Bulletin of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York VOL 57, NO.2 • Summer2019 in This Issue…
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Volume 57, Number 2 Summer 2019 Bulletin of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York VOL 57, NO.2 • Summer2019 In This Issue… Bulletin of Editorial The Psychoanalytic Elections , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . .3 Association of by Brenda Bauer Bringing a Psychoanalytic Sensibility to New York HBO Films . 4 EDITOR Bulletin Board . 6 425 EAST 79TH STREET, #1N NEW YORK, NY PANY’s Training Analyst and Certification Study 212-472-8867 Group e-mail: [email protected] The Indian American Psychoanalytic Alliance (IAPA) Editor PANY Members at the Gay Pride Parade Herbert H. Stein, M.D. PANY Scientific Meeting Schedule . 7 Assistant Editor Leslie Cummins, LCSW Film Essay by Herbert H. Stein PANY Shoplifters . .8 Director David Frank, M.D. Chair, Education Committee PANY News M. Carmela Perez, Ph. D. News and Notes of Members . 14 Chair, Graduate Society Committee Herbert Stein, M. D. Vice Chair, Graduate Society Committee Monica Michel, M.D. Councilor to the American Psychoanalytic Association Arthur Lew, M.D. Alternate Councilor Barry Rand, M.D. 2 Editorial Election Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz, a graduate, long time Speaking of elections, PANY will have some member, and current board member of PANY elections of its own this fall. Our bylaws require is a candidate for the position of President election for a number of positions at different Elect of the American Psychoanalytic intervals and this fall we are due to vote for offi- Association! cers and members of the Graduate Society If his status as a valued member of our com- Committee (formerly PANY Committee). munity were not enough to win our votes, Dr. When the society, which then monopolized Sulkowicz also has a unique qualification for the name, Psychoanalytic Association of New the position. Kerry, as many of you know, is a York, was merged with the psychoanaltyic psychoanalyst who has long practiced as a institute (IPE, formerly NYUPI, formerly The consultant to organizations, using his clinical Institute at NYUMC, formerly Downstate skills and knowledge of organizational struc- Psychoanalytic Institute), there were extensive ture. He is the Founder of Boswell Group negotiations and discussions aimed at insuring Consultants, which offers these services to that we preserve the structure and functions of businesses and organizations. As a member of the society. Some of you felt very strongly the American Psychoanalytic Association, he about this, and one of the lynchpins of that has served in an advisory capacity for the asso- merger was the establishment of a committee ciation. within the organization to take over the admin- What better qualifications could anyone istration of those functions and in effect have? Kerry is a psychoanalyst and a consult- replace the PANY Board of Directors. ant to organizations, an established expert in The bylaws are quite specific about the com- organizational functioning and problems. He position of the Graduate Society Committee. understands how we work both individually The elected officers of the committee, who are and organizationally. And, for many of us, he is Regular Members of PANY are the Chair, Vice- a friend. Chair, Secretary, Finance Chair and Councilor I urge you to vote for our own Kerry to the American Psychoanalytic Association. Sulkowicz in the upcoming election for There are two additional elected members of President Elect of the American Psychoanalytic the committee without specific title, who may Association. be Regular or PANY Affiliate Members. There HHS are also two ex officio members of the commi- tee, the Director of PANY and the EC Chair. Please consider this list of offices and think about offering your name in nomination if you are someone who is concerned about the viability and welfare of the PANY Society and our community at large. Think of it as an opportuity for you and for our community. In addition, please consider nominating others to be part of this committee, those that you think would offer an important voice. HHS 3 Bringing a Psychoanalytic Sensibility to HBO Films by Brenda Bauer In February 2017 two psychoanalyst member screenings and discussions to generate con- colleagues, Jill Gentile (NYU Post Doc) and structive work around the important topics of Kenneth Feiner (IPTAR) approached APsaA's sexual abuse, adolescent development, trau- Committee on Status of Women and Girls with ma, psychological healing and feminine/mas- an intriguing invitation. It was a request for culine identity developmental constructions assistance, really, in “getting the word out” on a among other psychoanalytically relevant top- fascinating new film, “The Tale,” which had ics. The response from local institutes and soci- recently premiered