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March 2011 Newsletter

Note from the Director and Co-Director

Roger Segalla and Maxine Ellenberg Arnsdorf

Have you ever been reading a book or a journal article and thought that you would love to have that author, or authors, come to ICP&P to present their work? Perhaps you've been interested in learning more about a particular subject area, theoretical perspective, treatment technique or research findings. The contemporary world of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis is a rapidly changing evolution of exciting new ideas and discoveries and we want you help us identify and bring in the speakers that will best serve your interests and curiosity. If you have some ideas for topic presentations or individuals that you feel would make great presenters, please feel free to contact one of us, one of the ICP&P Board members (a list of Board members on our website: www.icpeast.org or in your ICP&P directory) or our program coordinator, Tricia Olsen. We really want your ideas and feedback. We are currently planning programs for 2012-2013 and would welcome the opportunity to incorporate your suggestions into the schedule.

March begins nominations/elections season for ICP&P. You will be receiving a call for nominations in the near future. Please participate in the important institute function by submitting a nomination ballot. Many thanks to Gail Winston and Judy Marx for leading the nominations process. Please feel free to contact either of them, Morgan or any Board member with any questions or concerns.


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 February meeting:

  • The Board discussed the policy for scholarships allocations for the training programs. Informally, the practice has been that there will be no more than two half-tuition scholarships, but usually there has only been one person per year who receives a scholarship.
  • The guidelines for conference presentations that were developed at the request of the Board have been sent to all the speakers for future conferences. The final plans for the Annual Conference which will be on alcoholism were reviewed. There will be a presentation, a responding panelist, and the presentation of a case.
  • Marilyn Voigt has stepped down from her position as Co-Program Director and the Board is now seeking her replacement. Study Group leaders will be polled for possible persons to take the position.
  • Graduation is June 5th at the Key Bridge Marriott.
  • The Board discussed the possibility of raising the tuition for the training programs.
  • Jeffrey Jay reported on the results of the Community Collaboration Project Survey. Based on the results of the survey, he will pursue the possibility of developing a program of collaboration with the area community-oriented nonprofits organizations.
  • The Next Board meeting will be March 21st at 7:45pm in the ICP&P offices.

Note the Coordinator of Programs

Patricia Olsen

Our Annual Conference is coming up Saturday, May 7, 2011 from 8:30 am to 4:15 pm (includes lunch). We are very excited to have with us Brian Johnson, MD, who present A Focus on the Treatment of Addictions in Psychotherapy. Brian will discuss how this approach differs from Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavior, with a short segment on depression and addictions. In the afternoon there will be a case presentation by Mary Brennan, PhD followed by a panel discussion with Brian and Roger J. Segalla, PhD. The Conference will be held at the National 4-H Conference Center, 7100 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD. Brochures will be mailed out the end of March.


Note from the Coordinator of Training

Susan Gorman

The Psychoanalytic, Psychotherapy and Couples Training Programs are recruiting for classes beginning in September 2011. If you are interested in signing up or getting more information, please contact Susan Gorman at 703-356-8839.


Note from the Chair, Psychotherapy Training Program

Faith Lewis

The Psychotherapy Training Program will hold an Open House for anyone interested in finding out about the next training cycle, beginning in Sept. 2011. We will gather on Sunday, April 10, from 4:00 to 5:30 PM at 4511 17th Street in Washington, DC. There will be representatives there from the faculty and the current training class. To RSVP or for more information contact Monica Callahan at callahanml@erols.com or 301-587-6211, or Faith Lewis at faithglewis@gmail.com or 202-409-6835.


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.


Transformations by Judy Marx

I recently saw "Let Me Down Easy", the docu-drama theatrical work by Anna Devere Smith, in which she transforms herself into three dozen or so people whom she had interviewed about health and health care. I watched, transfixed, as she magically melded from one character into another, changing voice, gestures, body carriage, world. When I next returned to my office for a long day of clients, I found myself wondering what kind of transformations happen there. Of course therapy is about the changes, the transformations, that our clients hope to make. But what happens to us, the therapists, as we go from hour to hour?

