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January 2011

Note from the Director and Co-Director

Roger Segalla and Maxine Ellenberg Arnsdorf

Happy New Year everyone. As you think about your plans for 2011 and those things you want to accomplish, perhaps you resolved to get some additional professional training. We thought we would take this opportunity to review ICP&P's many training programs and so help you take one more step toward fulfilling your resolutions.

First, there are our three outstanding clinical training programs: Psychoanalytic, Psychotherapy and Couples Training Programs. Here's a short description of all three programs. Detailed information can be found on the ICP&P website: Training tab

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ICP&P Psychotherapy Training Program

This is an intensive three-year psychoanalytic psychotherapy training program, involving weekly seminars, clinical case conferences, individual supervision, and personal psychotherapy. Additionally, each academic unit concludes with a summary class and process group. The training program emphasizes contemporary psychoanalytic theories and their clinical application. Areas explored during the first two years of training include: self psychology, intersubjectivity theory, motivational systems theory, relational theories, attachment theory and research, infant research, ego psychology and object relations theories.

ICP&P Psychoanalytic Training Program

Our curriculum provides in-depth study of broad theoretical ideas from classical to contemporary. The primary focus is on the study of contemporary self psychological and relational psychoanalytic models, along with findings from developmental research, attachment research, and neuroscience. Our program is particularly strong in re-examining seminal psychoanalytic concepts such as the unconscious and therapeutic action in light of contemporary clinical and developmental findings. The curriculum encompasses three years of coursework.

ICP&P Couples Training Program

The Couples Therapy Training Program is a one-year course comprised of both theoretical seminars and clinical group supervision. The trainees learn the material through lectures, case write ups and presentations and group participation. The trainees meet together for 3 hours per week from September to May. The emphasis of the program is on the application of self-psychological and relational concepts applied to the clinical practice of treating couples.

Each of these programs is currently recruiting for classes starting in September 2011. If you are interested in signing up, or in getting more information, you can visit the website (www.icpeast.org) or contact Morgan at icpeastadmin@att.net . You can also contact the Chairs of each program - Sandra Hershberg for Psychoanalytic (301-229-6570), Faith Lewis for Psychotherapy (202-409-6835) and Barbara Shapard for Couples (703-243-1804) directly. Be on the lookout for recruiting events sponsored by each program over the next few months. (One such event for the Psychoanalytic Program is featured later in the Newsletter).

If you are interested in learning about the latest developments in Self Psychology September 2011 will mark the beginning of a one year "institute" modeled after the Relational Perspective Institute (RPI). Self Psychology Institute (SPI), which will run from September 2011 to May 2012, will be comprised of four full-day Saturday conferences and optional 3 hour pre-conference programs. We encourage you to carefully review the brochure which is scheduled to arrive in February.

For those of you looking for something starting this month, ICP&P is offering an 8 session course on integrating mind-body principles and more traditional psychotherapy practice. This short-course is scheduled to start January 17, 2011. More information about this program appears later in the Newsletter and on our website. You can also contact Morgan at icpeastadmin@att.net or Stephen Stein at 202-745-2556.

If you are not a member of a study group and are interested in joining one, please contact Dorothy Wine at dawine99@aol.com or by phone at 571-723-6424.


Board Meeting Summary

Leslie Westbrook

In an effort to keep the membership informed about issues that are being discussed by the ICP&P Board, a brief summary of each meeting is published in the Newsletter. If there are items about which you have questions, opinions or concerns, please feel free to contact a Board member. We welcome your input. All Board members are listed in the front of the ICP&P Directory and on the website. Here are some highlights from the December meeting:

