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Volume 33 Number 3 Volume ewsUniting the Schools of Thought NAAPWorld Organization and Public Education Corporation - NationalN Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis GM% G3 FGO ' = In this issue 2010 NAAP Conference Brain Change Spirituality & Psychoanalysis G>'MDLAHD=.@=GJA=KAF*KQ;@G9F9DQKAK.@=09DM= GJA=KAF*KQ;@G9F9DQKAK.@=09DM=G>'MDLAHD=.@ 9DQKAK.@=09DM=G>'MDLAHD=.@=GJA=KAF*KQ;@G9 G>'MDLAHD=.@=GJA=KAF*KQ;@G9F9DQKAK.@=09DM= GJA=KAF*KQ;@G9F9DQKAK.@=09DM=G>'MDLAHD=.@Summer 2010 PRESIDENT’S REPORT From a Field of Overseer and two sub-committees: one, Discord and Schism the Think Tank Committee and the other, to a Field Full of Vigor the Event Planning Committee. We would The National Association for the Advancement — A Mindset Shift like the Think Tank to have a representative of Psychoanalysis from each school of thought and represen- As you know, a “defin- tatives from all institutes on both commit- President ing characteristic of tees, so that the overall Conference Pamela Armstrong-Manchester psychoanalysis since Committee is reflective of the diverse Vice President and Treasurer Pamela Armstrong- its founding has been NAAP membership. Pam Donleavy Manchester discord and schism. NAAP, established in The Think Tank would decide upon the Executive Director 1972, is the first concerted effort to unite conference theme, keynote speaker and/or Margery Quackenbush the various psychoanalytic schools of panelists, and the workshops and their NAAP News thought….” leaders. The Event Planning Committee © 2010 The National Association for the would be the facilitators of the conference. Advancement of Psychoanalysis. Each year at NAAP’s annual conference we Summer 2010. Volume 33, Number 3. bring together a selection of the many psy- We would like membership on each com- choanalytic schools of thought for lively dis- mittee to be staggered so that there are Editor-in-Chief Pamela Armstrong-Manchester cussions focusing on specific theoretical and always at least half the people who have clinical psychoanalytic topics. Our goal is to been on the committees and half new, in Executive Editor include all the schools of thought over sev- order for learning from each group to be Kirsty Cardinale eral years. transferred to the other. Eventually, after a learning curve in collaboration using this Editorial Board This year it is our pleasure to bring you new method (always a work in progress), Arthur Pomponio Marge Blaine Donnel Stern as the keynote speaker of many hands will mean both lighter work Ginny Rachmani our conference — Do You Know Me ? for all and hopefully a richer experience for The Value of Multiple Theories in both conference committee members and Contributors Psychoanalysis. conference participants. Patricia Bratt Susan Kavaler-Adler We would like to plan our conferences Jodi Kosofsky Donnel Stern notes: “…as long as the Millicent Lambert practitioners of conflicting theories are several years ahead. In this way, the Think Robert Marchesani conducting genuine conversation with one Tank will have time to explore the issues in Steve McCombs another, the existence of multiple concep- each school of thought that are old and Robert Quackenbush tions of practice is a sign of the field’s enduringly important, as well as the new vigor.” How exciting is that! Come join us ideas we would all be interested to learn. It International Correspondents Ann Casement, England for another day of stimulating ideas, a deli- would give time to study what the insti- Alberto Fergusson, South America cious lunch, and the pleasure of one anoth- tutes and organizations outside of NAAP John Gosling, South Africa er’s company at the cocktail hour on are talking and writing about, so that we Roberto Pani, Italy November 6, 2010, at the Downtown can learn from them as well. Ideally, the Marriott in New York City. Think Tank would gain an overview of the Art Director important new and enduringly old issues in Elliott Hom Turning from the conference proper to the field of psychoanalysis, as well as the Art Consultant and Cartoonist conference planning, we have a proposal people writing and talking about them, to Robert Quackenbush which should spark even more interest in share with our NAAP community at our our future conferences, bringing us — our annual scientific conferences. NAAP News, a quarterly publication of NAAP, schools of thought and institutes — more reserves the right to edit all copy. Keep looking at NAAP's E-Bulletin for Subscriptions are part of membership and can together in the conference planning be extended to non-members for $24 per process. This will be an opportunity for more detailed information on how to take year. Single copies are available for $6. To sub- “genuine conversations with one another,” part in our new Conference Committees. scribe, write to NAAP News, 80 Eighth both fascinating and invigorating! Avenue, Suite 1501, New York, NY 10011; call (212) 741-0515; or e-mail [email protected] . We would