September 2000

Welcome to our new 2000-2001 program year for the Dallas Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology, exploring the topic: From Despair to Hope: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Human Condition. We will be looking at various ways the threads of despair and hope are woven through the intricate fabric of our views of the future of psychoanalytic thinking in the 21st century, our personal and professional lives as psychoanalytically-oriented therapists, the lives of our patients, and the complex relationships between therapists and patients. The present psychoanalytic context seems to include shining hopes for the work that we do juxtaposed with despair at the forces aligned against it. A vibrant intellectual optimism stands alongside a practical, sometimes even pecuniary, pessimism about our professional futures. In addition to looking at those issues, we will also examine personal themes of hope and despair in the lives of patients and therapists and their effects on what goes on in our consulting rooms.

This fall, we will look at the state of psychoanalytic thinking and professional practice. In September, Marc Rathbun, Ph.D. will offer his views on Freud for the 21st century. The October meeting with Malcolm Bonnheim, Ph.D. and Scott Nelson, B.A. will address issues related to maintaining a psychoanalytically-oriented practice in the current climate. Laurel Bass Wagner, Ph.D. and Pat Wood, Ph.D. in December will talk about transference and counter-transference issues arising when analytically-oriented therapists experience personal trauma.

Next spring, we will focus on psychoanalytically-oriented work with several non-traditional patient populations. Dale Roskos, Ph.D. will present the January program on primary prevention programs with disturbed young children and their families. In February, Krista Jordan, Ph.D. will talk about work with physically impaired patients. For our April meeting, Sandra Pitts, Ph.D. will discuss issues arising in work with patients who have committed heinous acts. Rycke Marshall, Ph.D. will conclude the year in May with a presentation on her analytically-oriented forensic work advocating for inmates on death row.

I have heard both workshop speakers’ presentations at Division 39 meetings and have been very impressed with both men. At our November workshop, Steven Cooper, Ph.D. will base his presentation on his recent book, Objects of Hope: Possibility and Limit in Psychoanalysis. Dr. Cooper has a very warm, elegant, kind style, and I expect a very richly clinical presentation.

Our March workshop will be presented by Drew Westen, Ph.D. who is as energetic, humorous, and rapid-fire in his demeanor as Dr. Cooper is elegantly warm. Dr. Westen is a strong advocate in academic as well as clinical circles for psychoanalytic thinking. He will offer a kaleidoscopic presentation ranging over such topics as a comparison of the validity of psychoanalytic approaches with the so-called empirically validated therapies and an analysis of psychoanalytic language in how we speak, and write, and use evidence in the field. He will also present at Psychiatry Grand Rounds at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas on Friday before our workshop on Saturday.

When I was asked to become president elect of DSPP, I thought, "That sounds quite nice! A great sounding title, an observer's role, and not too much to do, yet." I soon realized that inevitably presidents elect become presidents and thought, "Oh no, what have I gotten myself into?" Now I really know the answer to that question. I have worked in DSPP for quite some time, but it was only when I began to ask people to help me that I fully appreciated the vital strength of our organization. It is a vibrant volunteer workforce, which give hundreds of hours to make the organization hum with energy and operate like a well-oiled machine. Remarkably, as I recruited Program Committee members, officers, and speakers for the year, no one refused any of these time-gobbling jobs. DSPP simply buoys up and carries along presidents elect and makes them into presidents.

The committees of DSPP have done yeoman service to make this a great year ahead. On retreat last May, the Executive Committee patiently spent the day teaching me about what I should be doing and providing the overall structure for the coming year. Throughout the spring, the Program Committee worked indefatigably in a most efficient and congenial way.

Other committees have also worked tirelessly to sustain and create an impressive array of intellectual products: courses, programs, awards, outreach agendas, brochures, newsletters, telephone numbers, post office boxes, web pages, etc. John Herman, Ph.D. and the Education Committee have announced two years of courses beginning this fall: Contemporary Approaches to Classic Psychoanalytic Thought with Jane Walvoord, LMSW-ACP this fall, and An Introduction to Melanie Klein with Myrna Little, Ph.D. next spring. Ms. Walvoord will give a course on Freud's early writings (fall, 2001), and Dr. Little, a course on the works of Bion, Meltzer, Ogden, and others (spring, 2002). Fine work by the Education Committee and thanks to the instructors for a major investment of time and energy!

The Community Relations Committee, chaired by Cheryl Martin, RN, LPC, has been the scene of many recent innovative efforts. In addition to maintaining DSPP's super web site, administering the DSPP/Fairhill Scholarship Competition, and writing brochures for clients and professionals (soon to be available to our membership), the committee has recently established an address and telephone number for DSPP and is planning an outreach program on prevention of school violence for parents, teachers, and mental health professionals.

