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October 2011

Note from the Director and Co-Director

Roger Segalla and Maxine Ellenberg Arnsdorf

With Roger away at the International Association of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology Conference, Maxine is left pondering the question - if we ran an old column in this month's newsletter, would anyone notice? Tempting as that thought is, I will try to say something useful or interesting in this space. It is at times like this that I wish I had Director Emeritus Wendy Fischer's gift for relating observations and experiences in everyday life to our clinical work.

Thinking back over the ICP&P activities in the last 6 weeks (the pot luck meeting, the SPI preconference and full day Saturday conference, a short course on couples therapy, a faculty training on supervision, three training program classes -2 in the Psychotherapy program and 1 in the Psychoanalytic program- beginning another academic year, study group meetings) and looking ahead to the multitude of offerings described in this Newsletter, creates a variety of feelings. There is pride in the level of activity and diversity of offerings; there is excitement at all the different opportunities for learning; there is appreciation of all the behind-the-scenes time and effort that is involved in pulling all this off. We hope that you are finding the time and resources that you spend with ICP&P to be satisfying and nourishing.

If you have not yet found your way to any activities, there are several interesting and exciting (and free to members) programs coming up in the next few months that you should strongly consider putting on your calendars. Please take a few minutes and read the offerings described in the Newsletter. Register for something! And your comments, reactions and feedback are always of interest.


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 September meeting:

  • Patricia Olsen reported on several program issues: The Self Psychology Institute began on September 17th with Frank Lachmann. With attendance of close to 150 on Saturday, and upwards of 25 at Friday's pre-conference, the weekend was successful both educationally and financially. Arrangements are proceeding on schedule for the December 10th conference and Scientific Day in March 2012.
  • Eleanor Howe reported that some Study Groups are being organized so that they can qualify for continuing education credits for participants.
  • ICP&P will host a site visit from MEDCHI this winter.
  • Susan Gorman reported that the various training programs are in full swing this fall. All of the Members in Training are looking for cases.
  • Martha Gibbons reported that present membership is 251, with forty new members since September 2010.
  • The next Board meeting will be October 17, 2011.

Note from Coordinator of Programs

Patricia Olsen

The second weekend of Self Psychology Institute features a pre-conference session dealing with Self Psychology and couples on November 18th and a full-day Saturday program featuring our own Joseph Lichtenberg entitled Affects, Intentions and Goals: A New Look at Motivation. Registration information is available later in the Newsletter, on the website or by contacting Morgan Theriot at icpeastadmin@att.net.

Janis Abrahms Spring, Ph.D., ABPP will join us on Saturday morning, December 10, 2011 to speak on how she helps couples tackle and transcend the trauma of infidelity. Even the most experienced therapists can feel overwhelmed by couples in the midst of a crisis of infidelity, when partners rage and precipitously drop out of therapy. Both the client and therapist battle feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Dr. Spring will discuss:

  • How to manage secrets in couples therapy, helping partners decide how much and what information should be shared about the affair.
  • How to help couples normalize the emotional avalanche of their experience so they don't feel so discouraged, ashamed, self-righteous, or alone.
  • How to help unfaithful and hurt partners identify yearnings, addictions, family of origin experiences, and other contributing factors that made them vulnerable to an affair.
  • How to better understand the power and illusion of romantic love, and make a thoughtful decision about whether to fight for the marriage or end it.
  • How to facilitate the re-building of trust, rekindle intimacy and connection, and earn forgiveness for couples recommitting to their relationship.

The emphasis of this workshop will be on providing practical and concrete tools for helping partners take responsibility for their share of the relationship damage and grow as individuals and as a couple.

Dr. Spring has written After the Affair: Healing the Pain and Rebuilding Trust When a Partner Has Been Unfaithful, Amazon's #1 best seller in its category of couples and family therapy and How Can I Forgive You? The Courage to Forgive, The Freedom Not To. These books will be on s

ale at the workshop.

Note that this workshop is free to Members of ICP&P, and will be held at the National 4-H Conference Center, 7100 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD. Registration

Finally, save the date for ICP&P's Scientific Day on March 3, 2012.


Membership Committee Opportunity

Martha Blechar Gibbons


A committee has been established to welcome new members to ICP&P. Members of this committee would contact individuals as they enter the institute, introduce them to other members, offer guidance on ways to participate in our organization (such as joining study groups, volunteering, etc.), and would be available for questions and concerns. This is an opportunity to promote fellowship and facilitate the growth and development of ICP&P! Contact Martha Blechar Gibbons, Coordinator of Membership, at 202 364 3919, or marthagibbons123@verizon.net.


Note on Study Groups

Debra Caplowe

ICP&P Study Groups are an excellent way to learn about interesting subjects and forge relationships with colleagues. Groups generally meet once or twice a month and meeting times during the day or evenings are available. Several current groups have openings for new members (see description of one such group below). If you are interested in learning more about joining a group, please contact Debra Caplowe at 703-795-4226 or debracaplowe@gmail.com.

