Dear Colleagues,

As tax day approaches, SFPRG is putting our financial house in order by devising our yearly budget that our Board will discuss in April and vote on in May for the new fiscal year starting in June. As an organization, we are fairly financially healthy. We have a modest savings developed over the last five years of prudently spending less than we have accumulated.

We have our challenges. Increasing rents at the Presidio over the last few years have caused us to run a budget deficit for the first time over the last 2 years. Luckily, we have our savings to tide us over temporarily and we still have a cushion. We have known that in order to stay in the black, we will have to raise more money through dues, donations, and other means such as running a profitable educational program and an efficient clinic. Read On

The Education Committee is working on our Fall class schedule and exploring some new ideas for courses, such as ones based on what is currently being widely read. Susan Landes is especially interested in pursuing this avenue, and has written a brief note inviting members to let her know what they are currently reading.

John Gibbins, Chair

What Are You Reading? The Education Committee is still buzzing with the success of our recent International Conference. In keeping with SFPRG's mission of educating our community of practitioners we are looking to you to help us find current and interesting topics for next years International Conference.

So, what are you reading that is improving your clinical skills and understanding? For example, I am reading the book, "The Second Family: Dealing with Peer Power, Pop Culture, the Wall of Silence -- and Other Challenges of Raising Today's Teens" by Ron Taffel, and Melinda Blau. Just this week I was working with a teen new to my practice. This 17-year-old boy described his relationship to his best friend as very close. He stated that he feels closer to his friend than to his family. They share a loyalty, trust and honesty that he doesn't find at home. Clinically I wonder, how does this relationship fit into my understanding of this young man? How does this friendship confirm or disconfirm his pathogenic beliefs. Many teens in my practice report their peer relationships as primary in their lives. How can we clinicians use these important peer relationships in our work with teens and their families? Would it be helpful to invite these friends into the therapy like we would a family member? What can parents do to keep their kids more connected to them?

Let us know what you are reading/learning that enhances your understanding of how the mind works, how to improve our clinical work and how we can better help our clients. You can contact me at drsusanlandes@earthlink.net.

Susan Landes

Hello again from the Membership Committee! We continue to seek interested members to join us on the committee. Please consider this opportunity. We meet the last Friday of each month at #10 Funston at 12 noon.

I was recruited by Kathy DePaola to serve on this committee and have found this experience valuable in several ways. I know more colleagues, have a deeper sense of the history of SFPRG and use of Control Mastery, have gained experience in leading, and have been gratified with the groups progress.

While joining this committee may seem a large commitment, actual duties entail attendance at monthly meetings, either in person or by conference phone, and enthusiasm. The ideas you have about SFPRG membership are important to this committee.

We would like your input on Membership events which you will attend. We did not hold the Member's Mambo last year and are discussing whether to bring it back. Attendance wasn't as robust as we hoped although it has been a huge hit in the past. Are you ready to Mambo again this year?

Participation as an SFPRG member can also include attendance at the Friday Research Groups of John Curtis (#9 Presidio, every Friday, 1pm) and Marshall Bush (same location and day, 2pm). While we know it works with our patients, how do we explain/conceptualize this for other professionals? How do we let them know using the concepts of Control Mastery will aid their patients?

The Friday Research meetings continue to find empirical support for plan attainment (1pm mtg) and testing (2pm mtg). The enthusiasm for CMT in the Joe and Hal days carried us to this point now. To be taken seriously in the mental health realm, to enlist others in using this helpful theory, we must continue to support the research of CMT. Your membership will ensure we continue to provide empirical support for the efficacy of this fine theory of "How Psychotherapy Works" (to use the title of Joe's book).

If you have ideas about how the Membership Com can be helpful to you, please let me know. Thanks for lending your ear!

kathiedunnmft@comcast.net

Jessica and I are happy to report that the clinic is doing well. We are three quarters through our training year and have watched our trainees blossom and grow a great deal. It has been a treat to follow each of them learn about our theory and grasp more and more of understanding of the nuances. They are a terrific group.

We have just finished the process of creating next years group. It will be an experienced group filled with 6 post doctoral students, 4 pre-doc interns, 2 MFC's , one MSW student from Smith and 2 Norwegian PhD. Students. A total of 15 which is a rather large group to fit into our training room. Of that group, 5 will be new to the clinic. We are so happy to have several of our pre-doctoral interns choosing to return for more training as post doctoral trainees. We will be looking for new supervisors for this large group, so please email either Jessica or myself if you are interested.

On April 27th we will be having our annual thank you party for those of you who have supervised our interns or helped us teach them on Wednesday. It will also be a good bye party for Bruno (our Smith intern) who will be leaving us at the beginning of May. We will be sad to see him leave.

I am beginning to think about our training schedule for next year and would like to have any of you who are interested in teaching during the year let me know. Please email me with what it is that you would like to teach as well as the number of weeks you would like. Thanks in advance for your time.