Judith Samson, Ph.D. and the Arts Committee have completed plans for the annual Film Forum to be held at the Greer Garson Theater at S.M.U. in October and are choosing films for the monthly film group. They plan joint activities with Young Audiences of Dallas and with the Meadows Art Museum. There will also be a studio tour with a local artist and a video premiere on the life and death of a local eccentric.

Sarah Aberg, LMSW-ACP and Ken Farr, Ph.D. are keeping close tabs on our members as chairs of the Membership Committee and will be producing a new membership directory this fall. Sherry Lundberg, MS, LPC, chair of the Continuing Education Committee, will keep our CEU's in good order.

I would like to thank the officers who agreed to serve with me: Deann Ware, Ph.D., President Elect; Melissa Black, Ph.D., Secretary; Rose Rothmeier, Ph.D., Treasurer; and Steve Patrick, Ph.D. and Craig Field, Ph.D., Representatives at Large. Also, many thanks for the tutelage of the past presidents who round out the Executive Committee: Myrna Little, Ph.D., Robert Aberg, Ph.D., William K. Gordon III, Ph.D., and James Bridger Harris, Psy.D. I am grateful for the advice and counsel of them all. I am also grateful for the constant supportive presence and wisdom of my long-time office mate, Laurel Bass Wagner, Ph.D. Congratulations on her successful presidency of the Division of Psychoanalysis of APA.

All of these people represent the best and the brightest of DSPP and the vitality and continuity of the organization. Founding members and past presidents will be speaking. A young professional who grew up in DSPP as a graduate student will give a presentation. A current graduate student will speak as well. Seasoned professionals and long-term contributors continue to serve as officers and committee chairs while new young professionals join the executive committee as well. Next year the presidential baton will pass to one of the best of the best, an experienced young professional with a long tenure of service to the organization who was raised in DSPP as a graduate student. What a great group! Please join us for the wonderful year in store.

Pat Wood, Ph.D.
President of DSPP

PREVIEW OF SEPTEMBER MEETING

Freud for the Twenty-first Century:
A Modern Freudian's view of Hope and Despair

Marc Rathbun, Ph.D.

Our September presentation will be given by Marc Rathbun, Ph.D., a past president and founding member of DSPP. Dr. Rathbun is a persuasive advocate for the continuing applicability and modernity of Freud's drive structural theory as expounded in a continuous evolution from Freud himself to the modern Freudians of today. Dr. Rathbun will speak on the issues of hope and despair as seen through the eyes of a twenty-first century Freudian.

2000-2001 PROGRAM AND READINGS SCHEDULE

From Despair to Hope:
Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Human Condition

September 20, 2000 Marc Rathbun, Ph.D. Freud for the Twenty-first Century: A Modern Freudian's view of Hope and despair

Lear, Jonathon.(1998). Knowingness and abandonment: An Oedipus for our time. In Open minded: Working out the logic of the soul (pp 33-55). Cambridge. Harvard University Press.

Reed, Gail S. (1996). Clinical truth and contemporary relativism: Meaning and narration in the psychoanalytic situation. In Clinical understanding (pp 23-51). Northvale, NJ:Jason Aronson.

October 18, 2000Malcolm Bonnheim, Ph.D. and Scott Nelson Nurturing the Analytic Practice in the 21st Century: Hope or Despair for the Practitioner's Professional Life.

Mitchell, Stephen A. (1993). The dialectics of Hope. In Hope and Dread in Psychoanalysis (pp 202-231). New York: Basic Books. 

Rothstein, Arnold (1998). Introduction and Beginning analysis with a reluctant patient. In Psychoanalytic Technique and the Creation of Analytic Patients (xiii-xxii and pp 3-17). Madison, CT: International Universities Press.

Wallerstein, Robert S. (2000). The trajectory of psychoanalysis, Past and Future. Paper presented at the Spring Meeting of the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

November 4, 2000 FALL WORKSHOP Steven Cooper, Ph.D. Objects of Hope: Exploring Possibility and Limit in Psychoanalysis

Cooper, Steven H. (2000). Objects of Hope. In Objects of Hope: Exploring Possibility and Limit in Psychoanalysis. (pp 1-34). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.

December 6, 2000 Laurie Wagner, Ph.D. and Pat Wood, Ph.D. Hope for the Despairing Professional: The Analytic Practitioner Faces Trauma

Morrison, Andrew. (1996). Trauma and disruption in the life of the analyst. In B. Gerson, (Ed.), The therapist as a person: Life crisis, life choices, life experiences, and their effects on treatment (pp. 41-54). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.

Civin, Michael A. & Lombardi, Karen L. (1996). Chloe by the afternoon: Relational configurations, identificatory processes, and the organization of clinical experiences in unusual circumstances. In B. Gerson, (Ed.), The therapist as a person: Life crisis, life choices, life experiences, and their effects on treatment (pp. 89-100). Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press. 