I am acutely aware of each client whose life I enter into as part of our therapeutic contract. But how do I do this? How does the client's life inhabit me and how do I inhabit the client's? I recently asked a rather misanthropic man, upon finishing a rant about the uselessness of people and his preference for solitude, "What about me? Why come to therapy to talk with another useless human being?"

Somewhat to my surprise (and considerable relief), he paused thoughtfully, then confessed to finding our conversations different from others and helpful, though difficult. This therapy is still in an early stage, and I have yet to undergo the transformations of the transference/countertransference dance in which I will become some of those useless human beings who have so injured him, and he will become a hate-filled aggressor in one of my own dramas. I'm certain that, in time, we will embody those roles.

But for now, I am Dr. Marx-with-him, someone different from the useless folks who people his daily life.

End of session. In steps another client. Again, a dance. Who is this, and who am I with this person? Into whose life do I now enter? How do I need to be with this person, at this point in the therapy? I want to think further about my transformations as I shift from one hour to the next throughout the day. I marvel at Anna Devere Smith's ability to so fully inhabit so many characters and imagine her exhaustion at the end of each show. And I appreciate the exhaustion of our work.

Who applauds for us at the end of our day?


UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Fridays, March 25 – April 15, 2011 ICP&P presents Short Course- The Impact of Countertransference in Couples Therapy with Tybe Diamond, MSW, BCD from 3:00-5:00pm in Washington, DC.
  • Sunday, April 10, 2011 – ICP&P's Psychotherapy Training Program will hold an Open House from 4:00-5:30pm in Washington, DC for anyone interested in learning more about the program. To RSVP or for more information, please contact Faith Lewis at faithglewis@gmail.com or Monica Callahan at callahanml@erols.com
  • Thursday, April 13, 2011 – ICP&P will hold a reading group for anyone interested in the Psychoanalytic Training Program at the home of Elizabeth Carr in Silver Spring, MD. Please contact Linda Kanefield at kaneschn@gmail.com for more information.
  • Friday, May 6, 2011 The George Washington University PsyD program is pleased to present Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Multiple Diversities in the New Millennium with Salman Akhtar, MD, Kimberlyn Leary, Ph.D., MPA, Dorothy E. Holmes, Ph. D., ABPP (Clinical Psychology) from 9am-5:15pm. 6 CE credits are offered. Proposals for clinical, theoretical, and research papers (of 20 minutes duration), or panel sessions (groups of papers on a common theme, to last 1 hour 50 minutes), dealing with the conjunction of the psychodynamics of diversity and psychological or psychoanalytic explorations may be submitted no later than 2/25/11 to Dr. Richard Ruth:
  • Saturday, May 7, 2011 ICP&P's 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.
  • Sunday, June 5, 2011 Graduation for ICP&P's Training Programs at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, VA

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.
  • Trauma Consultation Group - Christine Courtois and Jeffrey Jay have space in a consultation group for therapists working with psychological trauma. The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Two well known books by Dr. Courtois have been recently updated and republished: Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders, An Evidence-Based Guide, and Healing the Incest Wound. Jeffrey Jay has extensive clinical and forensic experience in treating and evaluating victims of war, crime, and disaster. For further information, call Jeffrey Jay at 202-362-0063.
  • 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.
  • Office Space Available – located at 2000 P Street (Dupont Circle) above the old book store, the suite has 4 offices (all with windows), a bathroom, and a work room with a refrigerator. One of the offices is particularly well suited for a therapist starting to build their practice, or someone sizing down. The price is quite reasonable for the location. It will become available around April 1, 2011. Please contact Elaine Hoffman at elaineshoffman@msn.com
  • Office Space Available – located at Dupont Circle two blocks from the Metro. The office is spacious, charming, sunny, has a waiting room and is available hourly or as a part-time sublet on Fridays. If desired, two parking spaces available, 1 for renter (inside garage), 1 for renter's patients (outside garage.) Contact Sarah Pillsbury at 202-332-9473.
  • Office Space Available - Very nice furnished office in Foggy Bottom conveniently located near GWU and The World Bank available Thursday and Friday as well as hourly. Contact Zsuzsanna Gyorky at 202-785-0207 or at zgyorky@comcast.net

The deadline for submitting items for the April 2011 Newsletter is March 27, 2011