by Stephanie King, Psy.D.

Spring is springing and so is the 40th annual Division 39 conference which I am very much looking forward to attending this month. NCSPP is the largest chapter of Division 39 and this year I have the honor of attending as NCSPP’s Division 39 representative. Due to professional and familial obligations, I haven’t been able to attend the conference for five years. As I was reviewing the schedule for this year’s conference, it was obvious to me that the sea change we have been feeling here in the Bay Area is rippling out across our broader community.  

This year’s conference topic is, Reckoning/Foresight. I was delighted to see the titles of the presentations with descriptors that included: whiteness, psychoanalytic activism, queer, social responsibility, reparations, bi invisibility, gender expansive, decolonizing, transgender, and reckoning with our history of harm. It feels clear to me that the title of the conference goes hand in hand with our mission at NCSPP and our community’s values. Many of our own NCSPP members are presenting this year! To name just a few, Gregory Desierto, Mamta Dadlani, Molly Merson and Ben Morsa. I’m excited to see how many people in the community are working hard and know that it is time for psychoanalysis to begin reckoning with our history and that hopefully, together, we can use this learning as a path forward. If you plan to be at the conference as well, please feel free to reach out so we can have a chance to say hello and represent our NCSPP community in NYC.