Note from the Director and Co-Director

Elizabeth Carr and Maxine Ellenberg Arnsdorf

May is the culminating month of ICP&P activities for 2009 – 2010. We have had a banner year on multiple fronts. The Relational Perspectives Institute (RPI) created a stimulating learning community for its participants and brought new members into ICP&P. Also, a series of exciting conferences organized around the RPI speakers provided access to relational ideas to members and to the community-at-large. On the training front, we are very pleased to have a first year class in both the Psychotherapy Training Program and the Psychoanalytic Training Program. In addition, many stimulating study groups fostered learning among their members.

By now, you will have received your invitations for graduation which is on May 23. Three members of the Psychoanalytic Training Program will be graduating: Monica Callahan, Janet Dante, and Mary Jean Kane. Our congratulations to the graduates! We also want to congratulate and thank the faculty for their commitment and dedication to our training endeavors.

As we go to press, the election results have been emailed to the membership. We want to thank the individuals who accepted a nomination to a Board position. We also want to express our appreciation to the committee which includes Gail Winston (Chair), Wendy Fischer, Mary O'Farrell, and Randy Thurman for a job well done.

At this year's May 20 Board meeting, the newly elected Board members will join the outgoing members for a dinner meeting. At the gathering, the outgoing members are celebrated and the new members are welcomed as they begin their tenure of service to the organization. This also provides an opportunity for the new members to become familiar with the issues and concerns the Board has been grappling with over the last year and to plan for the future.

Registration for study groups will begin in June. Please see the information from Dorothy Wine in this Newsletter about the process for joining a study group.

We hope you enjoy the beautiful month of May.

Note from the Secretary

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 April 15th meeting:

• According to the Treasurer's Report, ICP&P remains in the black.
• The Board considered and decided to delay a decision to sign a contract with the National Center for Abused and Exploited Children until further information about the organization is gathered.
• The low fee referral service is doing well.
• Graduation for the Training Programs is May 23rd at the Ballroom at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel.
• Annual Meeting plans are on target. Plans for the 2011 Annual Conference are still unclear, though it is hoped the topic with be addictions.
• The Board considered co-sponsoring a conference in the spring of 2011 in New York City entitled Bystanders No More: Psychotherapeutic Dialogues for the Politically Silenced. The discussion will continue at the May meeting.
• Old Business included (1) A proposal from Steve Stein for a series of short courses on mind-body connection. (2) Six or seven new study groups are planned for next year. (3) Follow up outreach to the new Relational Institute participants is being planned. (4) Next fall's potluck will be on September 12th. (5) The closing Board Meeting will be on May 20th and will be for outgoing and incoming members, as well as the core Board.

Note from the Programs Co-Chairs

Sharon Ballard and Tripp Reed

We had a record turnout for ICP&P's 16th Annual Conference, On Knowing and Being Known: Countertransference Dilemmas. Our featured speakers, Steven Cooper, PhD and Karen Maroda, PhD, offered lively and thought provoking presentations that focused on how we can understand and utilize our often challenging countertransference experiences to further the therapeutic process. Cooper discussed so-called "negative countertransference" and presented case material that demonstrated how each element of countertransference is layered and complex. Maroda offered guidelines regarding the appropriate use of self disclosure and advice from the vantage point of neuroscience and the fostering of affective experience. In the afternoon, we were treated to a rich case presentation by ICP&P member, Bill Pinney, PhD.

Please plan to attend ICP&P's graduation on May 23, 2010, at the Key Bridge Marriott. Three of our members will be graduating from the psychoanalytic program and we look forward to the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our colleagues.

With feelings of both appreciation and sadness, we pass the program baton the new coordinators of programs. We know that they will do a wonderful job. We have thoroughly enjoyed becoming more actively involved in the development of the organization and the opportunity to meet and interact with so many members and invited guests. This has been a truly rewarding and enlivening experience.

Note on Study Groups

Dorothy Wine

Below is a list of the study groups offered for the next two year cycle, 2010-2012. Members may sign up for a study group beginning on June 20th. More detailed instructions will be in the June newsletter. Please be advised, you must re-register for the 2010-2012 cycle even if you want to remain in your current study group. I am looking forward to the start of these new study groups and to the continuation of some of the very fruitful groups that are now running.