Carol Drucker, Ph.D Training Director

Congratulations to our Board for achieving 100% participation in giving to the Spring Drive! These gifts have helped us to call our Spring Drive a success, including a donation of $5000 from a major San Francisco foundation. With this gift we are at almost $12,500. towards our goal of $15,000.

It is not too late to make your own gift if you have not yet done so.

Please take a moment to review our most recent SFPRG Drive email. This eloquent and specific report from Jodi Reiter is an excellent example of why we need your support and how we use your contributions in the Clinic. Your gift will help ensure that SFPRG can continue to serve the community, train new psychotherapists, and further psychotherapy research.

We are also excited to announce that the Member Art Show Fundraiser is planned for sometime this summer at our facility in the Presidio. We have many talented artists among our membership, and we will be displaying their art for the community. Some of these works will be available for purchase and a percentage of the proceeds will go towards supporting SFPRG. This should be a very enjoyable and meaningful event. Specific details about this event will follow soon. If you are interested in participating as an artist please email me at kburrmft@gmail.com.

If you have made your Spring Drive donation already, we thank you for your generous support. If not, please take a moment now to log onto our secure online donation page on our website and make your tax deductible donation: http://sfprg.org/donate.html. If you prefer, you are also welcome to mail a check to: SFPRG, 9 Funston Ave., San Francisco, CA 94129. Thank you for your contribution.

Member's Corner: MARSHALL BUSH

Marshall probably requires little introduction to members of SFPRG. A mainstay in the Control Mastery world for four decades, Marshall was first introduced to the theory through his association with Hal Sampson at Mount Zion in 1970. It was Hal's encouragement and mentoring that drew Marshall to the research, and led to his introduction to Joe Weiss.

Marshall was interested in the early phases of CM research, which he felt was the only real scientific psychotherapy research going on at the time. He became intrigued with Joe's work on rejection trauma and was specifically attracted to the emphasis on mastery as a motivator, and the humanistic nature of the theory with its positive assumptions regarding people's intentions. The theory assumes a high level of unconscious intelligence in people, and the ability to overcome negative beliefs, subsequently fostering change and growth.

Marshall appreciates the depth and the richness of the theory, which provides an understanding of early trauma and the roles of adaptation and testing, both of which help orient the therapist in his or her work. As his involvement in the theory grew, Marshall states that his clinical work with patients got better. He sees creativity as important for clinicians, and that creativity itself stems from a willingness to explore new ideas and possibilities. These traits are important to Marshall, who sees himself as someone who is always thinking and questioning and learning.

If you would like to be featured in this column, please contact Jack Maslow at either maslowj@comcast.net or at (415) 454-7698.

An Invitation to Participate in a Dialogue about Testing from Marshall Bush (1/14/11)

I would like to initiate a newsletter dialogue about testing, one of Weiss's most innovative and controversial concepts. My Friday research group has been studying this concept for the past 3 years. We have entertained a variety of questions about how best to define, operationalize, and measure testing. I think it would further the advancement of CMT to have a lively exchange of views about the nature and importance of testing in various types of therapy and human encounters. I am presenting some initial thoughts about testing for our members and friends to respond to. I know that many of you have written articles about testing and developed your own ideas about this topic.

My own thinking about testing is shaped by Weiss's treatment of the topic in The psychoanalytic process (1986) and How psychotherapy works (1993). I believe that testing, like attachment, serves a vital adaptive function without which people could not survive and science could not progress. I believe that the essential purpose of testing is to discriminate between safe and dangerous situations and between truth and falsehood. Without the capacity to test, one would not know whom to trust or what to believe.

Since testing in psychotherapy (and in all human relationships) is largely unconscious, having access to one's affect signals (which is how we access our unconscious thought processes) and a reasonable capacity for reality testing is essential for being able to plan passable tests and correctly interpret their results. People with limited access to their emotions are impaired in this regard, as are people who cannot question their false assumptions about the world. Very traumatized or discouraged people may not test at all; they just assume the worst. Read On

From Cynthia

I'm glad that you've initiated a discussion to clarify the central concept of testing. I have a somewhat different understanding of tests that are impossible to pass. I think that the point of such a test is to see if the therapist can tolerate being put into a helpless/hopeless position. Rather than passing the test by doing X or Y (or not doing X or Y) the therapist passes the test by demonstrating that s/he can tolerate the painful feelings that go along with being made to feel helpless/hopeless, which was so traumatic for the patient. This can either be a straight transference test or a passive into active test.

Regards, Cynthia

From Marshall

In response to Cynthia, I would say that we may have a semantic disagreement. I agree with Cynthia that there are times when the pt. will not feel satisfied or helped by anything the therapist says in the moment. However, if non-defensively tolerating being placed in a helpless/hopeless situation is helpful to the pt., then in a sense the therapist is passing a type of discouragement test.

