by June Lin-Arlow, AMFT 

Those of us who were at Division 39’s 40th Annual Spring Meeting: Reckoning / Foresight witnessed and participated in a bold convening on, dare I say, the future of psychoanalysis. It was nice to see familiar faces from the NCSPP community presenting on important topics that psychoanalysis is finally grappling with: Gregory Desierto, Alexander Shen, Tim Kim, Mamta Dadlani, Molly Merson, Ben Morsa, Carnella Gordon-Brown, and Tara Bredesen, just to name a few. Psychoanalysis is reckoning with its history, and there was an intentional focus on deconstructing foundational topics, like neutrality and the Oedipal Complex, and centering voices that are typically marginalized in these spaces. 

This month at Impulse we are also turning our focus on deconstructing dominant structures in society that are reproduced in our organizations and relationships. Todd Rising, President of NCSPP, shares our plans to take a reflective pause in programming to do necessary and long-awaited anti-racist work within our organization. In Potential Space, Rebekah Tinker offers a deeply moving reflection on how sexual violence impacts all women and examines the role of a therapist working within a patriarchial social structure.