The
Analytic Observer
Newsletter of the
Chicago Psychoanalytic Society
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4
December 1997
Contents
The
President's Page by Hank Evans
from the Counselor's Seat by
Mark Levey
The Institute Connection
by Tom Pappadis,
M.D.
Institute Activities:
Fluency Readiness
Program by Alixandra Feinberg
Psychoanalysis and Public
Relations:
Some Clarification by Mark Smaller,
Ph.D.
Coming Events!
The Society Goes Online
Editor..............................Richard I. Herron, MD
Asst. Editor.....................Phil S. Lebovitz, MD
Assistant to the Editors..Ms. Lucy Wrobel
Hank Evans
Our 1997-98 year is in full swing. Our first
two scientific presentations and discussions have gotten the year off to
a good start. Arnold Goldberg began the year with his paper
"Deconstructing the Dialectic, "discussed by James Fisch, followed in
October by Robert Galatzer-Levy's paper "Chaotic Possibilities: Toward a
New Model of Development" with discussion by Fred Levin. Both papers
were lively, thoughtfully discussed and brought fresh perspectives to
audience members.
In October, the Society also sponsored a
symposium: "In Honor of Dr. John E. Gedo: a Fusion of Humanism, Science
and Art" to honor his 70th birth day. The symposium was well attended
and those present were treated to a day of stimulating ideas in papers
by Robert Gardner, Arnold Modell, Leo Sadow, Arnold Wilson and Fred
Levin. Mike Gunther offered personal anecdotes at an imaginative lunch
arranged by David Solomon and both Mary and John Gedo spoke at the
evening banquet. The papers presented, 'With others gathered by
invitation, will be published in a volume marking this celebration. The
Arrangements Committee, under the guidance of Harvey Strauss and Fred
Levin, did a great deal of work to make the symposium a reality.
Our upcoming activities are equally exciting.
In January, Virginia Barry will present her paper "Self Organization and
Consciousness" to be discussed by Charles Jaffe. Jonathan Lear from the
University of Chicago will present "Knowingness and Abandonment: An
Oedipus for Our Time" in February to be discussed by Mike Gunther. In
addition to its intrinsic interest, Dr. Barry's paper will presage the
conference scheduled for March 21 and 22. Jointly sponsored by the
Society and the Institute, this conference will honor the 65th
anniversary of the Institute for Psychoanalysis. The conference is
entitled: "Psychoanalysis, Neuroscience and Therapeutic Change "
highlighting an area of high current interest within our field, a
rapprochement between psychoanalysis and neurobiology. We have come full
circle as we enter the second century of psychoanalytic thinking and
practice, with renewed interest in the issues which stimulated Freud to
write his "Project for a Scientific Psychology. " The current issue of
JAPA is devoted to these issues and a regular column focused on
interdisciplinary work involving psychoanalysis and neuroscience has
begun in the IJA. Conferences exploring the links between
psychoanalysis and the "emotional brain "have recently been held in
Cleveland and Boston. Our conference will be at the forefront of this
area of interest. Our keynote speaker will be Nobel laureate
Gerald Edelman, Director of the Scripps Institute. Author of
Neural Darwinism, The Remembered Present, and
Bright Air, Brilliant Fire, he is known to be a lively
stimulating speaker.
Those who attended the panel discussion at
the Institute on November 8 heard Virginia Barry, Robert Galatzer-Levy
and Eric Plaut discuss the relevance of these concepts for our field. A
documentary on Edelman, filmed by the BBC, will be shown at the
Wednesday Research Meeting on December 10 with discussion to follow.
Packets of reading material relevant to the conference are available for
a nominal fee from Robert Fajardo, The March 21-22 conference should
prove to be a highly stimulating and thought provoking meeting so mark
your calendars now!