Child, Adolescent and Family Therapy

Deborah Marks, MSW and Martha Blechar Gibbons, PhD
1st Tuesday of every month - 9:30-11:00am
North Bethesda, Maryland

This study group welcomes clinicians who are interested in exploring different treatment approaches in work with children, adolescents and their families. We envision people coming together to discuss and share in the delights and struggles in working with this population.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis Study Group

Adina Shapiro, LCSW
4th Friday of every month – 3:00-4:30pm
ICP&P Office, 4601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC

This study group is for those interested in learning more about interpersonal therapy and technique. We will read Ferenczi, Sullivan, Fiscalini, Mann, Wolstein and others, depending on interest. Emphasis will be placed on locating interpersonal theory within the context of other relational theories, including self psychology.

The Impact of the Social Environment on the Psyche

Brigitte Ladisch, PhD
3rd Friday of every month - 1:30-3:00pm
Chevy Chase, Maryland

This study group will explore and study the impact of the social environment on the psyche, initially reading the book, Psychoanalysis, Class and Politics (2006). Lynne Layton, one of the authors in the book, writes: "I feel strongly that clinical theory and practice has to figure out how to re-establish the links between the psychic and the social that dominant ideologies work tirelessly to unlink". Subsequent readings could include writings by Suzan Gutwill, Nancy Hollander, Neil Altman, Jessica Benjamin, Gary Walls and would be decided by the group as we progress into the subject.

The Therapist as Writer

Anne Gray, MSW, LCSW and Georgia DeGangi, PhD
3rd Tuesday of every month - 11:20am-12:50pm
Bethesda, Maryland

* CEU credit 13.5 units offered for full participation over 9 months
This study group is for psychotherapists who have been writing and want the push of a group to stretch harder, grow taller, write more deeply, and bring a story to life. As psychotherapists we listen to others' stories, awed by the power unleashed in the telling. Our own stories too often are held silent, waiting hopefully... will we remember that image or those feelings? Or will our writing become another item on a "to do" list that is rarely completed?
There are times in our lives when we no longer want those stories to slip away. And so we begin this group for psychotherapists who are determined to create room for the richness of their own stories, professional and personal, to rise to the surface, to be noted, to be offered a form of transmission. The group is primarily evocative and supportive in nature, with a focus on stimulating participants to create and complete an article, story, essay, or memoir. Through the sharing of our writing with one another, we hope to clarify our thinking and writing styles. The group will be small and each person will submit three pages for all members to read for comments in the following group.

Theory, Research, and Practice of Clinical Supervision

Cherian Verghese, PhD and Richard Ogden, PhD
2nd Friday of every month - 1:00-2:30pm
910 17th St., NW, Washington, DC

This group will focus on the theory, research, and practice of clinical supervision. Readings will be drawn from the current literature as well as the historical writings on psychodynamic supervision. Particular attention will be directed to parallels with and divergences from psychotherapy. Also, we will explore cultural and contextual assumptions, implications, and ramifications associated with theories of supervision. Using the readings as a starting point, discussion within the group will be opportunities for presenting "cases" that would include work with supervisees and patients in which principles of supervision would be illustrated as they are observed and experienced within the group.

Experiential and Theoretical Investigations into the Creative Process

Katherine Williams, PhD
3rd Tuesday of every month - 7:30–9:00pm
3715 Alton Place, NW, Washington, DC (a short walk from Tenleytown Metro)

* CEU's credit will be offered for full participation
This study group has studied creativity and self psychology through reading theoretical and clinical articles, viewing films and plays, and meeting with graphic artists and writers to discuss their process. We expect to continue this focus in the next two year cycle and would welcome new members who have an interest in this area.

Clinical Application of Mind-Body Principles, Neuroscience and Contemporary Dynamic Approaches

Stephen R. Stein, PhD and Gretchen Fair MSW
1st and 3rd Wednesdays of every month - 11:00am-12:30pm
Woodley Park, Washington, DC

This study group will focus on the practical integration of relational psychotherapy, neuroscience, and mind-body principles in the clinical encounter. A didactic and experiential format will be employed to assist members in learning, understanding and practicing various mind-body strategies. Attention will be directed to reviewing current research and practicing skills in the use of mindfulness, meditation, hypnosis, and guided imagery. We will also use these techniques to explore our connections to each other within the group and to deepen our understanding of ourselves in the clinical process. Participants will be encouraged to bring in case material. The overall goal of the group is to enrich and expand treatment through an integrated model which combines theory, scientific findings, and the effective clinical application of mind-body techniques.
Prospective study group members are asked to call Dr. Stephen Stein at 202-745-2556 to discuss their interest in the group before enrolling.

