Impulse is a community newsletter produced by the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP) and distributed electronically at no cost to subscribers. We envision Impulse as an integrative source for local news, events, and thinking of interest to the psychoanalytically inclined. Our goal is to be your guide as you explore the Bay Area's rich array of analytic resources.
We invite you to become a member of NCSPP, if you are not already. And, we welcome you as a subscriber to Impulse. Join us as we highlight the exceptional diversity of psychoanalytic thought and practice in Northern California.
by Todd Rising, Psy.D.
NCSPP continues our year-in-reflection, orienting ourselves to our consultants’ (Early/Mid) DEI Assessment Report and recommendations. A primary task has been to identify aspects of our internal culture that unconsciously pressure group thinking into consensus, subtly squeezing out space for dissent. We confront the reality that the backbone of our organization relies on Board members’ volunteerism of time and energy, which creates a dominant culture of privileged perspectives. This pressing towards consensus emanates from members of the dominant culture and sets the stage for systemic repetitions of oppression within the organization. A significant part of our current aim is to broaden internal spaces (e.g. within ourselves, our meetings, our future programming) to metabolize the different facets of this issue of invisible silencing.
We have also considered what promotes and hinders group psychological safety. Members of the Executive Committee have created a document of guiding principles intended to nurture an inclusive and mindful internal stance as we engage in shared spaces. To encourage flexibility and complexity in thinking we also look to continue cultivating a growth mindset -- a complementary concept to psychological safety -- within NCSPP. Together, these concepts and approaches invite courage to take risks while holding enactments and “mistakes” in mind as opportunities for learning and growth, not necessarily as shameful and irreparable missteps. Ideally, continuing to integrate these concepts will encourage risk-taking and speaking up as we continue our long-term goal of uncovering and addressing mechanisms of systemic oppression within our organization.
by Molly Merson, MFT
The Analyst. This creative piece by Claire Donato evokes a fantasy of being with one’s analyst in the deepest, and the easiest, of ways.
Freud, Nietzsche, Paglia, Fanon: our expert guide to the books of White Lotus. An invitation into the content of some of the books featured in the series White Lotus.
EARLY CAREER CONSULTATION/STUDY GROUP NOW FORMING. Weekly 1.5 hour group for pre-licensed and licensed Early Career clinicians, as well as more experienced clinicians newer to psychoanalytic thinking and practice. We will use contemporary psychoanalytic theories to deepen clinical work, with an emphasis on case consultation supplemented by close reading of clinically relevant papers. The group seeks to foster clinical, personal, and intellectual growth, creating a space for developing our capacities for emotionally-engaged thinking and dreaming the work together. For more information and questions, please contact Jonathan Moss, MFT - contact@jonathanmossmft.com
SEEKING PSYCHODYNAMIC CORE FACULTY. CIIS is seeking psychodynamically-oriented faculty to contribute to the growth of our innovative Clinical Psychology (PsyD) program. Our distinctive approach to doctoral education synthesizes integral philosophy and psychodynamic approaches to psychotherapy. We emphasize the radical roots of this discipline, as well as its unparalleled emphasis on the therapeutic relationship as a catalyst for change. Our faculty is deeply interested in the many intersections between psychodynamic psychotherapy and humanistic, existential, somatic, and transpersonal psychotherapies. In addition, we actively cultivate dialogue between Western psychology and other wisdom/spiritual traditions. We are particularly interested in continuing to grow the diversity of our community, and enthusiastically welcome applications from members of groups that are underrepresented in higher education. Successful candidates will join a community who shares a passion for social justice and for working with underserved populations. Interested faculty candidates can apply here: https://ciis.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp;jsessionid=983EEEC426B42F5B3808B61A7C7C8091?JOBID=138096
PACIFIC HTS PSYCHOTHERAPY OFFICE AVAILABLE. 2345 California Street, San Francisco. Collegial, professional, immaculate, quiet, secure, and elegant Victorian. Office #6 – corner office with great light. Newly carpeted, freshly painted, built-in bookcase, and wooden window shutters. Charming shared waiting room and kitchen with an outside deck. $1,800 per month includes daily maintenance and utilities. To schedule a visit and/or to discuss, please call Carol Anderson 415-713-9731.
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Dreaming a Different Future into Existence
Wed, Dec 1 / 6:45 pm - 9:00 pm / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / S. Herlekar, Psy.D., MFT, et al. / free
Visiting Scholar — Patricia Gherovici
Sat, Dec 4 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / P. Gherovici, Ph.D. / free - $40
Meet and Greet
Wed, Dec 15 / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / free
Promoting Depth and Analytic Process in Psychotherapy
Wed, Jan 5 / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / B. Steinberg, Ph.D. / free
CCSW Year 1
Thu, Jan 6 (begins) / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / Clara Kwun, LCSW / $335 - $360