by Natasha Oxenburgh, Psy.D.

I’m honored to introduce myself as NCSPP’s new President. I’ve been involved with NCSPP over the past few years as a member of the Education Committee and currently as its Chair. I would also like to warmly welcome our new President Elect, Sullivan Oakley, Psy.D., and Treasurer, Sydney Emerson, Psy.D. Both have a real passion for psychoanalytic thinking as well as longstanding commitments to psychodynamic work in community mental health and forensic settings. Sullivan has also been serving as the Chair of NCSPP’s Intensive Study Group. Together, we have formed a new Executive Committee, a subset of our Board.

Through my time on the Education Committee, I’ve helped develop and participate in many of our courses. One thing I’ve consistently heard is a desire for more community. Psychology can be a lonely profession and many members have expressed the need for more opportunities to think together in ways a psychoanalytic orientation uniquely supports, as well as simply to be together (ideally in person!).

In response, at our Board retreat this past January, we identified several “north stars” to guide our work. I’m excited to share these priorities: accessibility, community-building, and sustainability.

Accessibility means many things, including broadening both the topics we offer and who participates in and teaches within our organization, as well as reaching communities who may not yet know about us. Psychoanalytic training and community in the Bay Area can sometimes feel difficult to access, and we feel NCSPP is well-positioned to help bridge that gap by creating more open and accessible spaces for psychoanalytic thinking and learning. In line with these priorities, we’re launching a Community Outreach Committee to host accessible, oftentimes free, gatherings designed to foster connection and professional community. You may have already noticed an increase in in-person events this year, and there’s more to come. 

The sustainability north star is directed at our volunteers. We’re working to streamline administrative processes so that contributing to NCSPP feels manageable and rewarding. We know many more members are interested in getting involved, and we’re doing our best to bring more folks into the fold.

And our Annual Lecture is back! This year, NCSPP presents an afternoon with psychoanalyst, author, and professor Jamieson Webster, Ph.D., who will offer a contemporary psychoanalytic perspective on political conflict, war, and catastrophe. Drawing on Freud and others, she will explore both individual and collective dimensions of crisis, and how we might practice ethically amidst ongoing societal pressures. Dr. Webster will be joined in discussion by psychoanalyst Francisco González, M.D. For those attending in person, we’ll host a reception afterward at the David Brower Center. Please join us in-person or online!

Lastly, I want to emphasize that I’m eager to hear from you. Please reach out with your thoughts—what you’d like to see more of, less of, and what you feel our community needs. Email me (noxenburgh@ncspp.org)!