October 1999

We attended an excellent meeting of the Division of Psychoanalysis (Division 39) at the American Psychological Association Convention in Boston in August. The theme of the meeting was "The Dynamic Unconscious: Is it Still the Hallmark of Psychoanalysis Today?", a topic which was considered from a number of perspectives in an impressive array of addresses, panels, and symposia. If you have not attended a Division 39 meeting, consider doing so next Spring in San Francisco. It is a wonderful opportunity for immersion in psychoanalytic thought and convivial connection with colleagues from around the country.

Dr. Wagner attended the meetings of the board of Division 39 as President Elect of the division, and Dr. Wood attended the meetings of Section IV, Local Chapters, as DSPP's representative to Division 39. The division is currently dealing with issues, which affect not only future directions for the division but also the future of psychoanalytic training and practice in the United States.

Division 39 is in active negotiations with other members of the Psychoanalytic Consortium to draft national accreditation criteria for psychoanalytic institutes in the United States relative to standards of psychoanalytic training. Members of the Consortium are the Division of Psychoanalysis (Division 39) of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, The American Academy of Psychoanalysis, and the National Membership Committee on Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work. The goal is to have one national accreditation group of which Division 39 will be a part and will serve on the board. Ultimately, accreditation probably will be administered by the U.S. Department of Education. This is obviously an important issue. Division 39 represents members from many different kinds of psychoanalytic institutes, so we need to represent various views and accommodate different models of psychoanalytic training without compromising standards. Dr. Wagner is Division 39's representative to the consortium committee, which is drafting the standards document.

Division 39 decided upon a number of changes to the bylaws of the division last spring. The most significant change is that allied professionals (licensed mental health professionals who are not psychologists) are welcomed as members of Division 39, with a wide variety of benefits of membership. The division made this decision to be more inclusive and welcoming to all professionals interested in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy. Response of allied professionals joining Division 39 has been excellent to date; we urge DSPP's allied professionals to consider this opportunity.

Currently, Division 39 is emphasizing psychoanalytic education at the high school, college, and graduate school level in its initiatives. This year, during the presidency of Dr. Spyros Orfanos, the focus has been on high school and college level education. During Dr. Wagner's presidency, the focus will be on graduate psychoanalytic education, addressing concerns about the lack of psychoanalytic thinking and training at this level, the potential effects 20 or 30 years down the road, and possible remedies.

Division 39 has also approved the creation of a new section, Section IX: Psychoanalysts for Social Responsibility. Other sections in the division are Section I: Psychologist Psychoanalyst Practitioners; Section II: Childhood & Adolescence; Section III: Women, Gender & Psychoanalysis; Section IV: Local Chapters; Section V: Psychologist Psychoanalyst Clinicians; Section VI: Psychoanalytic Research Society; Section VII: Psychoanalysis and Groups; Section VIII: Couple and Family Therapy and Psychoanalysis. Each section has an active constituency pursuing the section's agenda and welcomes new members who share the section's special interests.

In August, Section IV: Local Chapters welcomed two new local chapters, the Kansas City Association for Psychoanalytic Psychology and the San Antonio Society for Psychoanalytic Studies. A local chapter for the Phoenix area is also under discussion. In addition, Section IV has recently implemented the Graduate Student Stipend Project, which will provide funding for selected students to attend Division 39 meetings; this stipend will be passed around local chapters. Currently, Section IV is in the process of ratifying changes to its bylaws (already approved by the Section IV Senate) to allow allied professionals to participate fully in the section and to serve on the Section IV Senate. Section IV representatives compared notes on challenges facing local chapters, and the consensus was that most chapters have stable, active memberships and vital programs but struggle with funding and with attracting student members; both issues are important because they represent the future lifeblood of the organizations.

We will be posting applications for Division 39 and Section memberships on DSPP's web site at http://www.dspp.com. If you are not a member of Division 39, do consider the considerable benefits of joining.

REVIEW OF SEPTEMBER MEETING
Convergence of Desire and Authority

Charles Ragan, M.D.
By Scott Nelson
DSPP Student Member

Psychoanalyst Cass Ragan, M.D. responded to Feldman’s "The Oedipus Complex: Manifestations in the Inner World and the Therapeutic Situation" at the first meeting of DSPP’s 1999-2000 season (Britton, Feldman & O'Shaughnessy, 1989). Dr. Ragan’s presentation set the stage for this year’s theme of Authority and Desire in the analytic relationship.

Dr. Ragan covered the avatars of the Oedipus Complex in analysis, and discussed useful levels on which to view it. Further coverage broadened the scope of the discussion of the primal scene and how it is played out in the analysis. This reliving of the primal scene comes about in the analysis and may be observed through the transference and countertransference, and in resulting behaviors.

Dr. Ragan thoughtfully and clearly threshed out the writings of various analysts on analytic aims, and their implications in the context of authority and desire. Using clinical examples, Dr. Ragan illustrated examples of his own struggles with authority and desire.

He detailed an analysand’s re-experience of the primal scene in interactions with her husband and in the actions of the analyst. Through reflection of his own behavior towards the analysand, and his own experience of the relationship, Dr. Ragan used this enactment as a therapeutically voluble opportunity for growth -- growth not only for the patient, but also for the analyst.

For further coverage of this topic, please see "The Oedipus Complex: Manifestations in the Inner World and the Therapeutic Situation" (The Oedipus Complex Today. Britton, Feldman, O'Shaughnessy, eds., London, Karnac, 1989, pp. 103-128) or contact Melissa Black, Ph.D. for this year’s readings.