  • Janet Dante reported on the financial totals for the Stolorow conference and the Bruce Wine Memorial Conference. The Stolorow conference had 84 people in attendance, with income of almost $5,000 and expenses of about $4,500. The Bruce Wine Conference had about 125 in attendance, and the income and expense were still incomplete at the time of the meeting. Janet reported that the financial status of the organization looked good.
  • Janet also reported that an automatic computer backup service will be purchased at a cost of about $50.00 per year. A bulk email provider service will cost about $105.00 per year and will prevent the email account from being frozen after being a bulk email is sent.
  • Roger Segalla and Maxine Arnsdorf reported on the proposed Bylaws changes:
    1. Co-Directors will have staggered two year terms;
    2. The two Program Directors will have staggered two year terms;
    3. The election for the Member-in-Training (MIT) Board Representative will shift so the election for a one year term will officially be in the fall.
    The Board voted to approve the changes to the Bylaws. The issue will now be presented to the entire membership for a vote.
  • The Program Analysis Form will be reviewed at the next meeting.
  • Dorothy Wine reported that the Membership Committee has reviewed study group rosters to be sure all participants are members of ICP&P. In the future, Study Group Leaders will be asked to remind attendees that membership is required to enroll in a study group.
  • Jeffrey Jay, as Outreach Committee Chair, shared a proposed Outreach Mission Statement. He reported that the Committee had wrestled with whether they should focus on bringing in a more diversified membership, or whether they should focus on service to the community. The Committee chose service as its focus, but they sought input from the Board. He further explained that the Committee was considering ways ICP&P members might partner with other service organizations. The Board encouraged the Committee to explore liability issues, models for involvement, etc. The Committee has designed a survey to use via Survey Monkey to determine interest by the larger membership.
  • The Branding Committee is working with a designer who will submit a design for ICP&P in the future.
  • The Fundraising Committee, chaired by Martha Blechar Gibbons, is working with Bob Schulte on a theatrical presentation with a projected date for the performance of April 2nd.
  • The Faculty Development Program, which focused on Joe Lichtenberg's Motivational Systems Model, had a turnout of 22 faculty members. Leslie Smith and Molly Donovan are now working on a Process Program for March 26th from 9-3.
  • The Library Committee is looking for volunteers. One person has stepped forward to be on the committee, but a Chair and other volunteers are still being sought by the Board.
  • Roger reported he is exploring who might chair a Research Committee.
  • Susan Gorman reported on training issues: the upcoming recruitment event for the Psychoanalytic Training Program, the issue of license status for MIT's, the Low Fee Referral Service, and a Training Committee meeting scheduled for early February.
  • Maxine Arnsdorf reported that a Scholarship Application Form that can be used for the training programs will be made available on the website.
  • The next Board meeting is Monday January 17th at the ICP&P office.

Psychoanalytic Training Program – An Evening with Joe Lichtenberg

Elizabeth Carr

The Admissions Committee of the Psychoanalytic Training Program invites you to an evening program with Joseph Lichtenberg on February 1, 2011 at 7:30pm. Joe will discuss both his latest work and his most recent book, Psychoanalysis and Motivational Systems: A New Look. In this book, he presents his current thinking about development, psychopathology, and clinical practice. This evening will also provide an opportunity to hear about the Psychoanalytic Training Program from Sandra Hershberg, Chair of the program. This will include a brief overview of the curriculum, the clinical requirements, and the challenges and benefits of psychoanalytic training. All are invited! If you know anyone who may be interested in learning more about psychoanalytic training at ICP&P, please invite them to join us for this evening program. The program will be held at 6256 Clearwood Rd., Bethesda, MD, 20817. If you have any questions about the program or to RSVP, please contact Elizabeth Carr at 202-822-8371 or by email at emcarr@aol.com

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Thoughts on Being a Therapist

Lauren Brandt and Jeffrey Jay

Feelings, thoughts, reflections, moments of humor, moments of insight, moments of relief, joy, victory, or defeat in being a therapist?

We would like to introduce a new occasional column in the newsletter, "Thoughts on Being A Therapist," as a space for ICP&P members to share reflections relating to this audacious, humbling and poignant work of being a therapist. The notes should be no longer than 400 words, but can also be much shorter. In addition to small lessons learned, we welcome personal writing to complement the theory, training, and hard work of treatment. Haikus and less formal expressions are welcome, but no identifying information of clients or breaches of confidentiality, please. Submit your writing for this column to Lauren Brandt or Jeffrey Jay at LBJLS@rcn.com or jeffjayphd@aol.com.

The inaugural article below is written by Janet Dante. Enjoy and please send in your own thoughts to share in this space.

Being a Therapist

I just finished psychoanalytic training in 2010, and Janet the therapist in 2010 (when I graduated), would be confusing and frightening to Janet the therapist in 2004 (when I started). I began to appreciate just how different ICP&P was when, in the first year of training one of our teachers said that a patient he had been working with for many years, informed him that she expected him to make her chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles for her 50th birthday. Our teacher asked us what we would do in that circumstance. I said we would talk about loving someone, and yearning. About desire and disappointment, about wanting, even expecting, things one couldn't necessarily have. As the class discussion was finishing, someone asked him what he had done. He said "of course I made her chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles".

"B" hated the fact that I expected her to start each time. I do this to give space for patients to start wherever they want, but to B, my silence left her not knowing where I was, or even if I was focused on her. We switched to me starting each session by asking how she was doing. That allowed her to know that I was engaged, and that it was safe for her to reconnect.

"H" believed that nobody could ever want to be with him. One day in our second year together, as he was again reiterating his awfulness, I said that I knew that couldn't be true, because in spite of the often stormy nature of many of our sessions, I really enjoyed being with him and always looked forward to seeing him. Recently, several years later, he said that when he thinks about me between sessions, what he remembers most is my smile.