In other Society business, the Executive
Committee is exploring the possibility of streamlining the process of
attaining membership. While circulating the names of those requesting
membership to Society members remains useful, the present requirement of
a letter from the Institute's Director or Dean and two letters of
recommendation seem rather redundant for candidates in good standing and
for graduates of our Institute. Discussion of this topic is important to
learn the opinions of Society members in general and any change in
procedure would require a vote, changing our Bylaws. We plan to announce
this topic for discussion and likely vote at the April business meeting.
If you wish to express your opinion now please write to me instead of
calling so that I can more faithful retain a record of your views.
I want to remind you that the Society has an
active website. Our address is www.3b.com/cps and we hope our Web Page
will be useful and used by our members and others. Currently, we plan to
provide a roster of the membership including office addresses and phone
numbers, abstracts of all papers presented to the Society and articles
from the Newsletter on condition of approval by the authors. If you have
suggestions for other uses, please contact Dick Herron.
Active discussion is going on in the American on
several important topics such as peer review, debate about the
advisability and safety/lack of safety about communicating with third
party payers. Mark Levey will report initiatives in development of the
Consortium as well as the topics discussed at the Fall Meeting.
Finally, the Executive Committee is also active
in a number of outreach and special activity projects. In early
December, Prudy Leib and Mark Levey will take part in a joint discussion
with the faculty for the Jungian Institute. Members of the Jungian
Institute approached us asking that we send one or more representatives
to an evening discussion in which collaborative dialog would occur on
issues of joint interest. The first topic is different theoretical and
technical approaches to dreams. A report on that experience will appear
in the next issue of the Newsletter. The Executive Committee is also
planning a series of casual get-togethers for Society members expanding
opportunities for us to gather around common interests. The Society
Matinee Program will begin this winter. Connie and Arnold Goldberg will
again hold one such meeting hosting Professor Eric Santner from the
German Department of the University of Chicago. Topic and date have not
, as yet, been determined. Get-togethers featuring areas of special
interest and expertise of Society members or members' spouses, partners
or friends is under consideration. Topics such as opera, photography,
theater, instrumental music, wine or literature are possibilities. Or
perhaps, just good food and conversation. We will be sending a
questionnaire to create a list of people and interests but, if you have
someone close to you or have a topic of interest, please contact Phil
Lebovitz. Overall, we hope for this to be a full and rewarding year.
By Mark Levey
The major item from the American is the Joint
Committee on External Accreditation's endorsement of the plan to
establish a Joint Accreditation Board with the Consortium provided
that the Independent Psychoanalytic Societies (free standing members
of the International) be part of the process. The decision will permit
maintaining educational standards while unifying colleagues and
training programs. This decision resulted from the Consortium's
considerable progress in establishing agreed upon educational
standards which would allow, initially, an external certification of
institutes and eventually external certification of practitioners. (I
previously discussed the suggestions for minimal standards and posted
a copy of those suggestions on the bulletin board in the lounge of the
Institute). The committee hopes that BOPS and the Council will approve
this plan at the December meeting along with the suggestion that a
standing joint committee be permitted to monitor the ongoing
Consortium process to better keep the Council and membership appraised
of future activities. Three other items will be addressed at the
December meetings. The first is a bylaw change permitting non-doctoral
candidates to be members of the American. This is a pro forma matter
as BOPS had previously sanctioned local autonomy in the admission of
candidates with a MSW. The exact wording of the new bylaw is still
being circulated among the counselors.
Secondly, a sub-committee on ethics has
suggested that each local group establish an ethics committee.
Objections to this plan have arisen, as some groups fear the expense
of possible liability. An alternative proposal has been that the local
committee could medicate or arbitrate complaints but that were a
complaint requires adjudication it could be referred to a local
professional specialty organization i.e. local branches of the
American Psychiatric, Psychological or Social Work Associations. The
sub-committee is trying to clarify the issues of liability and costs
and would welcome any feedback. There is an Ethics Workshop on Friday,
December 19 from 3-5 pm. Anyone wishing to represent the Society
should contact Hank Evans. (Suggested revisions are also on the
Bulletin Board in the lounge).
