January 12, 2011

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome back and Happy New Year. I haven't had an opportunity to report on what a terrific experience our SFPRG Fundraising Art Show was last December. It was not actually our first SFPRG fundraising art show since we did that once before about 10 years ago in Cowell Theater at Fort Mason. That first art show was a lot of fun but we only raised about $3.95 at the time and we didn't have the added excitement of an art auction.

In the last two years, we have started a serious fundraising project for SFPRG, intending to publicize who we are, what we do, and raise money to improve and expand our program. This is the second year that we have made a letter appeal to members and to friends of members. Last year, we consulted with a fundraising consultant. This year we are working with our second fundraising chair, Rachel Fierberg, who is our first non-therapist board member and is actually a Stanford MBA graduate.

I used to think that fundraising was a dreary administrative task but I have discovered that it is not only an important way to promote our mission, it provides us a challenge to define who we are and to promote what we do. Not only that, it turns out that fundraising also offers an opportunity to have a lot of fun and to connect with friends and colleagues in a completely new way.

For example, last October, we had our first Honorary Fundraising Dinner. That was an opportunity to honor Suzanne Gassner and Irwin Gootnick as well as hear about some of their early experiences with SFPRG. Many of the 50 of us in that room have known and liked each other for over 25 years. We heard what drew Suzanne and Irwin to Mount Zion (where the research group was then housed). They recounted their relationships with Joe Weiss and Hal Sampson, as well as with their colleagues and their students. We raised a little money but more importantly, we were able to connect in a meaningful way with what drew us to SFPRG, Joe's theory, the joy of doing good clinical work, and the pleasure of connecting with good people as colleagues and mentors. We plan to do a yearly fundraising honorary dinner. Read On

Suzanne Gassner is a psychoanalyst with practices in Albany and Sausalito. On Saturday Jan 21st she is presenting a workshop for ICP's Saturday Series: "Control-Mastery Theory and Unconscious Processing" from 12 noon to 3pm at the JCC, 3200 California Street, Room 205. Walk-ins are welcome. To register click the link below or call 510-809-4259

In October 2011, the SFPRG Board honored Suzanne Gassner with the first Weiss-Sampson Award for her ongoing contributions to both the advancement of Control Mastery theory, and to the organization itself. As a researcher, teacher, and clinician, Suzanne has worked to deepen our understanding of the role of unconscious guilt and strongly held pathogenic beliefs in psychological development, and their impact on interpersonal relationships.

For over thirty years Suzanne has worked to deepen her understanding of the psychotherapeutic process, and to pass that understanding on to the many clinicians who have attended her workshops and courses or who have read her papers.

Suzanne places great value on scientific inquiry, and it was this interest that initially drew her to San Francisco and the Mount Zion Psychotherapy Research Group. Colleagues of hers recommended the Research Group to her as the American site where the most outstanding psychotherapy wa being conducted. Read On

Happy 2012!! to you all and thank you for staying connected to SFPRG and Control-Mastery theory through this monthly email newsletter. Let us know how we can be sure this is a valuable resource for you.

The Membership Committee welcomes you to join us and help direct the future of its relationships with members, other committees, the board, education and with the clinic. We want your input!

We have become pro-active in courting stronger connections with our interns at the Clinic and Training Center. Each board member is pairing-up with an intern, perhaps two, to establish stronger connections and encourage interns to continue as members of SFPRG after they become licensed. These interns, especially, are our future.

Our interns receive training, clinical hours and supervision through the clinic so the board sees our contribution to these valued interns in professional, career and practice development. We have begun those connections as of December 2011 and look forward to this closer alliance. If you are interested in being part of this project, let me know. Read On

(From THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD, November 2011, No. 115, p.11)

UNLOCKING THE CREATIVE IMPULSE: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF IMPROVISATION

Denny Zeitlin

What ignites the creative spark? As a jazz pianist and composer, and a practicing psychiatrist, this question has intrigued me for many decades. I've enjoyed exploring this topic with musicians, artists, performers, psychotherapists, educators, and lay audiences in workshops I have conducted internationally, entitled "Unlocking the Creative Impulse: The Psychology of Improvisation."

I believe that the highest forms of creativity involve the bringing together of two disparate disciplines. One, a more classically "Western" tradition, involves the thousands of hours of practice that lead to technical expertise; the study of the history and scope of the art form; and development of a personal aesthetic. The other, a more classically "Eastern" tradition, involves the development of the capacity to enter an ecstatic state, where personal boundaries dissolve, and the artist merges with the act of making art.

