As the Holidays approach we hope that this publication finds each of you in good spirits with time for celebration with family and loved ones. This issue comes at a time when we are all acknowledging and, in our own ways, mourning the loss of several of our longtime and esteemed members. The first section offers reflections, narratively and poetically, on the contributions of Ernest Lawrence and Leo Rangell, both of whom passed away this year. As mentioned in a previous CIPS announcement, we also note the loss of Norbert Freedman who passed away as this issue of the News Brief was being prepared. It takes time to absorb these losses. Thus, a fitting memorial essay for him will need to wait for an upcoming issue in 2012.

I also want to express a special debt of gratitude to my former co-editor, Ann Simmons (Direct Member Society), who has "graduated" to larger responsibilities as President of her local Society. Ann was instrumental in founding the News Brief in its current form and a delightful collaborator in the time since I've come on board as Managing Editor this past February.

Still, there are many exciting events on the horizon including the CIPS Clinical Conference in Los Angeles from May 4-6, 2012. We hope that many of you will be able to join us for this unique opportunity to work together on clinical issues related, this year, to the theme of sexuality in the second century of psychoanalysis. Other conference opportunities mentioned below include the NAPsaC Working Parties and EBOR in Seattle. These offerings represent a sampling of what the CIPS community has to offer. If you or someone in your local Society has news of an upcoming event, or wants to review a past scientific meeting, conference, or CIPS related publication, please contact your local CIPS director or me. In this way, we can all stay abreast of what is happening in our vibrant independent psychoanalytic community.

Happy Holidays!

Caron Harrang, LICSW, FIPA
Managing Editor
enewseditor@cipsusa.org

As was announced in the November, 2011 CIPS News Brief, Ernest S. Lawrence, PhD, FIPA died on August 13, 2011 in Santa Monica, California with his wife Anne by his side.

Ernie was a pillar of the psychoanalytic community in Los Angeles and nationally. His numerous leadership roles, awards and honors in the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis are too many to mention, but several stand out. Among them, Ernie was a driving force in the founding in 1970 of the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS). It was the first interdisciplinary psychoanalytic institute on the West Coast. He was integrally involved in every aspect of the Institute's development and administration for the next 40 years. He was also the first President of LAISPS, with a second term from 1999 to 2001, the first Dean and Director of Training for two terms from 1977 to 1983, and Chairperson of the Committee for Training Analysts, from 1994 to 1996. In all of the positions that Ernie held he was innovative and indefatigable in his leadership and efforts to make LAISPS a rigorous and scholarly, yet open and welcoming organization.

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The 2012 CIPS Clinical Conference will be held at the beautiful and historic Fairmont Miramar on bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, California, May 4-6, 2012. This year the theme is Sexuality in the Second Century of Psychoanalysis, exploring the differences between pre-genital and Oedipal development on character formation. The Oedipus complex is traditionally thought of as the cornerstone of character development. Over the last century the complexities of character development have increased. The clinical material for the conference will focus on early object relations, primitive mental states, attachment, and trauma.

Friday, May 4, the CIPS Board of Directors will host an informal gathering to welcome conference participants. The conference begins Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with registration and a light breakfast and ends at 4 p.m. In the early evening there will be a cocktail party open to all those participating in the conference as well as to all CIPS members in the area. We will be honoring distinguished CIPS members and a lay honoree for their contributions to psychoanalysis. The remainder of the evening is open to private plans. The conference concludes at noon on Sunday, May 6, 2012.

The Fairmont Miramar Hotel not only offers a beautiful view of the ocean and coastline but is located in walking distance from fine restaurants, movie theatres, shopping and of course a walk along the beach or bluff above. The hotel houses a fine restaurant, indoor and outdoor lounge, fully appointed spa and gym facilities, and a heated pool. Click here for additional details.

Early bird registration until February 15, 2012 is $250.*
After February15th the registration is $275.
There will be a $50 fee for additional guests not registered for the conference to attend the Saturday evening cocktail party.
* Registration will soon be available at www.CIPSusa.org. Look for details in the January edition of the News Brief.

Register early to take advantage of a special CIPS room rate of $250 per night, which lasts until April 3, 2012. To make reservations call 1.866.540.4470 or 1.800.441.1414 and ask for the CIPS Clinical Conference Rate. The Fairmont Miramar is located at 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, California 90401.

If you have questions about any aspect of the conference please contact Andrea S Kahn, PhD, FIPA at 310.855.1251, or you can email her at drakahn@sbcglobal.net.

The North American Psychoanalytic Confederation (NAPsaC) Board of Directors will hold a face-to-face meeting at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on Saturday, January 14, 2012. Representatives from each CIPS Society will meet with other directors to further development of this important regional organization representing the interests of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the CIPS, the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society, and IPA-affiliated Societies in Japan and South Korea.  

