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 Nicholas Hack, Psy.D.
I’ve spent 2022 listening for silences.
At the start of the year our Editor-In-Chief, June Lin-Arlow, invited Impulse contributors to think and write about silence. As somebody who spends quite a bit of time with each article and each issue, that invitation has frequently been at the front of my mind. As the year draws to a close and June’s tenure ends, I find myself reflecting on the impact that invitation has had in my clinical practice and personal life.
I tend to be curious about what’s not being said, but this year in particular I’ve noticed the presence of silence so much more. I’ve heard people describe an interior bodily silence, while at the same time having a skin-barrier that screams with information. I’ve heard others express fury about areas of life where there’s an absence of talking, for the deep terror and threat that it indicates an absence of thinking. I’ve felt more acutely the quality and textures of silences: when they feel warm, when they feel hostile, when they are shared, and when they are not. I’ve attended to silence as a void, where thinking and feeling can’t find a foothold, and where it has been a devouring blackhole, consuming aliveness and hope. I’ve also felt silence in the dyad as an awakening, like the quiet moment when one first opens their eyes.
In my personal life, I’ve found myself more aware of and curious about certain kinds of silences in groups. Why can one group talk about race but not sex? Why can another talk about personal trauma but not personal finance? I’ve also felt invited to take up the courage to break those silences and see what happens.
by SFCP
CURIOUS ABOUT BECOMING A PSYCHOANALYST?
Join us Thursday, November 10 from 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm to eat, drink, and learn about psychoanalytic training at SFCP!
When?
Thursday, November 10, 2022
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Where?
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
444 Natoma Street, San Francisco
Note: Remote attendance will also be available
Anyone interested is invited for dinner, drinks, and a discussion of training to become a psychoanalyst at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis.
by Rebekah Tinker, ASW
LEARNING TO LEAN IN
In grad school a professor told me I talked too much. I sat in the corner chair of her little office, scattered papers and boxes half full on the floor. I felt shocked, and honestly, judgmental. I remember thinking that her mind needed to slow down, that the state of her office was a clear reflection of that. I had walked into the meeting feeling confident about the client session we were discussing.
“Bekah, I want you to practice being silent.” Sure, sure, okay, I can do that. I already had a strong meditation practice, I knew about silence, so I wasn’t sure what she hoped to have happen.
“This isn’t meditation, I want you to be silent in an introspective way, in an intentional way, just listen, see what comes up.” I really didn’t like this assignment. I felt a bit nauseated/irritable about it. I felt frustrated with her for not considering the depth of inquiry and reflection I had brought into the session, frustrated because I didn’t feel like my intellect was being respected or heard.
SPACES OPEN IN A FACILITATED WEEKLY CONSULTATION/SUPERVISION GROUP. Wednesdays, 12:15 pm - 1:35 pm, for early-career clinicians. We aim to utilize the associative field of clinical, theoretical, and personal reverie in order to deepen our work with patients. Clinical orientation is contemporary psychoanalytic and relational, and we work to make foundational concepts therapeutically useful and experiential. Relevant papers are discussed in response to themes and concepts that emerge organically from our case discussions. Attention is paid to group process in order to maintain a safe and generative field for all participants. If interested email Jonathan Moss, MFT, at contact@jonathanmossmft.com.
FOR SALE: ONE SHARE OF A BUILDING PARTNERSHIP. 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 a shared waiting room, kitchen, separate therapist entrance and bathroom, and therapist parking in back. One office will be available November 1 for use by the purchaser, and it can be subleased. The office building is located on College Avenue between the Rockridge and Elmwood areas, very convenient to bus, freeway, and BART, in a neighborhood of gourmet shops and eateries. One photo attached of the building exterior. I am available to discuss details and show the interior spaces. Please call Alan Swope at (510) 428-1877, email: alan.swope@gmail.com.
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.
Neuropsychoanalysis and the Concepts of Lacan
Sat, Nov 5 / 9:00 am - 12:00 pm / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / J. Dall'aglio; M. Zellner, Ph.D., L.P. / $15 - $95
William James and C. G. Jung: Doorways to the Self
Sat, Nov 5 / 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm / Online
Jung Institute / (628) 688-0646 / S. Hermann. Ph.D., MFT / $100
CMH Hike
Sat, Nov 5 / 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm / 3849 Mount Diablo Blvd / Lafayette
NCSPP / (510) 328-3979 / Free but $6 parking fee
SFCP Psychoanalytic Training Informational Evening
Thu, Nov 10 / 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm / 444 Natoma St. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / A. Goldyne, M.D. / free
Visiting Scholar Daniel Gaztambide
Sat, Nov 12 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / D. Gaztambide, Psy.D. / free - $40
Child Colloquia Fall Film Night: C'mon C'mon
Sat, Nov 19 / 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm / 444 Natoma St. / San Francisco
SFCP / (415) 563-5815 / R. Cowan, Psy.D., LCSW / free
The Passionate Body: HIV/AIDS as Cultural Complex
Sat, Dec 3 / 10:00 am - 2:30 pm / Online
Jung Institute / (628) 688-0646 / P. Attinello, Ph.D. / $125
Sequels: Can a Post-Therapy Friendship Transcend the Transference?
Sat, Dec 3 / 10:00 am - 11:30 am / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / J. Slochower, Ph.D.; S. Gerson, Ph.D. / free - $40