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.

Dear NCSPP members,

It’s that time of year again when we’re seeking nominations for our open 2022 Board Officer positions. This year we are seeking nominations for several elected Officer positions, as well as inviting inquiries into appointed committee chair positions. All positions will begin with the new calendar year, January 2022.

We invite our members and associate members to consider submitting your own nomination for any of the electable Board Officer positions and/or nominate another person. If you would like to nominate someone else, please confirm with them that they are willing to run prior to sending in a nomination. When submitting your nomination, please provide the nominee's name, phone number, and email address. To submit your nomination, and if you would like more information on these positions, please contact us.

We are seeking nominations for the following Board Officer positions:

by SFCP

DIALOGUES IN CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYSIS
In Conversation: Robert Grossmark and Riccardo Lombardi

Saturday, September 18, 2021 9:30 am - 11:30 am PDT 
To register: 09/18/2021 Dialogues in Contemporary Psychoanalysis (sfcp.org) 

DIALOGUES is excited to present a conversation between two eminent psychoanalysts — Robert Grossmark, Ph.D., and Riccardo Lombardi, M.D. Dr. Grossmark and Dr. Lombardi work with patients suffering from severe primitive disturbances, approaching these patients from quite different positions.

In this program, each analyst will present a case vignette. As part of their presentations, Dr. Grossmark will describe how he “companions” his patients through a flow of enactments to work through their painful psychotic states. Dr. Lombardi will describe his way of working through primitive emotions by fostering body-mind integration in difficult patients.  

by SFCP

SFCP YEAR LONG CONTINUOUS CASE CONFERENCE

September 24, 2021- May 8, 2022
Fridays, 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm
Fee: $600
37.5 CME/CE Credits available for additional fee
Classes will be held by Zoom
Register here: 2021 - 2022 San Francisco Continuous Case Conference (sfcp.org)

SFCP invites postgraduate, pre-licensed clinicians, as well as licensed clinicians in the early-to-mid-stages of their career to join our San Francisco Yearlong Continuous Case Conference led by five SFCP psychoanalysts. The case conference is designed to be a gathering place where clinicians come together and form a work group to present, listen to, and reflect on clinical material from active cases shared by the group members. This is an opportunity for participants to experience how theory and practice come alive in the consulting room and to benefit from the extensive collective experience of the group leaders.

by Amber Trotter, Psy.D.

A REVIEW OF BO BURNHAM: INSIDE

It’s quite a time to be a therapist. Alarming statistics about mental illness have exploded a pre-existing collective conversation. Characterizing increased mental illness as a silver lining feels like a bit of a stretch, but if the COVID crisis makes a lasting impact on how seriously we take mental health, I’ll count it as a win. Long-standing silence is being broken: people suffering from mental illness are speaking in vulnerable, eloquent, comedic, and impactful ways. Bo Burnham, in a Netflix special titled Inside provides an excellent example. Despite the theatricality and singing (I notoriously detest musicals), I was impressed and moved by Burnham’s performance.

Burnham’s raw portrayal of depression and suicidality—painful to watch at times—escalates over the course of a year of confinement in his home. At first he tries to maintain diligently working and working out, but quickly loses the ability to make the best of it. After clarifying that he’s not going to kill himself, he says, “if I could kill myself for, like, a year, I’d do it today.”

by Molly Merson, MFT

A Dangerous Method. Psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster writes on Louise Bourgeois’ art, psychoanalysis, and the process of doing, making, and transformation.

Apocalyptic films have lulled us into a false sense of security about climate change. This article asks, with a sense of hopefulness and an eye towards film, what will we do with this current “unveiling” of the human/industrial impacts on the climate?

America’s Economic Myth [podcast.] On this episode of Mind of State, a psychoanalyst and researcher team up to speak with Betty Sue Flowers on the different societal myths that we unconsciously take as fact, and that we collectively play out materially and structurally.

Classifieds: 

LIGHT FILLED OFFICES, available now. Located in Divisadero Professional Offices – a dedicated Psychotherapy office building – at Divisadero and California, close to public transportation, parking garages, and restaurants. Great location. Building contains 5 suites, each with 4 offices, a shared waiting room, and bathroom. Secure keypad entry to building. Cleaning service provided. Offices range from $700-$1300. 20% discount for first 6 months. Contact: Paula@vesta-assetmanagement.com.

Sample office:

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.   

Appointment Book: 

Social Work in Community Settings
Wed, Sep 1 (begins) / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / S. Gasper, LMFT; J. St. George, LCSW / free

Early Career Psychoanalytic Case Conference
Wed, Sep 1 (begins) / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / C. Little, LCSW, et al. / $80 - $170

Extended Study Series—What's Going On?
Wed, Sep 8 (begins) / 10:00 am - 11:30 am / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / H. Grubb, Psy.D., et al. / $1000 - $1150

East Bay ISG Rupture: Pain and Possibility
Thr, Sep 9 (begins) / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / (415) 496-9949 / R. Cowan, Psy.D., et al. / $1350 - $1900

San Francisco ISG Rupture: Pain and Possibility
Fri, Sep 10 (begins) / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / (415) 496-9949 / Forrest Hamer, Ph.D., et al. / $1350 - $1900

2021 - 2022 San Francisco Yearlong Program
Fri, Sep 10 (begins) / 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / C. Schneider, Ph.D., et al. / $1360

2021 - 2022 East Bay Yearlong Program
Fri, Sep 10 (begins) / 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / L. Weyland, Ph.D., et al. / $1350

Dialogues in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Sat, Sep 18 / 9:30 am - 11:30 am / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / R. Grossmark, Ph.D.; R. Lombardi, M.D. / free - $50

CCSW Clinical Evening Series
Wed, Sep 22 / 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm / Zoom - Online Only
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / A. Nguyen, Psy.D. & T.A. Pham, LMFT / Free

San Francisco Yearlong Continuous Case Conference
Fri, Sep 24 (begins) / 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm / Zoom
SFCP / (415) 632-2438 / J. De Lon, MFT / $600