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 Rebecca Shapiro, Psy.D.
Psychoanalytic case writing is a genre unto itself. The Raymond Carvers of the case vignette exist alongside our Freudian novellas. Autotheory, recently, is de rigueur. Ordinarily, however, case writing resists consideration until an author arrives resisting “illustration.” Frustration ensues: “Bring it down to earth! Examples, please!” What follows describes some issues encountered translating psychotherapeutic experience into narrative form.
The range of colors that film records is limited by its chemical composition and narrower than the eye can see. When a shade of red, for example, falls outside the range of a given film stock, that particular shade collapses into the closest reproducible red. Consequently, shade-substitutions cause distortions in tonal gradation and saturation, leading to the appearance of flattening and two-dimensionality in photographs. Problems of verisimilitude arise, along with concerns about technical skill and artistry. Can this distorted photograph here equal that apple there?
by Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC)
OPEN HOUSE
Hosted by the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California
Thursday, November 6th | 7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
530 Bush St., Ste. 703, San Francisco, CA 94108
For those considering analytic training both locally and at a distance, in the near term or in the future.
Please join PINC Faculty, Administrators, Graduates, and Candidates, in person or on Zoom, to hear how we are thinking about psychoanalysis in the context of our Psychoanalytic Training Program.
Additionally, PINC Graduate Analysts Drew Tillotson, Psy.D., and Karin Vandervoort, Psy.D., will be in conversation to discuss the impact of sociopolitical realities as they enter the consulting room. Maureen Murphy, Ph.D., will moderate.
by David Cushman, Psy.D.
CIIS FALL CONFERENCE
Please join the CIIS PsyD program’s fall conference on Saturday Nov. 8th, Pushing Back and Beyond. We, individually and within our field, are experiencing impingements on the very fabric of our work and our own psyches. Our conference is designed to offer psychodynamic clinicians a way of orienting to the work in these precarious times that both pushes back and offers a vision beyond.
In the morning portion of our conference, we will hear from a roundtable of clinicians about their current lived experience working with immigrant communities. Then we will join alumna Dr. Margaret Clausen in exploring how sound can be used to expand consciousness and transformation, inviting us to open to new possibilities and potentialities within ourselves and our work.
by Lila Zimmerman, MFT
PROOF OF LIFE
I’ve been working with Simon for nine months. He reminds me of this in today’s session, expressing both how fast it’s gone and how long it’s been. He’s often affronted by time going by, proof of life. Of course, nine months is a vital period of time to punctuate but neither of us point out the obvious. Simon is the kind of patient who would appear in a seminal analytic text, his language dripping with metaphor. I always think, ‘No one really talks like that,’ but Simon does. It’s all living and dying and vomit with him. He identifies as being dead but is invested in the painful project of coming alive.
Like Ferenczi’s (1929) “unwelcome child,” Simon struggles to stake a claim in his own life. He was allowed to be born but not taught to be alive. His parents couldn’t raise him, preoccupied as they were with their own deadness. Our nine month treatment has been gestational, morning sickness and all. Simon often complains of stomach pain and is tortured by the possibility that he might be sick on my carpet. He holds his stomach and folds over his knees, “It would make such a mess.” It’s not lost on him that to be alive is to make a mess. He holds up his hand to me as if to say, “I know, I know, you don’t have to say it.”
by Candice Turner, Psy.D.
NCSPP ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY
December 12th, 2025 | 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Ramsess Art Garden | 2511 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612
All NCSPP members are invited to celebrate another year of provocative programs, classes, and events at our Annual Holiday Party. As analytic therapists of all generations gather together for support, this event reminds us of our collective commitment to growth, vitality, and deep thought. Come mingle with new and old NCSPP friends and toast with us in style!
Hors d’oeuvres will be served, and a wine/beer bar will be available (cash/donation-based). We hope to see you there!
Parking Note: Please be aware that parking is limited. We recommend carpooling or ridesharing if possible.
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.
Play of Eros: The Analytic Treatment of an Adolescent Boy
Sat, Nov 8 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 444 Natoma St. / San Francisco
SFCP / (510) 846-0790 / B. Reiss, Ph.D.; T. Owens, Ph.D. / Free
Cadence of Vanishing: A Memoir of Love and Loss
Fri, Nov 14 / 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / A. Jones, M.D.; A. Sweetnam, Ph.D. / $0 - $20
Visiting Scholar Paul Williams: Soul Murder
Sat, Nov 22 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 530 Bush St. / San Francisco
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / P. Williams, Ph.D. / $20