The Confederation is also co-sponsoring with the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute work groups on a variety of topics including comparative clinical methods, end of training evaluation, clinical issues, initiating psychoanalysis, and specificity psychoanalytic treatment today. These groups will meet in New York City over the weekend of March 3-4, 2012.

Click here for detailed information and contact information for each Working Party.

On Saturday, November 5th, 2011 CIPS and the New School of Social Research co-sponsored a book signing party in New York for the CIPS Book Series publication, The Second Century of Psychoanalysis: Evolving Perspectives on Therapeutic Action, edited by Michael Diamond and Christopher Christian. The event was held at the lovely Upper West Side home of Leon and Anne Hoffman, with well over 70 people attending. Co-editor Christopher Christian, an Assistant Professor at the New School of Social Research in New York, taught a class this summer on How Psychoanalysis Works using the book as his text. A number of Christian's New York students were present at the celebratory gathering. Besides editors Diamond and Christian, chapter authors Tom Helscher, Beth Kalish-Weiss, Peggy Porter, Linda Sobelman, and Alan Spivak were also present. Previous CIPS Book Series author Steve Ellman was in attendance, as was upcoming CIPS book chapter author Terrence McBride. Additionally, Elliot Jurist, editor of the Division 39 Journal; Mark Blechner, editor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis; and Rick Perlman, the new president of IPTAR, were present. George Makari, author of Revolution in Mind, who will be speaking at LAISPS on February 11, 2012 was also present. Finally, Bert Freedman, now deceased, was also present for this important occasion. A celebratory dinner for contributing authors followed the signing.

Maxine Nelson, LICSW published the paper "Inside a Tightly Closed Balloon: Construction, Reconstruction, and Transformation in the Figurative Work of Magdalena Abakonowicz" in the December, 2011 issue of Clio's Psyche, published by The Psychohistory Forum. Maxine is a senior candidate at the Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society Institute (Seattle), and the liaison between IPSO and CIPS affiliate members.

Former CIPS News Brief Content Editor Ann Simmons, PhD, FIPA was recently elected President of the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Society (APsaA). Ann is a member of CIPS through the Direct Members Society.

Institute for Psychoanalytic Training & Research (IPTAR)

Los Angeles Institute & Society for Psychoanalytic Study (LAISPS)
Hedda Bolger continues to make news... [Click to read the full story]

Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society (NPS)
NPS is once again preparing for its annual Evolving British Object Relations conference for October 19-21, 2012. The theme this year is Transference and Countertransference Today. Any CIPS member, even those outside of Seattle, is invited to join the organizing committee for this international conference. Interested individuals are invited to contact conference chair, Judy K. Eekhoff at jkeekhoff@comcast.net.

Psychoanalytic Center of California (PCC)

The purpose of this section of the News Brief is to report on instances of collegial contact and sharing of ideas amongst the Societies that make up the Confederation (IPTAR, LAISPS, NPS, PCC, and the Direct Members Society), and between our members and psychoanalytic societies or organizations outside of CIPS.

Dana Blue, LICSW, FIPA (Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society) attended and presented a paper at a recent conference in London honoring the theoretical contributions of Ronald Britton, MD, FIPA (British Psychoanalytical Society). The title of her presentation, based on her graduation paper, is "In the Twilight Room: Extended Silence and the Cultivation of Triangular Space." Her parallel paper presentation explored the phenomenon of patients who respond to psychoanalytic treatment by becoming silent for prolonged periods and suggests that it is necessary to move beyond the existing literature on silence into theories on narcissism relating to the concept of psychic skin. Relevant theoretical work included the contributions of Esther Bick, Herbert Rosenfeld, and in particular in Ronald Britton's ideas about triangular space.

Caron Harrang, LICSW, FIPA (Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society) also attended and presented a paper at the conference entitled, Ron Britton Today, co-sponsored by the Psychoanalysis Unit at University College London and the New Library of Psychoanalysis. Caron's paper entitled, "Painting Poppies: On the relationship between concrete and metaphorical thinking in light of Britton's Before and after the depressive position," was presented during a parallel paper session to a small group of analysts, candidates, and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists attending the larger conference. Caron's paper explores the non-pathological aspects of concrete thinking associated with what Bion, and later Britton identify as the normal (healthy) paranoid-schizoid position. A longer version of her paper will appear as a chapter in the forthcoming CIPS Book Series publication, Absolute Truth and Unbearable Psychic Pain: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Concrete Experience, Allan Frosch, Ed. (Karnac, 2012).

If you have news from your local Society that you would like to share with the larger CIPS community, please send your thoughts, event announcements, conference reviews, or related items to Caron Harrang at enewseditor@cipsusa.org.