BGSP News & Notes

News from the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis

Issue #2 , February, 2004

Edited by Stephen Soldz & Virginia Elliott

Welcome to the latest issue of BGSP News & Notes! This is an occasional e-mail newsletter to keep people informed about what's going on at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. We will present information about recent and upcoming school events, faculty and student publications and presentations, continuing education classes, and other news of interest to the BGSP community.
[If you do not wish to receive this Newsletter, see instructions on how to remove your name at the bottom.]

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), which accredits BGSP, accepted our latest progress report and wrote a letter to BGSP praising many aspects of the school's program. Among the comments: The Commission commends BGSP for its careful expansion of its doctoral programs. The school has made significant progress in insuring that adequate faculty, library, and technology support are in place to support that expansion." The entire letter can be read online here (pdf).

Save The Date

The weekend of June 4th, 5th and 6th we'll see the opening of our new art gallery. We will have an artists' reception Friday evening followed by "Open Studio" Saturday and Sunday in concert with the Brookline Open Studios. Details to follow.

Call For Work

BGSP Faculty, Graduates and their families are invited to submit works for consideration in our first gallery show, to be held June 4th, 5th and 6th. Framed, wired works accompanied by a brief artist bio and description for the catalog may be brought to Dr. Wagner or Mr. Morrell on or before March 12th. Please call in advance to arrange a meeting.

Beginning Spring semester, 2004, BGSP will offer courses designed to meet criteria for licensing as Mental Health Counsellors to be taken in addition to course work and clinical studies in the Master of Arts in Psychoanalysis program. Additional coursework, clinical training, and supplemental discussion sections will help students meet the 60 credit hour requirement for counseling licensure, as well as meeting course area and supervised clinical training requirements. In Spring, 2004, students may enroll in a three-credit Assessment course and also, with the permission of the instructors, take a course in Forensics through the Institute for the Study of Violence. Beginning in Fall, 2004, students in the Masters Program or Level A of the Certificate Program, may choose to enroll in the Counselling track, which will entail additional coursework and fieldwork externship hours. For details, contact Jane Snyder, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate School.

Paul Roazen, the noted historian and critic of psychoanalysis, whose book, "Brother Animal," about Freud and Tausk, created an international stir, is coming to BGSP on February 27th. His new book, "On the Freud Watch: Public Memoirs," will be the starting point for what we expect to be a very lively discussion. Students, as well as the interested public, are invited to attend.

BGSP and ISV faculty and students will present their work at the Feb. 20 meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society. The panel --Post-Modern Re-Thinking of Sociology of Knowledge - will be chaired by ISV Co-Director Siamak Movahedi. Also presenting will be ISV faculty member Jorge Capetillo (Decyphering the Labyrinth) and ISV students Michal Ginach (Is it a War against Terrorism or a War for Terrorism? Is There An Underlying Fantasy Behind The Israeli Pattern Of Encounter With Palestinians?) and Robin Gomolin ("Sick" or "Not-Sick," Is That a Personal Fantasy or an Ideological Question?). Further information is available at http://www.essnet.org/Program/program2004/session98.htm

BGSP faculty member Siamak Movahedi and two ISV students will present their work at the Congresso Internacional de Psicopatologia Fundamental (International Congress of Fundamental Psychopathology) in Brazil. Dr. Movahedi's will speak on "Fundamental violence: Inside the mind of the "anti" terrorist, Michal Ginach will give a talk on Is it a war against terrorism or a war for terrorism? Is there an underlying fantasy behind the Israeli pattern of encounter with Palestinians? and Eliana Caligaris's talk is entitled Prostitutas vão para casa na sexta-feira santa (Prostitutes also go home for Good Friday).

BGSP faculty members Stephen Price, Jane Snyder, and Stephen Soldz spoke at a forum on the Psychodynamics of Empire scheduled for February 6, 2004 sponsored by Psychoanalysts for Peace and Justice and cosponsored by BGSP's Institute for the Study of Violence. Dr. Price spoke on "The Role of Sacrifice", Jane Snyder on "Power and Paranoia", and Stephen Soldz on "Security, Terror, and the Psychodynamics of Empire." [Dr. Soldz's talk has been posted on at least three major web sites: ZNet; Information Clearinghouse; & Global Policy Forum.] The presentations stimulated a lively discussion of the role of psychoanalysis and psychodynamics in understanding and promoting social change. Material from these three talks was broadcast on radio station WMBR, MIT radio, in Cambridge, MA.