Memoirs, Novels and Relational and Attachment Theory

Marilyn Voigt, MSW and Gail Winston, MSW
3rd Friday of every month – 2:00-3:30pm
4601 Connecticut Ave., Suite 3, Washington, DC 20008

This study group will be expanding our reading from memoirs and psychological novels to include contemporary writers on relational and attachment theory. Books we have read this past cycle included Lolita, The Good Marriage, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Weekends at Belleview, Lit, A Hidden Life, The Secret Scripture, The Seal Woman, Olive Kittredge, Enid Ghost, and Homer and Langley. We have discovered that not all memoirs are well written!

Couples Therapy Study Group

Sharon Ballard, MSW and Peggy Miller, MSW
2nd Friday of every month – 1:10-2:40pm
3000 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 214, Washington, DC

Sharon Ballard and Peggy Miller are graduates of ICP&P's Couples Training Program. The challenges of working with difficult couples will be explored by this study group through readings and clinical discussions. Topics will include working with oppositional couples, infidelity, countertransference dilemmas, loss and blended families. Additional topics will be determined by the interests of group participants.
Group members should be actively working with couples.

Play Reading Study Group

Bob Schulte, MSW and John Dluhy, MD
2nd Friday of every month - 2:00-3:30pm
1204 Prince Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 and
3709 Ingomar Street, NW, Washington, DC 20015

A play reading study group gives its members an enlivening way to experience subjectivity through role assumption and scene study. The acting experience, absent the pressures of performing for an audience, provides the therapist/actor a safe opportunity to experientially empathize with the client's subjective experience of working in the here-and-now, especially group therapy members. The format gives freedom to switch roles, stop the action at will, and re-read the play multiple times for deeper understanding. Discussion of the play and the acting experience will follow each play reading and may extend for multiple sessions. Members may recommend scripts for reading.

Intersubjectivity Study Group

Janet Dante, MSW
3rd Friday of every month - 10:00-11:30am
5207 Hampden Lane, Bethesda, Maryland

This is a new study group that will be starting this year. The focus of the group will be on deepening our capacity to work intersubjectively with our patients. The first book we will read is Psychoanalytic Treatment: An Intersubjective Approach by Stolorow, Brandchaft and Atwood. Additional readings will be determined by the interest of group participants.

Psychoanalysis and Self Psychology

Curtis Bristol, MD
3rd Monday of every month - 8:00-9:30pm
6256 Clearwood Road, Bethesda, Maryland

We will read and discuss literature that is relevant to the theory and practice of self psychology. Individuals present the paper to be read, we agree or find another, and we have a general discussion. If you wish to join this group, please contact Curtis Bristol at 202-466-8690 before registering, since the reading material has been cumulative.

Endings and Beginnings

Nancy Wolfson, MSW
2nd Friday of every month - 2:30-4:00pm
3916 Leland Street, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815

Our initial focus will be on termination/endings in therapy from the perspective of Self Psychology and Relational Psychology. Discussion will incorporate readings to be selected by group members with a strong emphasis on clinical case material. Over the course of the two years we will expand our focus on transitions through the life cycle in which endings/losses, of our choosing or not, can create opportunities for new beginnings.

The Study of Self Psychology

Heidi Block, LICSW
Last Thursday of every month - 7:30-9:00pm
6631 Eastern Ave., Takoma Park, Maryland

We will read contemporary self psychological writings and use these as foundations to discuss case material and other clinical issues with each other.

