Impulse is a community newsletter produced by the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP) and distributed electronically to subscribers at no cost. 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 Luba Palter, MFT
My first job out of grad school was as a therapist at a long-term residential facility for dually-diagnosed adolescents. Teens and their families were court-mandated to receive multi-faceted family and individual counseling therapy services. The program was based on the philosophy of behavior-modification. The goal was to break down kids' defenses to build them back up. While I did not always agree with the methods or the intensity of constant confrontations, the work felt like political activism. Our clients were coming to us because they were exposed to violence, abuse, traumas (including intergenerational), abandonment, poverty, and institutional racism early on in their development, before a full self was formed, before one could make wise choices, or even know they had choices. Or maybe another way to think about it is that they dared to have options despite the unjust horrors of this world.
by San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis (SFCP)
2025 VISITING PROFESSOR WEEKEND WITH NICOLA ABEL HIRSCH
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Sunday, May 4, 2025 | 10:00 am - 11:30 am
In person | Zoom available
444 Natoma St., San Francisco
Register at www.sfcp.org/visiting-professor-weekend-2025/
by The Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group (PCPG)
COMMON DYNAMICS & SEXUAL NARRATIVES IN NO SEX RELATIONSHIPS WITH DR. IASENZA
Saturday, April 26, 2025 I 9:00 am - 11:00 am | Zoom only
Register Here
When couples haven't had sex in a long time they often feel hopeless, and therapists often feel unsure how to help them. This presentation will explore how to shift couples from a state of sexual disconnection to a process of sexual discovery.
by Claire Greenwood, MFT
ON THE CONCRETENESS OF TRANSPHOBIA
Psychoanalysis historically has had a fraught relationship with the reality of social and political forces. The anecdote of Donald Winnicott standing up in the middle of a British Psychoanalytical Society meeting and saying, “I should like to point out that there is an air raid going on” may or may not be fabricated, but it illustrates something of how psychoanalysis can focus overmuch on the intrapsychic (1943).
For my transgender patients, the dangers posed by the Trump administration are all too concrete: passport applications rejected, the threat of being sent to a male prison as a trans woman, the inability to use a safe bathroom in a more conservative state, not to mention blatant harassment, discrimination, and alienation from family.
CHARMING PSYCHOTHERAPY OFFICE SUBLET AVAILABLE. Near North side of UC Berkeley campus for Tu/W/Th evenings beginning May 1. Well-appointed, including an analytic couch. For photos and more information please see CL post here. Contact drdgleason@gmail.com if interested.
LOWER PACIFIC HEIGHTS OFFICE FOR RENT. Large, quiet office in a professional building, with elevator and parking. Large double paned windows, wall-to-wall carpet, built-in bookcases and cabinets, A/C and ventilation system. Private waiting room with a separate exit. Small kitchenette and private bathroom; public restrooms in hallway. High-speed Wifi and nightly janitorial service. $1400/month. Lease options. Contact Gary Grossman.
DISCO—An Act of Resistance and Refuge
Fri, Apr 11 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm / 530 Bush St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / C. Hawthorne, MPH, et al. / free - $40
The Social Unconscious in our Theories and Praxis
Sat, Apr 12 / 10:00 am - 1:00 pm / 1453 Mission St. / San Francisco
CIIS Psy.D. Program / dcushman@ciis.edu / K. Dajani, Psy.D. / free
Visiting Scholar Jade McGleughlin
Sat, Apr 26 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 530 Bush St. (Hybrid) / San Francisco (& Zoom)
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / J. McGleughlin, LCSW / free - $40