The third matter is that of Peer Review. A
committee whose charge is to support members confronting external
review and coordinating the development of Practice Guidelines for
Psychoanalysis will present its report. The committee is available for
consultation with members undergoing a review process. Drafts on
reporting to third parties have already been sent to Societies for
comment The committee recently sent a 69 point response to the
American Psychiatric Association's draft of Guidelines for Treatment
of Panic and Related Anxiety Disorders. That draft recommended only
psychopharmacological or behavioral interventions with no mention of
psychotherapy. This committee felt the proposed Guidelines moved away
from a biopsychosocial model to focus on the management of manifest
symptoms exclusively. They are encouraging the American Psychiatric to
not only reconsider the specifics but the advisability of a guideline
of this nature at any time.
The other news from the Executive Committee
meetings is of Dr. Margolis' continued contacts with analytic groups
outside the American to promote alliances and the analytic practice.
There is a pending cost of $100,000 to increase the office space and
computer capabilities and a proposal to include the subscription to
JAPA in the dues. These issues will be discussed at the next business
meeting. One clarification was also presented: That all counselors and
alternates as well as society officers and counselors-at-large need to
be certified members of the American.
The Institute
Connection
by Tom Pappadis,
M.D.
This fall has been filled with scientific
discussions covering the broadest range of theoretical and clinical
issues facing psychoanalysis today. We will continue in this vein as
we approach our major conference in March exploring Neuroscience and
Psychoanalysis to culminate the celebration of the Institute's 65th
anniversary.
Our diversity of theoretical positions remains
a constant in our discussion of intersubjectivity and self psychology,
object relations and libido theory. And, somehow we have remained
under one roof. In fact, the activity at 122 S. Michigan continues at
a high level.
I believe we are facing two challenges as an
educational institution. The first is defining the essentials of
psychoanalysis and to what degree of immersion and depth can we import
those concepts to our candidates. Can we, as a diverse faculty, agree
on standards of excellence to be achieved in areas such as the
understanding of interpsychic reality, analytic process, transference,
resistance and therapeutic alliance just to name a few? The second
challenge is addressing the current state of scholarship and doing
what we can to improve. First, starting with the faculty and extending
to all graduates and candidates, finding ways to stimulate writing,
publishing and presentations amongst our colleagues. I would like to
see study groups and workshops form around areas of common interest. I
would encourage more of you to present your work, ongoing, unfinished,
in progress or whatever at the Wednesday afternoon research seminar at
the Institute. I believe this would have a stimulating effect upon
all.
I would hope to continue the involvement of
the Institute and the Society using small groups to exchange ideas.
These groups would, like brushfires, ignite our analytic community
with a synergistic effect on the scientific productivity of all. I
believe too that such an effort would be well rewarded for each
individual in professional growth and satisfaction.
Please inform me or the Dean of your current
scientific interests so that they can be collated and directed either
through the Division of Research, seminars and presentations or to
like-minded study groups or workshops.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Each Newsletter will highlight a different
Institute Activity with the intention of informing the Society
Members of the various activities of the Institute.
Fluency Readiness
Program
by
Alixandra Feinberg
The FLUENCY READINESS program is an
ancillary program for chronic stuttering sponsored by the Institute.
It is designed to use a combination of cognitive and dynamic
psychotherapy which have been specially adapted for people who have
difficulty with speech. The program has been adapted to help
patients recognize difficulties in affect management and tension
regulation and to address those problems prior to a direct focus on
speech. The program has been in existence for three years treating
adults and children with a chief complaint of stuttering. For many
years, the field of stuttering treatment has been the province of
speech pathologists with the psychological aspect either ignored or
treated behaviorally. Our research project has indicated that when
stutterers have our form of treatment before receiving speech
fluency treatment, they have a better chance of making more natural
and enduring speech patterns.