Exploratory Psychodrama Study Group

Monica Leonie Callahan, PhD
One Saturday every month (TBA) - 10:00am-12:00pm
Bethesda, Maryland

*CE credit is available
We are an experiential peer supervision group, aiming to understand our clinical and professional work in depth with the help of psychodrama-based enactment techniques. Members share an interest in the nonverbal, intersubjective, and creative dimensions of psychotherapy, along with a grounding in self psychological and relational theories. Relevant readings are included, although that is not our primary focus. We welcome people who can commit themselves to the group process that supports this kind of work, and regular attendance, to the extent possible, is very important to us. For more information contact Monica at 301-587-6211 or email Callahanml@erols.com

Dissociative Phenomena

Wendy Berns, MSW
4th Wednesday of every month - 12:30-2:00pm
Arlington, Virginia

This study group will focus on dissociative processes in clinical work, from the everyday experiences, which are ubiquitous, to the extreme experiences found in DID character structure. We will integrate ideas about dissociative phenomena with concepts found in attachment and relational theories. We will read books and articles about dissociation, such as the writings of Elizabeth Howell and Jodi Davies, and also work as a peer group, following material from our individual, couples, and group cases.

Integrating Theory and Practice of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

David Wyner, MSW
1st Thursday or Friday evening or Saturday morning of every month (whatever day works best for the group)
22821 Ridge Road, Germantown, MD

Constructivism, hermeneutics, one-person vs. two-person, self, relational, classical perspectives: These are among the arguments critically evaluated in Merton Gill's Psychoanalysis in Transition (1994). As we read this classic work, we will always be working with clinical material, bringing to life central ideas in psychoanalysis from Freud through Lichtenberg.

Attachment and Affect Regulation: Individual, Couple, and Groups

Cheri Marmarosh PhD
3rd Friday of every month - 3:30-5:00pm
Fairfax, Virginia

Cheri Marmarosh, a graduate of ICP&P's Psychotherapy Training Program, will be starting a study group. The focus will be applying attachment theory to individual, couple, and group cases. We will focus on Wallin's book Attachment in Psychotherapy (2005) that explores the influence of attachment on the development of the self, applications of attachment theory to clinical practice, and attachment patterns interacting between the therapist and patient. In addition to Wallin's book, we may also integrate readings from Fosha, Siegel, and Solomon's book, The Healing Power of Emotion: Affective Neuroscience, Development, and Clinical Practice (2009). Depending on the interest of study group members, we can select to read Allan Schore's chapter that is focused on right brain regulation or Fosha's chapter integrating attachment, emotion, and tranformational experience.
Topics and readings will be determined by the interests of those in the study group.

Sexual Identities, Sexual Self and Sexual Relationality in the Clinical Setting

Faith Lewis LCSW and Tripp Reed LCSW
2nd Monday of every month - 8:00-9:30pm
4511 17th St., NW, Washington, DC

We will all be exploring the intersubjective sexual field as it relates to our work. Given the intimate nature of the case presentations with this approach, we will limit the group to 8 people and wish to maintain a high level of confidentiality throughout.
We may read Sexuality & Attachment (2007) by Blatt, Dimond and Lichtenberg, Sexuality & Sensuality Across the Divide of Shame (2007) by Lichtenberg, Gender As Soft Assembly (2005) by Harris, Tolpin on the emergence of the sexual self, and others (TBA, introduced by the group).

New Member Introductions

Jeffrey Jay

Seda Sumer-Richards comes to Washington DC from her home in Istanbul via Penn State and then Georgia State where she received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. More recently she has worked at both the American and George Washington Universities Counseling Centers. While she continues at GW, she has recently opened her private practice for adults, with expertise in multicultural issues. Washington appeals to Seda as a cosmopolitan city close to the water; however, having myself traveled to her home town of Istanbul which sits astride two continents separated by the Bosphorus, I know that Seda is being generous in her comparison. Seda comes to ICP&P with an interest in further exploration of self and interpersonal training, as well as an interest in attending the couples training. And if those interests were not more than enough motivation, she also shares a suite with Cherian Verghese and Elizabeth Carr. Seda, welcome to ICPP: Hos geldiniz!

Wendy Zack, another new member, also brings an international sophistication to ICP&P. Wendy, hailing from Montreal, arrived in Washington in 1988. She has worked in the Department of Psychiatry at George Washington University, as well as in the Georgetown University Hospital Department of Psychiatry where she is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry. Her research on therapeutic alliances and social function outcome was part of her doctoral work for her recently achieved Ph.D. from the Clinical Social Work Institute in Washington, DC. Having completed the arduous academic work of a doctoral program, she is now seeking out new collegial relationships and has joined ICP&P to continue her studies in a different professional community as she expands her private practice. Welcome Wendy.

