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 Sydney Tan, PsyD
Aeneas then distributes the wine which the good hero Acestes had loaded
on the Sicilian beach and had given to them departing,
and with these words he soothed their grieving hearts:
“O companions — for we are not ignorant of troubles prior —
O men who have endured greater, the god will give an end to these things too.
You have approached both the Scyllaean rage and the deep
echoing cliffs, and you have experienced the rocks of the Cyclops too.
Revive your spirits and discharge melancholic fear:
for perhaps one day it will be a joy to remember even this.
Through various misfortunes, through so many dangerous things,
we head into Latium where the fates reveal peaceful homes.
There it is right for the kingdom of Troy to rise again.
Endure, and persevere yourselves for favorable conditions.”
He says such things with his voice, and sick with mighty pains
he assumes hope on his face and buries his grief deep into his heart.
— Virgil, The Aeneid, translated from the Latin by Sydney Tan
by Lorrie Goldin, LCSW
LIFE AND DEATH MATTERS
California’s End of Life Options Act, which allows doctors to write life-ending prescriptions for terminally ill adults who meet strict eligibility requirements, went into effect two years ago. In May, a judge halted the law on a technicality; an appeals court has just reversed that decision. As complicated and lengthy court processes continue to unfold, emotional and legal limbo remains.
“It is an American habit to turn complex moral problems into technical legal reasons,” writes Andrew Solomon in A Death of One’s Own (1995), about his mother’s decision to end her life rather than endure the final excruciating stages of cancer. Solomon weaves his personal story with an in-depth history of the euthanasia movement before aid-in-dying was legal anywhere in the United States. With unfailing empathy and candor, he explores every nuance of the issue, including how relegating it to the shadows compounds the difficulty. The necessity of secrecy heightened his family’s intense isolation and sadness.
by Molly Merson, MFT
“This Place Is Crazy”. A prison journalist describes the lack of mental health care in the prison system through a fellow inmate with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.
Trump’s Policy Separating Kids at Border Can Cause Lifelong Trauma – We Already Know This From WWII. The forced separation of children from families has long-lasting traumatic effects on attachment and child development. Politicians and the APsaA are protesting the current administration’s decision to forcibly remove children from their parents, a maneuver, the article points out, that is not the law but rather a choice being made by the current administration.
We’ve Been Here Before: A Psychologist Calls out the Horrifying Familiarity of America’s Treatment of Migrant Children. Another article on the same topic: forced separation of children from parents can massively impact child development and attachment. This article points out that not only are we aware of this through the impacts of WWII, but from the families and individuals who survived slavery and the systemic assimilation of indigenous peoples.
PSYCHOTHERAPY OFFICE SUBLET. Lovely upper Fillmore Street location at 2491 Washington Street in a suite with three other analysts. Office is available Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, as well as Wednesday morning until noon. Partial sublet available, although full use of times available preferred. The office has a contemporary ambience with high ceilings, bay window, analytic couch, and closet with built-in desk. If interested please call Barbara Baer, PhD at (415) 346-8868.
FOR SALE: ONE SHARE OF A PARTNERSHIP owning a premier psychotherapy office building in Berkeley. Why pay rent? This is an unusual opportunity to own one sixth of a stately Berkeley therapy building. The home was legally converted to therapy offices and has been owned by us since 1983. The six partners (an LLC) are a stable community of psychotherapists. There are six offices with shared waiting room, kitchen, separate therapist entrance and bathroom, and therapist parking in back. One office will be available July 1 for use by the purchaser, or it could be rented out. It is located on College Avenue between the Rockridge and Elmwood areas, very convenient to bus, freeway, and BART, in a neighborhood of shops and eateries. Two photos attached of building exterior. I am available to discuss details and show the interior spaces. Please call Carol Cohen at (510) 207-9609, email cohen1815@gmail.com.
MENTALIZATION-BASED TREATMENT SUPERVISION GROUP. Starting September, 2018 with Starr Kelton-Locke, PhD, PsyD. One Saturday (12:00-2:00pm) and Friday (9:00-10:50am) of each month. Kentfield, CA. $100 per person. 6-month commitment requested. Information: starr@keltonlocke.com (415) 453-2782.
OFFICE IN CORTE MADERA. Quiet and light office with a view of Mt. Tamalpais and a lovely garden leading to the building. Analytic couch. Waiting room and kitchenette. Up to half time availability. Call Terry at (510) 655 3975.
Old couches, new books, hot jobs, cool internships, office rentals? List them in Impulse's Classifieds for a modest fee. Please see our submission guidelines for details.
An Exploration of the Use of the Negative in the Therapeutic Process
Sat, Jul 14 / 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm / 2727 College Ave / Berkeley
NCSPP / (510) 316-5312 / E. Loewenstein, PhD, M. Rundel, PhD, et al. / $20 - $40