This integration occurs at peak moments of creativity, whether or not the artist is consciously aware of it. Both disciplines are necessary. For example, a musician leaning too heavily on the "Western" tradition may sound technically and formally impeccable, but cold and sterile-too much light and not enough heat. A performer totally immersed in the "Eastern" tradition may tap into and communicate deep emotional states, but lose the aesthetic sense of form-too much heat and not enough light.

The anatomy of the Western tradition is understandably familiar to those of us growing up in the western world; that of the Eastern tradition, less so. When we examine cultures and disciplines throughout history that aim to develop ecstatic capacity, there is a word that frequently emerges: "flow." We find it in the Tao Te Ching, the poetry of Walt Whitman, and as a catch phrase of the Human Potential Movement: "go with the flow." Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has studied the "flow" phenomenon extensively for decades in a series of books, and enumerates the main elements of that state: 1) a sense of confidence and clarity of goals; 2) immediate feedback; 3) a balance between challenges and skills; 4) a merging of action and awareness; 5) exclusion of dimensions from consciousness because of the intense concentration on the present; 6) a feeling of total control without exerting control, with resultant freedom from fears of failure; 7) the disappearance of self-consciousness; 8) an altered sense of time; 9) the activity producing the "flow" state becomes "autotelic," i.e., it becomes an end in itself. Read On

The Friday Research Group tradition continues! As a member of both Friday groups I can tell you that being in on the process of empirically validating Control Mastery theory is exciting, challenging and deepens my understanding of its concepts and their clinical application.

The Friday groups have been the gathering point of SFPRG since its beginning. This unique theory of psychotherapy developed by Joe Weiss stimulated clinicians (see Suzanne Gassner interview) to participate in research projects under Joe and Hal Sampson. These projects tested the concepts of Control Mastery theory, providing empirical validation of their efficacy for helping patients rid themselves of irrational pathogenic beliefs which have held them back.

The Friday Research Group continues to pursue validation of other concepts of Control Mastery theory including the effects of trauma on beliefs, safety, patients' goals and using their therapist as a safe testing ground, doing their own research into whether their belief is reasonable or shared by others. Safety, passed tests, insight. Success!!

Join a Friday Research group and continue the rich tradition of SFPRG in validating the concepts of Control Mastery theory. These are important forums for furthering a helpful theory of mental health.

There are two Friday Research groups:

1pm led by George Silberschatz and John Curtis. Contact either George or John and express your interest!

George's email: schatz@itsa.ucsf.edu

John's email: Curtis@ucsf.edu

2pm led by Marshall Bush. Contact Marshall and express your interest.

Marshall's email: drmbush@pacbell.net

Ginger Rhodes, chair of the Research Committee, has put together an extensive list of dissertations related to CMT. This will be at least a three month listing so be sure you catch it all.

If you have written or published or intend to do so, let the research committee know. We are interested in what you are doing!

Survivor guilt as a community-wide experience and its relationship to HIV risk behavior in non-HIV-positive men who have sex with men by Feld, Margaret, Ph.D., Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 2005 , 232 pages; AAT 3179489

Survivor guilt, submissive behaviour and evolutionary theory: The down-side of winning in social comparison by Lynn E O'Connor, Jack W Berry, Joseph Weiss, Dina Schweitzer, Mia Sevier. British Journal of Medical Psychology. Leicester: Dec 2000. Vol. 73 Part 4. pg. 519, 12 pgs

Survivor guilt in HIV-positive gay men by Ashman, Teresa Anne, Ph.D., New School for Social Research, 1995 , 128 pages; AAT 9544269

First-generation college students and survivor guilt by Rooney, Jennifer L., Psy.D., The Wright Institute, 2010 , 85 pages; AAT 3430490

Control mastery theory and anti-racism: Interviews with White control mastery therapists about anti-racism as a therapeutic stance by Barrett, Emily G., Psy.D., The Wright Institute, 2009 , 154 pages; AAT 3376864

Using Psychodynamic, Cognitive Behavioral, and Control Mastery Prototypes to Predict Change: A New Look at an Old Paradigm for Long-Term Single-Case Research by Nnamdi Pole, J Stuart Ablon, Lynn E O'Connor. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Washington: Apr 2008. Vol. 55, Iss. 2; pg. 221