The question of whether there are tests that are impossible to pass is related to the question of whether there are patients who are impossible to treat. If there are tests which are impossible to pass, then the therapist should not blame himself/herself for being unable to pass those tests.

From Neil

Although, not generally presented as such, it may be useful in addressing questions like the possibility of unpassable tests, to construe Control-Mastery Theory as a conflict theory.

Not of a conflict between drives or instincts but rather between a striving toward mastery of a trauma and the avoidance of the real danger of that trauma being repeated.

Marshall (see "Testing Dialogue" article) rightly describes the testing process as a "vital adaptive function," which, of course it is.

But he also makes the point that some behaviors "are not tests at all but rather serve vital defensive functions." That presumably occurs when the danger of retraumatization is too present and daunting.

On the conflict theory view of Control Mastery Theory the "conflict" might be fruitfully construed as constituting an approach/avoidance situation between two opposing ends, both vital to survival.

George (see February issue) regards unpassable tests as posing a logical contradiction but his argument is premised solely on the fact that test-passing is vital for survival. As it stands, the argument is unassailable. However, if the danger and consequent avoidance of a traumatic repetition is introduced as also vital, what was a logical contradiction becomes an devastating intra-psychic double bind. It may be likened to a man who constructs a shelter from a scarcity of wood but then has no fuel with which to cook and feed himself. Two vital needs are at odds.

Rats in some approach/avoidance situations become paralyzed as I believe is true of humans as well. This may be the source of many a therapeutic impasse, an unpassable test, or (should the patient be unskilled at incremental testing) abject despair; and possibly one cause of suicide.

In this regard, Hal once told me of an article he read in a neurological journal. A patient presented with complaints of shooting pains in his head and when told by the physician that no neurological cause could be determined, went home and shot himself through his head. Hal inferred a test but one so subtle, tentative, and disguised, as to be virtually unpassable.

Neil Young

Response from Marshall

Neil usefully calls attention to the conflict patients experience between wanting to take the risk of testing their pathogenic beliefs with a therapist in the hope of gaining mastery of a traumatic experience, and wanting to protect themselves from being re-traumatized by not posing any tests a therapist might fail. Severely traumatized or discouraged people may be unable to take the risk of testing their pathogenic beliefs.

In order to be able to test a pathogenic belief one must have some hope that the therapist will respond differently from the traumatizing parents or caretakers of one's past. With such patients the therapist's initial task is to demonstrate to the patient that there is a good likelihood that therapist will not respond like the disappointing authority figures from the patient's past.

One type of impossible-to-pass test may stem from a pt.'s need to keep himself/herself feeling safe by disguising a test to such a degree that it cannot be understood or passed, as in the case of Hal's example.

The psychology of the artist, the creative process, and the aesthetic experience

This course will consist of a series of 4 informal discussion groups. The first meeting will occur on June 10 and will be devoted to Paul Gauguin. The class will meet for 3 hours, 4 times a year. Each class will include slides of the artist's work and guest speakers (whenever possible). The guest speaker for the discussion of Gauguin will be Dr. Margaret Hauben.

The artists to be covered are Gauguin, Matisse, and Modigliani. One class will be exclusively devoted to understanding contemporary art.

For each of the above artists, we will examine (1) the psychology of the cultural milieu and the historical period in which the artist worked;

(2) the artist's family history and life traumas;

(3) important artistic influences, mentoring experiences, and artistic collaborations;

(4) the artist's aesthetic philosophy, inner vision, and artistic goals;

(5) the evolution of the artist's creative process; and

(6) how best to appreciate the artist's work. The attendees will discuss what they like and dislike about each artist's work, as well as the nature of the aesthetic appeal of the artist's work.

This course is open to the public and anyone interested in art is invited to attend. We want to facilitate a lively dialogue between practicing artists, educators, therapists, and art lovers. There is no registration fee and CE credits will not be offered. Please contact Marshall Bush at if you would like to attend (or get more information). Because space is limited, it is advisable to sign up early. Instructors: Marshall Bush, Stan Steinberg and Eric Taggart Location: The conference room at 9 Funston Ave., which is the Presidio of San Francisco Time: Friday 5:30 - 8:30 Dates: 6/10/11, 7/29/11, 9/23/11, 11/18/11 Please bring a bag dinner and whatever you would like to drink.

For many years there has been a companion website to the SFPRG organizational website that has made available pdf files of many articles written by SFPRG members on Control Mastery Theory. That website, www.controlmastery.org was generously created and maintained by Vic Comello. Vic has turned over the website to SFPRG and we have now archived it on sfprg.org.

Typing in www.controlmastery.org will now re-route the seeker to the SFPRG site. All the files that were previously available on Vic's site are still accessible. Not all papers written on CMT are available as pdf files. A more complete list of papers is listed on our website under Publications.