like to introduce a Conference Unless noted, no printed matter in NAAP News Think Tank to the conference planning reflects the endorsement or official position of the process. In brief, the organizational struc- National Association for the Advancement of ture of the Conference Committee would Psychoanalysis or NAAP News. be as follows: there will be a Conference Pamela Armstrong-Manchester PAGE 2 SUMMER 2010 SCENES FROM NAAP’S 6TH ANNUAL LEADERSHIP COCKTAIL PARTY by Robert Quackenbush At NAAP’s annual leadership cocktail party held on May 2, outgoing president Jennifer Harper introduced NAAP’S new president, Pamela Armstrong- Manchester, who gave a stirring acceptance speech. She spoke of the history of medicine from the 1500’s to the present day and how psychoanalysis began making its own history in 1891, just after medicine Pamela Armstrong Manchester, NAAP's new president, addresses the audience became licensed in New York State, and where psychoanaly- sis is today. She asked, “What is the public understanding of psychoanalysis The new president praises the former president, today?” and “What is Jennifer Harper, who receives an ovation appropriate research for psychoanalysis today?” She compared the current field, with its many schools of thought, to the well-known folk tale of five blind men trying to identify an elephant. Her talk was followed by observations from audience members, including Harold Davis, one of NAAP’s founders, who talked about the formation of NAAP 38 years ago, and Sherman Pheiffer, president of NPAP, who talked about the founding of the journal The audience responds to the new president's questions Psychoanalytic Review. It was a splendid intellectual evening filled with warmth and good cheer, enough to match the warmth of the second day of May with its sunny, comforting weather, long overdue. Eleanor Davis takes notes during the discussions at the event Photo credits: Robert Quackenbush THE 2010 NAAP ANNUAL CONFERENCE – DO YOU KNOW ME? THE VALUE OF MULTIPLE THEORIES IN PSYCHOANALYSIS by Patricia Bratt WHERE WILL YOU BE? underpinning our theories. Clinical techniques are Join us on November 6 for the 38th Annual Conference to cele- inspired by theoretical posi- brate NAAP’s mission honoring the rich diversity of thought tions that are expressions of among its institute members and providing forums for an the values through which the exchange of these ideas. practitioner, or theoretician, views the meaning of emo- Do You Know Me? The Value of Multiple Theories in tional well-being and healthy Psychoanalysis functioning. The value con- text defines what is aspired The quest to understand the individual, the psyche, motivations to in the treatment, as the influencing behavior, and the interpersonal forces shaping culture theory informs technique. drives all psychoanalytic study. But what are the root values of the Therapeutic techniques are individuals and schools of thought guiding theory development designed to move functioning and the techniques derived from them? What values define the toward a prescribed matura- goals informing the techniques analysts use? We can observe the Patricia Bratt tional model. end product of theoretical formulation, but do we really know why the subject was approached in a certain way? Can we ident- According to Stern, the more values are made explicit, the better ify the underlying values of the theoretician or clinician from their able we are to evaluate both theory and technique. He describes technique? a method for studying value systems underlying theory and tech- nique development, and for making the implicit in theory explicit. The Keynote Speaker Dr. Stern notes, “…as long as the practitioners of conflicting theo- Donnel Stern, Ph.D. ries are conducting genuine conversations with one another, the existence of multiple conceptions of practice is a sign of a field’s “Implicit Theories of vigor.” That itself is an example of an underlying value informing Technique and the Values theory of technique. When one holds the position that the exis- That Inspire Them” tence of multiple models of practice is a positive indicator in a discipline, one evaluates them from a different perspective than Donnel Stern is Training when multiple conceptions are considered a negative. and Supervising Analyst and a Faculty Member at Dr. Stern will explore an important tool for knowing ourselves the William Alanson White and each other. It is a way in which we can re-establish and Institute in New York. He reassess a connection with the fundamental values we implement is also a Faculty Member in our work. Just as important, it can provide a window on the value systems of other theoretical frameworks within our disci- Donnel Stern and Supervisor in the NYU Postdoctoral pline, providing a means to understand better how they arrive at Program in Psychotherapy a theory of technique and how their guiding principles are similar and Psychoanalysis. Dr. Stern is the editor of “Psychoanalysis in a to or different from one another.