William Harman has openings in his Mindfulness Meditation Study Group. The group meets the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month from 6:30pm–8pm at 2701 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 606 in Washington, DC (Across from the Woodley Park Metro). This is a new study group for clinicians interested in learning more about mindfulness meditation and how to integrate it into their therapy practices. There are many levels of integration - from just using it yourself to deepen your listening skills to using guided meditations with your clients/patients for specific purposes. Although there will be a list of suggested readings, the group will decide on readings either from the list or from other selections suggested by group members. Although primarily a study group, we may choose to practice some experiential exercises together and discuss how to apply what we're learning together to specific cases. If you are interested in learning more about this group, please contact William Harman at williamfharman@verizon.net or at 202-986-3828.


Note from Chair, Couples Therapy Training Program

Michael Wannon


I would like to encourage anyone interested in couples work to consider taking advantage of several opportunities that ICP&P is offering.

On Friday, November 18th Barbara Shapard, MSW and Damon Silvers, PhD will be offering an SPI pre-conference entitled Self Psychology and Couples. This program will also feature a case presentation by Sharon Ballard, MSW. Barbara Shapard is on the faculty of the Couples Training Program and Sharon Ballard is a recent graduate of the program. The session will provide those who attend a wonderful opportunity to learn and apply Self Psychology theory to clinical work with this population.

On Saturday, December 10th Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD, ABPP will present her talk After the Affair: From Trauma to Reconnection. Dr. Abrahms Spring will address this difficult clinical challenge with a focus on direct interventions clinicians can take to usher a couple through the trauma of an affair. Dr. Abrahms Spring has a reputation for being a dynamic and engaging speaker. The program is also free for members!

Finally, there are currently four Members-in-Training who are meeting once a month with me to discuss couples cases in anticipation of enrolling in the Couples Program in September, 2012. There is no cost to be part of this group, and it meets on the last Wednesday of the month between 1:15-2:30pm. If you are interested in learning more about this group, please contact me at 301-951-9488 or email me at menaw1@aol.com.


Scientific Day

Richard Ogden


ICP&P's Scientific Day is scheduled for Saturday, March 3, 2012. This is a half-day event that happens every other year in order to provide ICP&P members an opportunity to present an original paper and receive feedback from colleagues. There are no restrictions regarding topic, format, or theoretical orientation. In past years, the presentations have been approximately 35 minutes long with another 25 minutes reserved for discussion. While additional information is forthcoming in future newsletters, this note will hopefully prompt you to consider ideas that you might want to organize and share with member colleagues in a supportive and creative milieu.

The deadline for submission is January 15, 2012. If you are interested in learning more about presenting at Scientific Day, please contact me at rlogden@hotmail.com or (301) 986-5499.


New Member Introduction

Martha Blechar Gibbons

It is my pleasure to welcome Tanya Clausen, MSW to ICP&P. Tanya earned her Master of Social Work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, which launched her on an adventurous career. Tanya has held many positions before establishing a private practice in Alexandria, Virginia, which is her current location. Among her endeavors she has served as senior clinician at Comprehensive Treatment and Recovery in Fairfax, Virginia, a mental health therapist at Franconia Road Treatment Center in Alexandria, Virginia, a volunteer social worker at Benedictine Community Lay Volunteer Program in Gualan, Guatemala, (where she was able to apply her fluency in Spanish) and adjunct professor in the College of Education and Human Development Counseling and Development Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

"I feel passionate about my work," Tanya says. "I love connecting with people." Her enthusiasm is evident as she describes her dedication to trauma work and her preference for working as a team member, which makes independent practice more challenging. Tanya, a mother of two, has just celebrated her fortieth birthday, and believes that her life experiences inform her practice.

Tanya grew up dancing ballet, and this ability has been central to her current appreciation for the connection between movement and affect regulation. She introduces Yoga techniques to move the treatment beyond talk therapy to the experiential domain. She employs EMDR in her trauma work, finding that it is significant in assisting people to develop inner strength and internal resources.

During Tanya's childhood she was introduced to Spanish, a language spoken in her home between her parents and their friends. This experience prepared her to acquire the language when she moved to Guatemala. Her competence in Spanish allows her to include the Latino population in her practice. Fortunately for me, Tanya is also fluent in English...otherwise this interview would never have taken place!


News and Notes

Elaine Hoffman is having a one woman photography exhibit, from Sept 28 - Oct 23, at the Goldman Gallery at the JCC of greater Washington. There will be a reception Oct 23, from 2-4pm. This exhibit will be a compilation of 60 of her photographs.