at Sundance Film Festival, eties was overwhelming. About a dozen insti- and was in short order bought by HBO Films tutes, societies and centers hosted screenings and would premiere on HBO in late-spring. and created educational content around the The Emmy-nominated film went on to earn film that were used both for public outreach several important awards. and for educational instruction to candidates “The Tale” stars Laura Dern, Ellen Burstyn, in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. John Heard, Jason Ritter and rapper and actor In the run-up to the May 2018 HBO premiere Common. Screenwriter and Director, Jennifer of “The Tale,” HBO held a specific film screen- Fox tells the true story of her own childhood ing for female athletes, “influencers,” and sexual abuse by a trusted coach, and how it activists at which many attendees were affects her later relationships. It is exceptional involved with various dimensions of club, col- for its subtle, realistic, and psychologically true lege, professional and semi-professional sports and jarring depiction of the experience of sex- in which there is a surprisingly high percentage ual abuse and its toll on memory, identity, rela- of sexual abuse of girls and young women by tionships, and sexuality, in the aftermath of coaches and staff. Many in attendance were abuse. “The Tale” explores aspects of sexual themselves sexual abuse survivors. I was invit- abuse that are not black and white. Themes ed by HBO to attend this screening as a mental such as predatory behavior, victimization, con- health professional familiar with trauma of this flation of sexual violation with desire, consen- kind in the event that attendees had difficulty suality and non-consensuality, and power with the rather raw, emotionally-charged film dynamics are woven into a compelling narra- content. Serving in this spontaneous clinical tive. capacity proved to be a rather harrowing, and Jill and Ken had served as script consultants humbling, experience, and demonstrated to for “The Tale,” to ensure that the story of child- me just how common childhood sexual abuse hood sexual abuse, and personal narrative and is in specific populations (athletic clubs and memory authentically conveyed the raw expe- schools) where there is little oversight of rience of trauma seen by psychoanalysts in our coaching staff and there is little sensitization of consulting rooms. They hoped to extend the parent groups, which are largely unaware of reach of this remarkable film into the mental how great this problem is. health professional community and to link us I also designed a symposium for APsaA's to other supporting organizations, such as 2019 Winter Meetings titled, “Agency, the RAINN, NASW, Planned Parenthood, and Joyful Complexities of Desire, and #MeToo in HBO's Heart Foundation, among others. 'The Tale': A Conversation with Filmmaker APsaA enthusiastically signed on to this Jennifer Fox,” which framed the film as an important collaboration, and as Director of the essential retelling of the story of seduction that Social Issues Department for APsaA, I went to had erupted into the public realm just as the work on helping the team at “The Tale” link to #MeToo movement sparked and ignited an his- local institutes and societies and hosting torically unprecedented cultural firestorm. 4 HBO Bauer The symposium panel argued that “The Tale” is public relations firestorm was created by the both a psychoanalytic story and the story of family of Michael Jackson and by fan groups psychoanalysis, and situated the film as a tale invested in preserving his legacy. of truth-telling, speaking truth to power, and After the March 3rd and 4th two-part HBO the reclaiming of memory and desire. Ken premiere, the Oprah Winfrey interview of Feiner, Jill Gentile, Barbara Mosbacher, and Jackson's accusers and the documentary direc- Lyn Yonack were panelists in conversation with tor, Dan Reed, titled “After Neverland,” would Jennifer Fox and feminist psychologist and follow the second part of the documentary. ethicist, Carol Gilligan, who helped us grapple OWN recruited 100 audience members who with the contemporary retelling of the story of were themselves childhood sexual abuse sur- seduction. vivors, some of them with a longstanding rela- HBO, it seemed to me as a long time viewer tionship with the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” to sit of their content, had taken a deep dive into in the first several rows of the theater. I was rather dark, stormy, previously untold subjects invited to be on hand for the audience mem- of great social significance when it brought the bers who may have difficulty with the quite Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order SVU) docu- graphic language and descriptions of child- mentary “I am Evidence” aboard their 2017 hood sexual abuse. Unlike previous groups primetime docket. That documentary film with which