SFPRG would like to thank Vic Comello for his dedication and work in furthering Control Mastery Theory.

Books by non-SFPRG members that talk about CMT:

If anyone has read either of these books, we would love to have a book review written for the newsletter: Gay, Volney P., Joy and the Objects of Psychoanalysis: Literature, Belief, and Neurosis (Suny Series in Psychoanalysis and Culture)

Finn, Stephen E., In Our Clients' Shoes: Theory and Techniques of Therapeutic Assessment (Counseling and Psychotherapy: Investigating Practice from Scientific, Historical, and Cultural Perspectives). Routledge.

We are bringing in more money this year. We had higher income from the 24th International Conference on Control Mastery Theory because of record attendance, even though most of the attendees were students. Our Clinic made more money this year than we expected due to a fuller census and extra tuition payments from the University of Bergen for our Norwegian interns.

We are taking more interns this fall. Though practically bursting at the seams, our Clinic will be training more people in Control Mastery Theory and treating more low-fee patients than ever before. Though we do not have any grants specifically designated for research, we are budgeting funds to support John Snyder's new research project at the Clinic.

We began a rudimentary fundraising program in the fall of 2009. In the first year, 2009-10, we raised a little over $4000 by just sending a letter to friends of SFPRG and asking for donations. In 2010-11, we hired a consultant, learned how to run a more organized campaign and almost tripled our donations. Denny Zeitlin played a brilliant piano recital at our first small fundraising event.

In the coming year, we will put on at least two more fundraising events. We are planning an Art Show at 9 and 10 Funston (date to be determined) that will be open to the entire community. If you are an artist and a member, please participate and show your art. SFPRG hopes to raise money in commissions for any art sold, from artists' "showing fees", and from admission donations. We would like to have an art auction to sell important art pieces that we hope will be donated to SFPRG. In September, we are also planning another event, our first annual dinner to honor those who have made a significant contribution to SFPRG by teaching, service, or research.

Our Spring Fundraising Drive is not over and we are planning to call some of our members and ask them for donations. In our Membership Drive kicking off in July, we will be asking members to renew at higher dues amounts. For those of you reading this who are not yet members, we encourage you to support SFPRG and Control Mastery Theory by becoming members and by making donations through our website.

In order to continue our Clinic, our excellent teaching program, and our research program, we are asking members and other friends of SFPRG to give as much as you can. We are hoping to balance our budget this year and eventually to bring in enough money that we can indulge our wish list: to pay our interns a stipend, to hire a research assistant and consultant, and to pay honoraria for excellent conference speakers.

I would like to reopen the possibility of SFPRG buying a building when our Presidio lease is up at the end of 2013. I hope our loyal members and the larger community of friends of SFPRG are thinking of the future of Control Mastery Theory and our Research Group. I look forward to talking with you again next month.

Steve Foreman

We know that testing in therapy serves a variety of functions and takes many shapes and forms. Patients test to find out how trustworthy the therapist is, how safe they will be to remember and discuss painful experiences, whether the therapist will repeat their parents' traumatizing behaviors and confirm or disconfirm their pathogenic beliefs, whether the therapist will model better ways of coping with traumas they found overwhelming, and whether the therapist will provide the corrective emotional experiences needed to master childhood traumas.

I believe that therapists differ widely in the extent to which they actively use the testing concept in the way they participate in the therapeutic exchange, process the patient's material, emotionally respond to the patient's feelings, and formulate interventions. Some therapists only think about testing when an unexpected problem arises or when reflecting back over a session. Some therapists have observed a decline in testing over time. There are diverse opinions about how, when, and whether to interpret a patient's testing behavior.

Therapists also differ in their ability to understand and tolerate different kinds of tests, especially passive into active tests. Therapists who are sensitive to rejection or prone to feel overly responsible for their patients, may find certain tests hard to endure or impossible to pass. And some patients pose tests that are indeed impossible to pass. Many patients engage in disturbing passive into active behaviors that are not tests at all but rather serve vital defensive functions. The testing concept can also be misapplied to the therapist's and the patient's disadvantage.

There are many theoretical questions that remain to be explored. How is the ability to unconsciously test related to such things as (1) one's capacity for mutuality? (2) the ability to intersubjectively understand others? (3) the nature and quality of one's attachments? Do patients differ in their need to test? If so, how should this be understood? Do patients differ in their ability to generalize from the experience of having important tests passed? Do children and adults test differently? These are of few of the issues that are worthy of dialogue, debate, and discussion. Please send your commentaries, however brief, both to the editor of the newsletter, Kathie Dunn (kathiedunnmft@comcast.net), and to me at (drmbush@pacbell.net). I look forward to a lively exchange of ideas. Marshall Bush