Recently I undertook a long distance bike
ride to promote the concept and our program. "The Ride for
Readiness" was the title. We had promoted our new approach through
the usual methods: public relations, yellow pages and presentations.
However, we felt that it was time to make a strategic change in the
way we got the word out to the community. I got the idea of taking
the show on the road from a Wall Street Journal article on how
Airstream Trailers were being bought and adapted for different jobs.
From this story I conceived my bicycle ride. I bicycled into strange
towns, going into schools, attending picnics and even in one case
attending a plowing contest.
Dressed in bicycle gear and greasy, I talked
about our three missions: raising awareness that a new treatment for
stuttering is available and that our Program could be used on a
consultation basis to speech pathologists; raising money donated by
sponsors to produce videos demonstrating the unique techniques we
offer; and raising consciousness that old approaches to stuttering
which tend to ignore the emotions experienced by stutterers is not
useful and might be harmful.
My destination was the University of Iowa,
the birthplace of modem treatment for stuttering. The ride led to a
meeting with a professor who said "How can I turn you away after
riding 250 miles (264 to be exact) to see me?" One school principal
looked at me gear, grease, brochure et al and said: "Great
marketing." Four newspaper articles and two TV spots gave me
additional platforms. The increased public awareness of both the
FLUENCY READINESS program and the Institute leads me to suggest the
Institute consider variations on this type of event - bike rides or
even a posh trailer. The experience of simply getting out there and
"campaigning" if you will about services the Institute and Society
members offer and being able to address the myths that have
developed over the years about psychoanalysis is a effective way to
alter the Institute's image.
The ride also developed sponsors not
previously involved with the Institute. I received free physical
training from Athleico at the East Bank Club and other
locations. Big Shoulders Bicycle Shot) on North Ave was my
bike sponsor. Kylian, Graphic Design did my brochure at no
cost. All three have offered discounts to other projects sponsored
by the Institute or Society. Other sponsors were Julia Dyra, RD,
LD Nutrition; Carnegie Financial, who offered free fax;
Amalgamated Bank, who paid for brochure printing; and
Continental Courier, who offered free messenger service.
Leslie Frazier, a U of I. coach and former member of
the Bears Super Bowl team, was instrumental in getting out the
message and fundraising. All these sponsors are now aware of us and
constitute an ongoing resource for the Institute and the Society.
Some Clarification
by Mark Smaller,
Ph.D.
Chair, Public
Relations Committee
I recently had a very satisfying
experience with a reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times. He met me
for breakfast the Sunday morning of the recent
Self Psychology
Conference. We had contacted various media people about the
conference, especially after registration had closed because of
the response of over 700 people attending. I had suggested to the
media that self psychology grew out of the "Chicago School" of
psychoanalysis, not unlike the Chicago "school" of architecture
and pizza. The reporter and I talked for over an hour about self
psychology, Heinz Kohut and the Institute.
This reporter was genuinely interested,
wanted to know the difference between self psychology and
traditional analysis. He also commented that there was nothing in
the Sun-Times files about the Institute and the Society other than
obituaries over the years. Although he knew that analysts were
occasionally interviewed for stories, nothing about psychoanalysis
for over twenty years appeared in the paper. He thought people
were no longer interested or helped by analysis and he too was
familiar with the Freud "bashing" that goes on in the media.
The next day he wrote a one page article
about the conference, about Kohut and self psychology, based upon
what he had carefully and thoughtfully heard at our breakfast.
The article (Sun-Times, 11/ 17/97) appeared on the front page
of the Metro Section and portrayed to its readers that
psychoanalysis was alive and well and thriving. The article
described the development of self psychology as an outgrowth of
Kohut's and other's concerns that traditional analysis was not
helping certain kinds of people and that as a helping profession
we were concerned about this. Kohut and his courage, both
regarding his new ideas and facing his illness, were well
documented.