This shift did not come anxiety-free for me. I worried about being too seductive with my patients, a fear that comes out of my own experiences growing up in my family where rules were made to be broken. But today I understand that rules etched in stone, and one size fits all, is not best. Each therapy relationship develops into its own creation, or to use Coburn's words, has its own emergent properties. Therapy is about feeling my way with each patient, to see what is best for them, in this situation, and with me.

Janet Dante


UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Mondays, January 17 – April 4, 2011 – ICP&P presents Short Course – An Integration of Neuroscience, Mind Body Principles and Self & Relational Psychotherapies with Stephen Stein, PhD, Jean Gearon, PhD, Karen Schachter, MSW, Bill Harman, PhD and Faith Lewis, MSW 6:30pm to 9:30pm, 3000 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 327, Washington, DC.
  • Tuesday, February 1, 2011 – ICP&P presents An Evening with Joe Lichtenberg and an overview of the ICP&P Psychoanalytic Training Program Chaired by Sandra Hershberg, MD. The program begins at 7:30pm at 6256 Clearwood Road in Bethesda, MD.
  • Sunday, February 27, 2011 The Consortium for Psychoanalytic Research, Inc. presents Assessing Change in the Therapeutic Process: What Does Research Show? with Phil S. Lebovitz, MD from 8:30am – 4:30pm George Washington University Auditorium. ICP&P is a member of this Consortium.
  • February – March, 2011 The Washington School of Psychiatry presents Lost and Found...Holding the Couple and Family in Mind an 8 week seminar (February – May, 2011 from 1-4pm) on working with couples and families in the 21st century. The series will explore how the complexities of interpersonal structure and dynamics challenge the capacity of the therapist to hold the couple or family in mind. Contact Yu Ling Han, PhD at 202-213-1876 or Nancy Lithgow, MSW at 202-543-7700.
  • Saturday, March 5, 2011 ICP&P presents How the Attachment Profile of the Clinician Impacts Therapeutic Outcome: Research Findings with Diana Diamond, PhD 9:00am – 12:30pm at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD.
  • Saturday, May 7, 2011 ICP&P presents its 17th Annual Conference A Focus on Treatment of Addictions in Psychotherapy with Brian Johnson, MD at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD.

BULLETIN BOARD

The Policy for Bulletin Board items is: Members can place items three months a year. Items can be up to eight lines in length. Longer items or additional months are available for a fee. Please contact the administrator for the fee schedule.

  • Men's Psychotherapy Group in Dupont Circle - A few openings remain in this recently-formed, open-ended group. Membership consists of adult men of all ages and sexual identities who are seeking to build strength through self-awareness and increase their capacity to navigate relationships with others, romantic partners, friends, family and colleagues. Through a focus on the "here and now" interactions among members, participants will have the opportunity to address a variety of personal and interpersonal issues, including social isolation and anxiety, struggles with connection and commitment, jealousy, low self-esteem, shame, anger, conflict avoidance and concerns with sex and sexuality. The group meets weekly on Wednesdays, 6:45-8pm. The cost is $80/session. For more information, contact Jonathan Stillerman at 202-429-4939.
  • Relational Supervision Group - Are you interested in adopting a relational orientation in your work with patients? As of January 2011 Roger Segalla, Jr. will have two openings in his weekly Relational Supervision Group. This group meets on Friday's from 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm. If you would like to discuss joining this group in the new year please contact Roger via email at rsegalla@verizon.net
  • Group on Groups - Announcing openings, beginning in January 2011, in a supervision group for therapists who lead psychodynamic psychotherapy groups. The supervision group meets weekly on Tuesday's from 12:15 to 1:30pm. The fee is $75 per session. For further information, please contact Mary Dluhy at 202-237-5150.
  • Women's Group - I am looking to add new members to a women's group which meets Monday evenings at my downtown office. I have found the group to be a useful adjunct to individual therapy. The women in the group are in their 30s and 40s with issues including isolation, helplessness, and over-eating. The group is more supportive than insight oriented. Please contact Beth Altman at 202-775-0041 for further information.
  • Seeking Office Space - Looking for office space to rent part-time (not on weekends), preferably in NW Washington DC or in Bethesda/ Chevy Chase area. Contact Brigitte Ladisch at 301-652-6250 or 301-651-7592.
  • Office Space Available – lovely furnished office in Dupont Circle available with an in-suite bathroom and private waiting room available Tuesday, Wed and Thurs mornings. Contact Sheila Cahill at sheilacahill@mac.com or call 202-966-8390.


The deadline for submitting items for the February 2011 Newsletter is January 27, 2011