How psychotherapy works: Extending an integrated cognitive relational model to include specific neural hypotheses by Greenwood, Anders Christopher, Psy.D., The Wright Institute, 2006 , 267 pages; AAT 3249220

The role of unconscious guilt in obsessive love relationships by Hutchison, Renee, Psy.D., The Wright Institute, 2006 , 195 pages; AAT 3247789

The theoretical implications of applying the control-mastery concept of testing to family therapy by Bigalke, Tim, Ph.D., Alliant International University, San Francisco Bay, 2004 , 237 pages; AAT 3133433

A dose-response study of control mastery therapy by Weisbin, Jane Leslie, Psy.D., The Wright Institute, 2003 , 151 pages; AAT 3084478

SFPRG member Stanley Steinberg, who was a close friend of Joe Weiss and an early member of the research group, has an article in the current issue of American Imago: Sarah Stein: The Woman Who Brought Matisse to San Francisco: A Memoir: Learning about Art and the Art of Psychoanalysis, American Imago, Volume 68, Number 3, Fall 2011, pp. 517-542. http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/american_imago/

Dr. Steinberg has been writing his memoirs and this piece is about his friendship with Gertrude Stein's sister-in-law, Sarah, whom he met in 1942 when he was a medical student at Stanford. Dr. Steinberg would sit and have tea with Sarah Stein surrounded by the art of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and the other art that the Steins had collected when Sarah lived in Paris, with her husband Michael, his sister Gertrude and their brother Leo. Stanley Steinberg and Sarah would discuss art as well as analysis and therapy. He listened to her stories about these artists as well as others such as Jack London and Isadora Duncan that she had known.

Much of the Stein's art collection was recently reassembled for an exhibition that was at SFMOMA over the summer (The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde), which then traveled to Paris and is now heading to the NYC Metropolitan. One of the curators for the SFMOMA show wrote a short forward to Dr. Steinberg's article in American Imago.

Celebrating its centenary anniversary in 2012, American Imago was founded by Sigmund Freud and Hanns Sachs in 1939. Each thematically-organized issue features articles and book reviews that explore the enduring relevance of Freud's legacy across the disciplines.

Our ongoing case conferences resume in January and February. You may join any of the weekly conferences in San Francisco or the East Bay by registering online (click the link below) or just attending the first session. There is at least one per day except Thursdays, so you have quite a choice!

The Wednesday evening Post-Graduate Course in CMT will continue January 25th with special topics.

Coming soon is our Annual International Conference on Control Mastery Theory - this will be our 25th week-long conference! Several folks from the East Coast have registered and we expect some of our Norwegian colleagues to attend as well. Local folks are welcome to register for the entire week or choose individual classes to attend.

The Education Committee has expanded the topics covered at the conference. All members are encouraged to come to the Thursday evening reception, whether you attend the conference or not.

Mark your calendars for June 2nd when we present "Looking at Psychotherapy Outcome: Patient Therapist Interaction and New Research on Process and Outcome", with Louis Breger, Suzanne Gassner and George Silberschatz. Dr. Breger will discuss his latest book, "Psychotherapy: Lives Intersecting where he surveyed over thirty former patients to see if their progress, begun in therapy, had continued, expanded, or regressed."

Dr. Silberschatz will discuss research on psychotherapy outcome and the processes of psychotherapy that has grown out of the long history of studies on the psychotherapy process carried out by him and others from the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group. Dr. Gassner will discuss these two investigatory approaches to the study of psychotherapy outcome.

Click the link below for information and registration for all of these conferences is found on the Continuing Education section of our website: http://www.sfprg.org/continuing_education/courses.html

Hello Control Mastery community! My name is Lili Micaela. I am making preparations to start a private practice and will be incorporating Control Mastery into my work.

I wonder if any of you who read this newsletter would be a compatible supervisor for a mature MFT Intern with 2500 hours toward licensure?

A little about me: my Masters is in Clinical Mental Health from Appalachian State University in North Carolina, where I lived for 5 years. The surprise on that remote campus was a fabulous program in Expressive Arts Therapy - I took full advantage of this and earned a Post-Masters Certificate. I love the depth the Expressive Arts can bring to psychotherapeutic work.

My clinical experience includes grief work, to which i feel profoundly drawn; also I am passionate about identity, relational issues, and mid-life developmental issues.