LITERATURE SALON:

Come and sip wine while talking with distinguished authors who will read and then open the floor for discussion about a fictional character.

Friday, February 20, 7-9, Among the Ik, by Steven Almond, moderated by Claudia Luiz, $7.

MOVIE NIGHT:

Bowling for Columbine. Dr. Jane Snyder will lead the discussion. Please view the movie prior to discussion. Friday, March 5, 7pm, $7

WORKSHOPS:

• Psychoanalysis and Nursing. In this workshop lead by Marge Goodwin, RN, learn how Modern Psychoanalytic techniques can enhance your work as well as how you experience the work itself. Saturday, February 7, 10am-12pm, $32
• Psychoanalysis and Jazz. Music enhances not only our enjoyment of life, but also our therapeutic and introspective skills. Join Ernest Fonseca, listen to choice jazz selections, experience what various pieces of music can generate emotionally, and discuss how those emotions can further our work with others as well as our own self-analysis. Saturday, February 21 4-6 pm, $3
• Freedom in Performance. Freedom in performance is a direct reflection of inner freedom. Adrian Sahlean will help participants explore what stands in the way of self-discovery. The workshop will explore such questions as: Are you getting the most out of you skill/talent? Are you performing your best? Are you exploring and indulging your natural playfulness? Mr. Sahlean believes that exploring the difficulties in performance hold the key to remedy, and that no matter how difficult the journey to self-knowledge may be, the rewards are magnificent.
• Why Abstinence? Given the tremendous allure of alcohol and drugs to help assuage psychic pain, what is the motivation for abstinence? Sherry Ceridan raises and leads discussion around this question, which may be the question most relevant to cure. Wednesday, March 10, 6-8 pm, $32

COURSES:

Emotional Education through Story and Myth Starts Thursday February 5, 7-9 pm for 13 weeks on class Thursdays.

Dr. Eugene Goldwater will run this 12-week course which explores the role of stories and story-telling in emotional growth. The stories provide a venue for understanding fantasy and reality; symbolism and creativity; magic and hope. Parents, teachers, clinicians, and scholars are invited to participate in a journey towards greater personal, developmental, and cultural understanding. $395.

• Forensic psychology / Alan M. Goldstein, volume editor ; Irving B. Weiner, editor-in-chief. New York :[Chichester] : Wiley, c2003.
• Underwood, Marion K. Social aggression among girls / Marion K. Underwood ; foreword by Eleanor Maccoby. New York : Guilford Press, c2003.
• Hodgins, Sheilagh. Criminality and violence among the mentally disordered : the Stockholm Project Metropolitan / Sheilagh Hodgins, Carl-Gunnar Janson. New York : Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Schore, Allan N., 1943- Affect dysregulation & disorders of the self / 1st ed. New York : W.W. Norton, c2003.
• Schore, Allan N., 1943- Affect regulation & the repair of the self / 1st ed. New York : W.W. Norton, c2003.
• Modell, Arnold H., 1924- Imagination and the meaningful brain / Arnold H. Modell. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c2003.
• Dalal, Farhad. Race, colour and the process of racialization : new perspectives from group analysis, psychoanalysis, and sociology / Farhad Dalal. Hove, [England] ;New York : Brunner-Routledge, 2002
• Current psychotherapies / editors, Raymond J. Corsini, Danny Wedding. 6th ed. Itasca, Ill. : F.E. Peacock Publishers, c2000.
• Brown, Lyn Mikel, 1956- Girlfighting : betrayal and rejection among girls / Lyn Mikel Brown. New York : New York University Press, c2003.
• Butterfield, Fox. All God's children : the Bosket family and the American tradition of violence / Fox Butterfield. 1st ed. New York : Knopf, c1995.
• Evocative images : the thematic apperception test and the art of projection / edited by Lon Gieser and Morris I. Stein. 1st ed. Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, c1999.
• McWilliams, Nancy. Psychoanalytic case formulation / Nancy McWilliams. New York : Guilford Press, c1999.

"An interest in the individual's inner life is our best weapon against our need to excuse violent acts. Each group interprets the history of killing according to that group's conceptualization of human nature. It seems relevant now that we each declare ourselves, at least to ourselves, and examine what we have experienced through the mirror of our own views."