News and Notes

Thomas Hoffman has published a review of What You Don't Know You Know: Our Hidden Motives in Life, Business, and Everything Else by Kenneth Eisold (Other Press, New York 2010) in the Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis. It will appear in the May issue. If you wish a copy of the article, please contact him at thoffmd@att.net

Save the Date!

ICP&P Pot Luck Brunch and Town Hall Meeting
September 12, 2010 1pm – 4pm

We hope that you will plan to join us on Sunday September 12, 2010, 1pm-4pm, for the Fall Pot Luck Brunch 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, new members from the Relational Perspectives Institute 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 membership community. This year we will be meeting on a Sunday afternoon with the hope that it will be more relaxing than a weekday evening and that more people will be able to attend. The potluck has always been an informal, lively, and fun event with lots of great food! More information will follow in future newsletters. The event will be held at the Chevy Chase Village Town Hall, 5906 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815 which is a few blocks north of Chevy Chase Circle and a short distance from the 495 beltway, a location easily accessible to people in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Please mark your calendars!

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Sunday, May 23, 2010 Graduation for ICP&P's Training Programs at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, VA at 11:00am.
• June 9-13, 2010 American Psychoanalytic Association's 99th Annual Meeting at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC. Visit www.apsa.org for more information.
• Friday, September 3, 10, 24 and October 1, 2010 ICP&P presents Short Course – The Impact of Countertransference in Couples Therapy with Tybe Diamond, MSW, BCD. 4707 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 205, Washington, DC Friday's from 2:00-4:00pm.
• Sunday, September 12, 2010 ICP&P's Annual Pot Luck Brunch and Town Hall Meeting 1:00-4:00pm. Chevy Chase Village Town Hall, Chevy Chase, MD.
• Saturday, October 2, 2010 ICP&P presents The Struggle to Develop a Viable Sexual Orientation: Clinical Stories of Working with Gay and Bi-Sexual Men with R. Dennis Shelby, PhD at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD.
• Saturday, December 4, 2010 ICP&P presents the Bruce Wine Memorial Conference – Psychoanalytic Complexity Theory: Innovations in Clinical Practice and Therapeutic Attitude with William Coburn, PhD 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.

• Reading and Supervision Group - Mary Jean Kane is forming a reading and supervision for clinicians who are interested learning more about self psychology and intersubjectivity and applying these principles to their cases. For more information, call Mary Jean Kane at 703-550-4298.
• Office space available – Large sunny office located 1 block from Red and Blue lines and easy walk to Yellow line at 17th & K Streets. Available 2 – 2 ½ days a week (days of week negotiable). The office suite, which has a shared waiting room with 2 psychiatrists and a psychologist, has large windows, is beautifully furnished and has a large utility room & kitchenette. Free use of fax & copy machine. Contact Yu Ling Han at 202-213-1876 or ylhan@starpower.net
• Office space available – in Chevy Chase, MD available for sublet part-time. Comfortable office in suite with five therapists is available most evenings and late afternoons. Easy, short walk from the Friendship Heights Red Line metro stop. Contact Linda Kanefield at 301-654-2645.
• Office space available - in downtown Silver Spring. Share space with 4 friendly therapists in bright new build-out. Walking distance to metro, ample parking, kitchen and fax. Reasonable rates. Contact Kathy Richardson at 301-588-4183.
• Office space available - two blocks south of Dupont Circle available full-time. Share this large 3 office suite with two other psychologists. Available office is approximately 160 sq ft with a full set of windows facing a wide avenue with southern exposure and lots of natural light. The suite has a waiting area and a pantry for fridge water and office supplies. The building has an updated lobby and hallways, front desk security during normal business hours, and parking available for rent in the building. Rent will be approximately $1250/month and we are looking for someone willing to co-sign the commercial lease. Contact Janna Sandmeyer at jannalou@starpower.net or Laura Kasper at drlaurakasper@me.com
• Office space available – in Chevy Chase, DC. Bright, convenient, inexpensive office space available immediately in professional suite with other clinicians. Furnished waiting room, kitchen and bathroom. Call Rachel Cohen at 202 248-4479 or email rachelann.cohen@gmail.com

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The deadline for submitting items for the June Newsletter is May 25, 2010

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