In terms of Control Mastery, I first discovered your theory while reading a Jewish Community Center schedule! I took the Introduction to CM day-long presentation in February 2009, and knew the CM outlook was a good fit for me: in particular the methods of recognizing all levels of trauma, and also the on-going evaluation of the therapy measured against the patient's Plan. Other CM trainings I have taken are on complex trauma, the week-long March conference, and most recently, the 1/2 day on couples' work.

If you might possibly be interested in a supervising an intern who is building a practice, let's talk. Lili Micaela at 415-264-8393 andlm6360@gmail.com

Thank you!

Very, lovely, desirable psychotherapy office available full or part time near the corner of 6th Ave and California Street. This is a central location for 3 MUNI bus lines or shopping on Clement / Geary Streets, with plenty of meterless street parking. The building is all psychotherapy offices, all with sound-insulated double doors and front door security locks. There is a waiting room with a bathroom for clients. The office is 12.5x13.5 and in the back of the building so there is no street noise. It is very bright.

You have the option of subletting. If you need furniture, the current beautiful furnishings belong to a prior leaseholder who is happy to leave them there to provide continuity of use by other therapists. The room furnishings include five two-drawer steel file cabinets with separate locks for confidential records. Contact Irwin Gootnick directly at 415-221-5204. or igootnick@aol.com California Street at 6th Ave (google map) (yahoo map)

North Berkeley / Solano Ave. Office A full-time therapy office is available in an ideal location. This beautiful office is bright, charming, cozy. It is soundproof, has a call system and is wheelchair accessible. Cleaning and utilities are included. Please contact Frieda at (510) 526-0908

Then, on December 3, we had our (Second) Fundraising Art Show. About twenty artists participated by showing their work. More than sixty people came to see the art and participate in our first art auction! Many of those people were SFPRG members or local therapists. Many were just art lovers who came to appreciate the art and in the process they happened to learn about SFPRG, our clinic, our offices, and our program.

The art auction was an unexpected thrill. A bidding war started over the first piece, a Marcia Sohn original necklace. Bidders competed for almost every one of the art items up for auction. Prices ranged from $100 to over $2000. Some of the items were donated to SFPRG and the entire price went to the research group. Sale prices of the other items were split between the artist and SFPRG. What was surprising was the high quality of art that our members and relatives of members were able to produce. In addition to art, there was music and wine tasting. We want to offer an art show every year. Many of the artists are already inspired to paint more, sculpt more, and take more photos for next year's show.

SFPRG continues to offer a full plate of excellent educational programs. See the education column and check the website for upcoming conferences. Lou Breger, George Silberschatz, and Suzanne Gassner will participate in a very important conference on therapy outcome in early June. David Wallin and I are planning an important dialogue between Control Mastery Theory and Attachment Theory scheduled for October. The 25th Annual International Conference is coming up right around the corner in March, organized by Susan Landes. Tell your colleagues and friends and come yourselves to learn and teach. John Gibbins, Peter Schumacher, Irwin Gootnick, and I are also offering a Spring semester of the Post Graduate Course, meeting Wednesdays from 7 to 9:15 p.m., starting January 25, focusing on child and family therapy. The first hour is didactic and the second allows clinical case presentations with lots of discussion.

Finally, we are having our spring Board Retreat this month. The most important topic on the agenda is how are we going to promote and develop research at SFPRG. Several people are doing research in our group but we could benefit from better organization, planning, publicizing, and collaborating. At the retreat, we will hear about John Snyder's findings from his research with the SFPRG Clinic that he will present this summer at the Society for Psychotherapy Research. We will discuss ideas for further research projects as well as how we can include more interested researchers in SFPRG research projects. We are exploring how to include dissertation students and research supervisors at the Wright Institute.

It is a very exciting and productive time at SFPRG. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year.

See you next month, Steve Foreman

In 1975 she took a sabbatical from her academic position at U Mass with the intention of being in San Francisco for one year. What she encountered was an atmosphere that was creative, collaborative, and "committed to exploring the empirical foundations of psychoanalytic thinking." Her one year sabbatical turned into a second year leave of absence, and her subsequent decision to give up her tenured position and remain in San Francisco. In Suzanne's words, "this was where it was at". The Mt. Zion researchers, led by Hal Sampson and Joe Weiss were conducting pioneering work on psychotherapy research. "Joe's ideas were leading edge, not fully accepted."