Smith, Betsy, Surrey, Janet L., & Watkins, Mary. (1998). “Real” mothers: Adoptive mothers resisting marginalization and re-creating motherhood. In C G Cull, J. L. Surrey, & K. Weingarten, ( Eds.), Mothering against the odds (pp 104-214). New York: Guilford Press.

January 17, 2001 Dale Roskos, Ph.D. Little Children, Big Problems: Primary Prevention with Damaged Children in Disturbed Families

Fraiberg, Selma, Adelson, Edna, & Shapiro, Vivian. (1987). Ghosts in the nursery: A psychoanalytic approach to problems of impaired infant-mother relationships. In L. Fraiberg (Ed.), Selected writings of Selma Fraiberg. (pp 387-419). Columbus: Ohio State Univ. Press.

Kramer, Selma. (1995). Parents’ hatred of their children: An understudied aspect of cross-generational aggression. In S. Akhtar, S.Kramer, & H. Parens, ( Eds.) The birth of hatred: Developmental, clinical, and technical aspects of intense aggression (pp 3-13). Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.

February 21, 2001 Krista Jordan, Ph.D. When Assaults to Body Image are not Fantasies: Analytic Work with Physically Impaired Patients

Yorke, C. (1980). Some comments on the psychoanalytic treatment of patients with physical disabilities. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 61: 187-193. 

Luhrmann, T. M. (2000). Madness and moral responsibility. In Of two minds: The growing disorder in American psychiatry (pp 266-293). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

March 24, 2001 SPRING WORKSHOP Drew Westen, Ph.D The Psychoanalytic Enterprise - Alive and Well

Westen, Drew. (1999). The scientific status of unconscious processes: Is Freud really dead? Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 47(4): 1061-1106.

April 18, 2001 Sandra Pitts, Ph.D. Intolerance of Despair: When Badness Isn’t Just a Fantasy

Anderson, Robin. (1997) Putting the boot in: Violent defenses against depressive anxiety. In, The Contemporary Kleinians of London. (pp ). Madison, CT: International Universities Press. 

Safan-Gerard, Desy. (1998). Bearable and unbearable guilt: A Kleinian perspective. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 67: 351-378. 

Oberkirch, Ann. (1985). Psychotherapy of a murderer: Excerpts. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 39 (4): 499-514.

May 16, 2001 Rycke Marshall, Ph.D. Hope in Hopeless Places: The Analytic Professional Advocates for the Defense on Death Row

Herman, Judith. (1997). Captivity. In Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence—from domestic abuse to political terror (pp 74-95). New York: Basic Books.

DSPP/Fairhill Scholarship Competition

Two Cash Awards…

Undergraduate and Graduate Students

DSPP will offer cash awards of $1,000 each to an undergraduate and graduate student submitting the scholarly papers judged best by a panel of DSPP readers. Qualifying papers must be original works by students enrolled in accredited degree programs of area universities and colleges.

Papers should incorporate psychoanalytic theory and / or application as a major thematic component. Students from all academic disciplines are encouraged to enter.

Submission deadline is February 24, 2001.
Awards will be presented at the DSPP Spring Workshop, March 24, 2001.

For more information visit the DSPP web site
http://www.dspp.com
or contact
Cheryl Martin RN, LPC
DSPP Community Relations Chair
cam@dspp.com
214-384-2395

DSPP Fall Study Group
Contemporary Approaches to Classic Psychoanalytic Thought: Issues From Case Materials

The study group has recently begun. If you are still interested in participating please contact Jane Walvoord, LMSW-ACP: janewalv@airmail.net or John Herman: JOHERMA@childmed.dallas.tx.us

INTERDISCIPLINARY
PSYCHOANALYTIC CONSORTIUM
STUDY GROUP
Saturday, September 23rd
“Diagnosing the English Patient:
Understanding the Schizoid Fantasies of Being Skinless and of Being Buried Alive
Norman Dodge, MD, FRCP
Primary Discussants:
Charles (Cass) Ragan, MD
Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute
&
Dennis Foster, PhD
Southern Methodist University
Room 138 Dallas Hall
Dedman College
Southern Methodist University

Attention Early Career Therapists

Are you an early career therapist who is interested in practice development issues?
I'm interested in meeting regularly with other early career therapists (that is, those who have been licensed for up to 5 years) who want to share helpful information about the following topics: marketing a private practice, developing oneself professionally, juggling work and family, etc. If you fit this early career category, please contact Steve Patrick, PsyD at (972) 934-1485.

DSPP Membership Directory Notice

To be included in the 2000-2001 Membership Directory (Print and Web), applications and dues must be received no later than October 4th.

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