The goal of our public relations efforts
is NOT "to fill the empty hours of our members," as one of our
members wrote in the last Observer. The goal is to educate the
public, other mental health professionals about what it is that we
do, what we can offer of our knowledge about people, about what
motivates and drives people, what helps people with their
problems. We have knowledge useful in dealing with current
problems of violence, self-destructive behavior in society,
problems of children and families, problems of leadership and
group behavior.
The reason that "few people know what
psychoanalysis is or even fewer care," as was described in a
recent letter, is exactly the point. If our profession is to
survive and our knowledge propagated all must take the opportunity
educate the community whenever the opportunity presents itself.
The attitude that such efforts are "ill advised" is the attitude
of the past that has almost killed psychoanalysis. Our recent
efforts at public relations, not only through the media be through
our outreach efforts and our genuine interest in bringing new
people into our field will insure that our expertise will continue
to flourish and our work become more effective in relieving the
suffering of our patients. That is what makes this an exciting
time to be a psychoanalyst.
Public Relations starts with each of us
being willing to relate publicly to others about what it is that
we do. Those days of isolation and professional aloofness and
arrogance are over. Thank goodness. It's on to the 21st century of
psychoanalysis.
Chicago Psychoanalytic
Society Evening Meetings
OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY
January 27: Virginia
Barry MD: "Me Self Organization and Consciousness" Charles Jaffe
MD: discussant
February 24: Jonathan
Lear, PhD: from University of Chicago, "Knowingness and
Abandonment: An Oedipus for our Time" Meyer Gunther MD:
discussant
March 24: Annual
Business Meeting
WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON INSTITUTE
PRESENTATIONS
January 14: Judith
Keegan Gardner, PhD: "Feminist Theory in Psychoanalysis"
January 28: Don
McAdams, PhD, Professor of Human Development and Psychology at
Univ. of Chicago
February 11: Mikaly
Czikszentmidayli, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Univ. of
Chicago: "On Creativity"
February 24: Jonathan
Lear, PhD, Univ. of Chicago, Committee on Social Thought
March 11: Martha
McClintook, PhD, Univ. of Chicago, Department of Psychology
March 25: Brenda
Solomon, MD, and Bernard Rubin, MD, "Ethics"
THE 65TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE INSTITUTE
MARCH 21 AND 22
PSYCHOANALYSIS, NEUROBIOLOGY AND
THERAPEUTIC CHANGE
GERALD EDELMAN, MD, PHD
FEATURED SPEAKER
To many society members, the World Wide
Web is like a Model T Ford. Kind of cranky, won't always start
up when you want it to run and seems to break down for no good
reason. For all those members who have struggled with the web's
aches and pains, quirks and strains, the Society's executive
committee is determined to update the Society's Web Page.
Not to be outdone by organizations such
as the American Psychoanalytic Association, The New York
Institute or the Self Psychologists, we have engaged a
Webmaster. He just happens to be David Wolf, Ernie's son. David
is an expert at web pages and replaces Leo Weinstein who for a
while took it upon himself to create and run the previous web
page. Unfortunately, web pages require too much tinkering for
novices such as we.
Presently, the web site contains the
history of the Society, its mission, a directory of all the
Society members, a calendar of events and a copy of the
Newsletter.
The present policy is that only the
author of the Newsletter article may approve its use on the web.
The executive committee wishes that only the author determine if
they wish to expose their article to this extensive public
forum. Summaries of the Society's Tuesday evening presentations,
book chapters or articles written by Society members could be
included if the membership wished and the copyrights were
cleared. In fact, any comments about this plan or contributions
to the web page could be sent to the editor of this Newsletter
who is also acting liaison with the webmaster.
Hits on the web page over the next year
will be tallied to determine if indeed the world wide web is a
useful way of communicating with our community and the rest of
the world, and to avoid the prospect that the Executive
committee has created, involuntarily, another Edsel.
The web page can be reached through:
www.3b.com/cps
Get out your surfer and ride the wave on
the Society's future.... ie log on!
Webmaster's Note: Welcome!
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