ICP&P Yahoo Member Listserv - ICP&P maintains a member listserv which is intended as a place for members to post information (like conferences sponsored by other organizations that would be of interest to ICP&P members) or to ask for information regarding professional issues or resources. As new members join the organization or at any time after that up on request, the ICP&P Administrator will initiate an invitation to join the listserv from Yahoo. The method of posting items on the listserv is as follows: go to Yahoo groups on the Yahoo website and find the group "ICP-Info" under "My Groups". Click that group name. You will enter the ICP&P Yahoo group for members. To send a message, click on "Messages" then click "Post". If you are interested in joining the Yahoo Listserv, please contact Morgan Theriot at icpeastadmin@att.net so that she can send you an invitation.


UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Selected Fridays, October 21, 2011 – December 16, 2011 – ICP&P presents A Series of Short Courses: An Integration of Neuroscience, Mind-Body Principles and Self & Relational Psychotherapies with Jean Gearon, PhD, Bill Harman, PhD, Katie Kelly, Faith Lewis, MSW, Karen Schachter, MSW and Stephen Stein, PhD.
  • Sunday, October 23, 2011 – The Washington School of Psychiatry presents Stories of Strokes with Melinda Salzman, MSW and Flora Ingenhousz, MSW.
  • Friday, October 28 and Saturday 29, 2011 - Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (formally the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology) presents Alternatives to Biological Psychiatry: If We Don't Medicate, What Do We Do? in Los Angeles, CA. For more information, visit www.psychintegrity.org .
  • Saturday, October 29, 2011 - Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work presents the Alice Kassabian Memorial Conference Shadows of Multiple Realities and Difference within Clinical Experience. Cosmos Club, 2121 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC.
  • Friday, November 18, 2011 – ICP&P presents SPI pre-conference session Self Psychology and Couples featuring Barbara Shapard, MSW and Damon Silvers, PhD with a Case Presentation by Sharon Ballard, MSW from 3:00-6:15pm 6256 Clearwood Road, Bethesda, MD 20817.
  • Saturday, November 19, 2011 – ICP&P presents Self Psychology Institute conference two Affects, Intentions and Goals: A New Look at Motivation 8:45am – 6pm. Cosmos Club, 2121 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.
  • Saturday, December 10, 2011 – ICP&P presents After the Affair: From Trauma to Reconnection with Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD, ABPP. 9:00am – 12:30pm. National 4-H Conference Center, 7100 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD.
  • Sunday, February 12, 2012 – Joint Institute Candidates Committee conference, 3-6pm, Rockville, MD.
  • Saturday, March 3, 2012 – ICP&P presents Scientific Day. National 4-H Conference Center, 7100 Connecticut Avenue, 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.

  • Psychotherapy Groups - offered at 4707 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC.
    • Mixed gender psychotherapy group for ages 28 – 50
    • Mixed gender psychotherapy group for ages 50 plus
    • Psychotherapy/Support Group for Caretakers, co-lead by Anya Gill and Tybe Diamond.
    Group times will be arranged based on a blend of client's schedules. Candidates receive a complimentary 30 min. phone call. For more information contact Tybe Diamond at 202-966-1381 or email to ibtybe@aol.com .
  • Seeking Office Space - Looking for office space to rent part-time (not on weekends), preferably in the Bethesda/ Chevy Chase area. Please contact Brigitte Ladisch at 301-652-6250 or 301-651-7592.
  • Office Space Available - in private office with kitchenette and bath in Dupont Circle. Residential building, open 24-hours, with lobby desk monitored. Great place to build a practice -- so far three of my tenants have moved on to their own offices following start-up in my office. Available for whatever time blocks needed mornings Mon - Wed and all day Thursday. Contact Sheila Cahill at sheilacahill@mac.com or call 202-656-2415.
  • Office Space Available - Chevy Chase MD part-time sublet in newly renovated suite with friendly colleagues. Highland House is 2 blocks from Friendship Heights Metro and has in-building garage parking and concierge lobby. Second-floor office has one floor-to-ceiling window and is fully furnished (including Ekornes chair for you and Crate & Barrel small sofa for patients). Free wifi. Upscale waiting room and great sound-proofing between offices. Rent $12/hr. for a minimum 3-hour block, negotiable as you commit to larger time block. Flexible schedule. Office available 2.5 weekdays plus 2 weekend days. Contact Laurie Kaslove at (301) 254-4650 or sheilacahill@mac.com.
  • Office Space Available - Large, warm, sunny, well-appointed office in a beautiful 3-person suite with a friendly, collegial atmosphere is available to sublet on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays as of Tuesday, December 6, 2011. Evening hours and weekends are also possible. The office is located in a professional office building just a short walk from the Dupont Circle, Farragut North, and Farragut West metro stations. For more information, please contact Dylana Blum, PsyD at 202-631-1462 or dylanablum@gmail.com .

The deadline for submitting items for the November 2011 Newsletter is October 25, 2011