames to treat sexual issues in psychodynamic couple psychotherapy.
- Describe new approaches to standard sex therapy techniques.
This conference is appropriate for clinicians at all levels of experience and offers 3 CEs.
Continuing education credit: 3 CE credits available for full attendance. The Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (ICP+P) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. ICP+P maintains responsibility for this program and its content. ICP+P is approved by the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners to offer Category I continuing education credit. Because ICP+P has approval from the Maryland Board, CE credits hours awarded by ICP+P may also be claimed by social workers licensed in Virginia and the District of Columbia. These continuing education credits meet the ANCC standards for nurses. Marriage and family therapists licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia may submit these CE credits to their licensing boards. (Marriage and family therapists in other jurisdictions and licensed counselors should inquire with their local Boards regarding continuing education credit.) Attendees from the above professional groups will earn 3.0 CE credits for attending the conference. Full attendance is required to receive the designated CE credit. ICP+P is accredited by MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for physicians. ICP+P designates this educational activity for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Building Intimacy – Connecting Couples Sexually and Emotionally
October 26, 2018 ~ 12:30 – 3:45 pm
ICP+P Office ~ 4601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 8 ~ Washington, DC 20008
This workshop explores the intersection of sexual and emotional intimacy for couples who are having little or no sexual activity. A treatment model of intervention will be presented. We’ll discuss various factors that could result in this breakdown and consider the initial options for beginning therapy. We’ll then examine the most common reasons why therapy stalls or hits an impasse and the interventions most likely to lead to resolution.
Helping couples who struggle with their sexual relationship requires multiple skill sets. Cognitive behavioral sex therapy skills are essential, yet usually not sufficient. When a couple gets stuck, it’s usually due to the presence of underlying emotional factors. This treatment model includes interventions that can be used to explore deeper emotional factors which may be contributing to the impasse. Didactic, case example and interactive methods will be utilized.
At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:
- List three reasons that could contribute to a breakdown in a couple’s sexual relationship.
- Describe three possible interventions to help a couple resume a sexual relationship.
- Discuss three aspects of a treatment model to build emotional and sexual intimacy in a couple.
This program is appropriate for clinicians at all levels of experience and offers 3 CEs.
Continuing education credit: 3 CE credits available for full attendance. The Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (ICP+P) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. ICP+P maintains responsibility for this program and its content. ICP+P is approved by the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners to offer Category I continuing education credit. Because ICP+P has approval from the Maryland Board, CE credits hours awarded by ICP+P may also be claimed by social workers licensed in Virginia and the District of Columbia. These continuing education credits meet the ANCC standards for nurses. Marriage and family therapists licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia may submit these CE credits to their licensing boards. (Marriage and family therapists in other jurisdictions and licensed counselors should inquire with their local Boards regarding continuing education credit.) Attendees from the above professional groups will earn 3.0 CE credits for attending the conference. Full attendance is required to receive the designated CE credit. ICP+P is accredited by MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for physicians. ICP+P designates this educational activity for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
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, 12:30-7:30pm, 5 CEs.
- January 26, 2019, Conference – Shame vs. Dignity, with Richard Chefetz, MD, Silver Spring Civic Building, 9:00am-12:30pm, 3CEs.
- February 8, 2019, Short Course – To Group or Not To Group: Assessment and Preparation of Potential Group Members, 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.
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