Suzanne felt very much a part of the research group. She worked closely with Hal and with Marshall Bush, and with Hal's help was able to secure a position in Mt. Zion's Department of Psychiatry, to serve as a research consultant. At the time, she particularly appreciated that Hal and Joe responded with modesty and an openness to dialogue to colleagues who were challenging their ideas. This openness to question, to re-conceptualizing, and to having seemingly fixed ideas challenged, is something Suzanne seems to thrive on.

Suzanne states that her immersion in the control mastery theory led to her having more command over her clinical work, and in 1979 her inquisitive mind and desire to further expand her knowledge led her to enter analytic training at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.

Suzanne views control mastery theory as a contemporary ego psychology theory and a trauma theory, with its emphasis on case specific approaches to understanding psychopathology. And very importantly, it is a relational theory. Control Mastery Theory is not static, and it is important as clinicians that we keep our minds open and receptive to critiques as well as to new ideas and empirical evidence. Suzanne's contributions the to organization continue, and she will be offering a course on "Unconscious Processing and Unconscious Safety" at the March Workshop.

Many, many of you are outside the Bay Area so taking advantage of all our workshops here is just not feasible. We are working out how to resolve this barrier which will probably include more sophistication in network presentations. If you have skills in that area, we can use your knowledge!

We are in the process of becoming an Institute and this is a propitious time to assess our future. The board, in its retreat this month, has taken the first steps in determining the essentials of becoming a respected institute for control-mastery theory.

Lastly, I encourage all of you who want to become members to contact me, kathiedunnmft@comcast.net and let me know how the membership committee can be helpful and/or answer questions you have. Also, if you have lapsed in membership we want to know what is keeping you from maintaining this relationship that was helpful and important in the past. Contact me or any other board member.

When I'm improvising on a bandstand in a "flow" state, I'm confident that I am up to the challenge and feel clear about my over-all musical goals, trusting that my diligent practice and study will be brought to bear, and that the notes and my personal aesthetic will take care of themselves; I get immediate feedback from my playing and the musicians on the bandstand as to how the music is progressing; the musical challenge is neither too boring nor overwhelming; I am merged with the music, and am not even aware of pressing the keys; I'm free from intrusive thoughts; I feel intensely curious, open, and engaged, effortlessly in control and unafraid of mistakes or opinions of others; At times my solo feels like it is lasting forever, or over in a moment; the act of playing is its own reward.

Of course no musician is in "flow" all the time. States of consciousness frequently shift, and an improviser typically moves in and out of flow during a performance. The challenge is finding ways to "gentle" ourselves back into flow when we slip out of it. I've learned to not seize on an intrusive thought, or a missed note, or noise from the audience, but trust that if I love the music, and step out of its way, something special can happen. The set and the setting has a lot to do with entry into and maintenance of the flow state. Musicians often have preliminary rituals before they play. Some have specific warm-up exercises; others hang out with the band or audience; others meditate, etc. I see these as ways people create a sense of centeredness and psychological safety. Good vibes in the band and an enthusiastic, attentive audience help greatly. Developing a "process" rather than "content" orientation is tremendously useful in avoiding perfectionistic traps. There will always be another chance to take a solo. And there is nothing inherently demeaning in seeing oneself as a perpetual student of one's art.

In my clinical work with patients suffering from creative blocks over the years, there have been three major themes that most commonly interfere with the psychological safety necessary for inhabiting the flow state and drawing upon the fruits of countless hours of practicing in the "Western" tradition. One is the fear of loss of control. Classical musicians faced with the challenge of improvisation often experience this. In extreme cases, there is a fear of becoming psychotic, and not being able to return. Another main theme is the fear of failure and humiliation. Frequently, extremely competent professionals are hampered by this spectre. In psychotherapy, what may initially present as a fear of failure, may prove to be the third common theme: an underlying guilt about success. Individuals struggling with this theme often have a family history where they emerged better off than some other family members, and unconsciously feel they don't deserve it. This can lead to a lifetime of inhibition and self-sabotage where defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory.

One of the overall attitudes that is most conducive to successfully mobilizing and integrating these Western and Eastern traditions is feeling grateful for the opportunity and capacity to be creative. Depending on personal beliefs, this might range from gratitude to a supreme being, to gratefulness at the good fortune to possess the DNA and life experiences that allow creative expression.