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.
At the start of my tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Impulse, some thoughts on beginnings, dead ends, and electricity in psychoanalytic therapy.
No psychoanalytic promise exists, at least, no concrete promise, no obvious symptom relief or circumscribed goal (infinite resistance). Psychoanalysis does not, by necessity, offer anything that limits its potential. Instead, psychoanalysis exists as a proposition that two people might converse. (In these times, perhaps, utopian daydream.) But what remains once the proposition is taken up via the initiation of an analytic therapy—that is, the desire to continue conversing—is, in my mind, the prototype for the idea of promise, which is really the declarative belief in a shared future. Two people joined by the desire for potential understanding.
by Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Group (PCPG)
2025 ANNUAL PSYCHOANALYTIC COUPLE PSYCHOTHERAPY LECTURE
Saturday, October 25th, 2025 | 9:00 am – 3:00 pm | In-person (Zoom available)
Please join PCPG for our Annual Psychoanalytic Couple Psychotherapy Lecture of 2025 at the Brower Center in Berkeley, CA.
Elizabeth Palacios García, M.D., is the PCPG invited-scholar and will present her paper, “The Link Theory: A Distinct Psychoanalytic Model for Understanding Human Interactions,” with discussant Benjamin Fife, Psy.D. Dr. Palacios García's paper explores Link Theory and the concept of the “Link” (developed by Puget and Berenstein) as an unconscious structure shaping relationships between two or more subjects, distinct from traditional object relations.
Please click here to learn more and to register.
Any questions, please contact Dr. Romi Mann at romi@drromimann.com.
by San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis (SFCP)
SFCP YEAR LONG CONTINUOUS CASE CONFERENCE
Fridays, September 26, 2025 – May 8, 2026 | 1:45 pm – 3:00 pm | Zoom
Visit our website for more information.
$740.00 Tuition
$666.00 SFCP Members
$555.00 University Students and Trainees
NO CEU’s
by Claire Greenwood, MFT
ON BEING A TIKTOK THERAPIST
TikTok is a social media platform where users watch very short videos created by other users. The algorithm is good at knowing what your interests are (in my case: therapy, queer media, political and existential dread, dogs), and showing you videos that align with your interests. It’s addictive.
A few years ago, I started a professional TikTok as a marketing tool. For whatever reason, my TikToks have become popular, and I now have close to 20,000 followers (small by TikTok standards but large for an account about psychoanalysis). I make videos mostly about psychoanalysis and therapy, but sometimes also about relationships and queerness, with off the cuff humor. I enjoy my videos and so do others. I show my intelligence, humor, and personality. Most of my referrals are now through TikTok. People come to me because they enjoy what they have seen of me.
by Candice Turner, Psy.D.
Dear NCSPP Community,
It’s that time of year again when we are seeking nominations for our open 2026 Board Officer positions. This year, we are requesting nominations for three elected Officer positions, as well as inviting inquiries into appointed committee chair positions. All positions will begin in the next calendar year, January, 2026.
We invite our members and associate members to consider submitting themselves for nomination for the electable Board Officer positions, and/or to 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, or if you would like more information on these positions and the election process, please contact us at info@ncspp.org.
We are seeking nominations for the following Board Officer positions:
· President-Elect (3-year term: 1 year as Elect, 1 year as President, 1 year as Past-President)
· Treasurer
· Secretary
In addition, NCSPP is recruiting for committee chair positions to begin in January, 2026, including our Digital Media and Technology Committee, Program Committee, Pre-Licensing Committee, and Membership & Community Events Committee. Please go to www.ncspp.org/content/committees or contact us at info@ncspp.org if you would like to learn more about what each committee does or how you can become a part of NCSPP.
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.
The Psychodynamics of Body Image
Tue, Sep 9 (begins) / 11:30 am - 1:00 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / (415) 496-9949 / T. Wooldridge, Psy.D. / $90 - $270
SBCPS Extended Study Series: Psychoanalysis in a New Key
Wed, Sep 10 / 10:00 am - 11:30 am / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / F. Davoine, Ph.D., et al. / $900 - $1100
Community Mental Health Art Tour
Sat, Sep 20 / 11:15 am - 1:30 pm / 328 Lomita Dr. / Palo Alto
NCSPP / (925) 939-7500 / $5 - $10
Early Career Case Conference: Distance Learning
Tue, Oct 7 / 5:15 pm - 6:45 pm / Zoom
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / L. Chow, Ph.D., et al. / $300 - $500
Early Career Case Conference - Local (East Bay)
Wed, Oct 8 / 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm / Private office, East Bay / Berkeley
PINC / (415) 288-4050 / C. Bacchi, Psy.D., et al. / $300 - $500
Why War?
Sat, Oct 11 / 10:00 am - 2:00 pm / Zoom
NCSPP / (415) 496-9949 / M. Korson, MA / $60 - $180