July 24, 2014

Hello Community:

Whenever I begin a new project I like to start with a clean surface. It's kind of like when a woodworker or an artist is starting a new piece, it is nice to have a clean canvas or work area. I feel that way about starting a new job. I like to organize my new workspace. It is in this spirit that Rob and I are spearheading a renewal project for Building 9 at our lovely Presidio location. We have been at our current place for over 10 years now and our closets and other public spaces are overflowing with items that have outlived their usefulness. Last Friday we spent several hours walking through the building and have made lists of items to be let go of, items to be purchased, places to be cleaned, and walls to be painted. The first step in the process is the cleaning of the building and organizing that which we wish to dispose of. I would like to invite you to participate. We need about 12 people to join us on Saturday September 20th from 9am to 1:00pm. Pizza and refreshments will be provided. Please send me an email if you will be available to contribute to this valuable opportunity to do service for our organization.

Speaking of service, at the last board meeting I asked each of our board members what was the most rewarding aspect of their service to SFPRG. Each member stated that they really liked being a part of a group of people who share a common goal. I believe many of us joined SFPRG because we wanted to be part of a community of like-minded therapists who believed in the value of Control Mastery Theory. One way to keep our organization fresh and vibrant is to consider service work. We could really use a few people to do committee work. Our committees include, Education, Fundraising, Research, Membership and Finance. The commitment is a one-hour a month meeting and 2-4 hours per month of related activities. Your time and energy are one of our most valuable assets.

We have two wonderful events coming up this fall. On September 13th will be honoring two of our longtime members for their contribution to the group, Dr. Denny Zeitlin and Peter Schumacher. This is the fourth year that we at SFPRG are honoring members who have made significant and meaningful contributions to our organization. Stay tuned for details.

On November 15th George Silberschatz will be teaching a daylong workshop on Couple Therapy with Daniel Wile. Daniel Wile is in private practice in Oakland, California. He is a clinical psychologist with thirty-five years experience as a couples therapist. He received his B.A. from University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, where he is an Assistant Clinical Professor. He is a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has published on psychotherapeutic theory as well as couples therapy, has taught at several graduate programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, gives professional workshops on couple therapy throughout the United States and internationally, and is author of Couples Therapy: A Nontraditional Approach, After the Honeymoon, How Conflict Can Improve Your Relationship, and After the Fight: Using Your Disagreements to Build a Stronger Relationship.

Warmly,
Susan Landes

The education programs at SFPRG are important components of what we offer members and the professional community at large. Along with the clinic, they are the heart of the organization. Over the years our conferences, workshops, case conferences and clinical presentations have helped deepen our understanding of the therapeutic process, not only from a Control Mastery perspective, but from other theoretical orientations as well.

The richness of these high level educational programs is that they broaden our thinking and open us up to similarities and differences, continually challenging us to re-evaluate our thinking and stimulating us to think and to question. One of the beauties of Control Mastery is that it is an integrative model of psychotherapy, not stuck in a "one answer" or "this is how we do it" model.

There are many members of SFPRG whose interests and expertise include working with a number of clinical models, often utilizing the concepts of Control Mastery to orient themselves or to reframe certain ideas or clinical interventions. We would like to invite members who would like to further explore ideas about how Control Mastery theory integrates with approaches such as DBT and CBT, and EFT, or with developmental theories such as attachment theory. We are also interested in how they utilize CM with specific populations or in situations where behavior disorders or substance abuse are present. Whether their work is with couples, groups, or families, we would welcome members becoming involved in our educational programs, and perhaps offer a course or a workshop. If any member is interested in offering a class or being part of the education committee, and helping to shape the future of our educational programs, please contact me at maslowJ@comcast.net.

July 21, 2014

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to report on a conference I recently presented in Bergen, Norway with Peter Schumacher and Judith May Schumacher. It was a miracle of modern social media because we were scheduled to arrive in Bergen after the University had closed and all the faculty and students were on vacation. Before we left for Norway, our wonderful Norwegian Clinic Interns, Ingrid Kristiansen and Elida Austboe offered to help us. They said, "No problem. We know many students in Bergen who would be willing to attend and we can contact them by Facebook."

Elida and Ingrid set up a beautiful online invitation describing the lectures, with a background photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge over the San Francisco Bay that Elida took herself. They sent the invitation initially to 50 people but eventually 200 people were contacted. We would have been happy if ten Control Mastery enthusiasts attended. We could follow the numbers daily on Facebook. On the first day 17 people signed up. On the second day 25, then 39, then 50. By the time of the conference on July 1, over 70 people signed up to come to hear us talk about "New Directions in Control Mastery Theory."

Peter opened the lectures with a talk entitled, "The Beauty of Control Mastery Theory." He presented one of his cases from the perspective of three early papers Joe Weiss published in the 1950's: Joe's first published paper on the nature of Beauty, Joe's paper on Crying at the Happy Ending, and a little known paper Joe wrote about female victims of sexual abuse. Peter wove themes from these three papers together with his case as an elegant overview of Control Mastery Theory.

Judith May Schumacher is a therapist, a voice teacher, and a music faculty member at the University of San Francisco. Judith started her presentation with an experiential exercise. Everyone in the audience came to the front and formed a large, intimate circle. Judith encouraged everyone to vocalize, sing together, and touch the back of the person in front while touching one's own chest, feeling the vibrations, and sensing the connectedness to the person in front and behind. It was a powerful group process that tied together music, diminished inhibitions, and social bonding. Judith gave a talk where she outlined the similarities between being a therapist and a teacher, as well as the differences. She pointed out how compassion, encouragement, and tuning into what the patient or student is trying to achieve can be transformative and healing. She pointed out that in therapy, as in music training, everyone is searching for an authentic and uninhibited voice.

I spoke about Pathological Identification, why people repeat the mistakes their parents made that put their own current relations with children, spouses, friends, and coworkers in jeopardy. This lecture came from a paper I outlined in the newsletter last year that I am submitting for publication.

The audience included many people I recognized who had come to study with us at our Annual International Conferences over the past 10 years. Of course, Hans Peter Broch came with Dag Oulie. Helge Holgersen, assistant director of the Psychology Clinic at the University of Bergen, returned from vacation to introduce us at the conference and show us around Bergen. Bernt Larsen, a child Psychiatrist and friend who has come to San Francisco four times in the past five years, attended the lectures. I recognized and greeted many other former attendees at our March Conferences. One former student, Aslok, who visited San Francisco in 2007, now on the faculty at the University of Bergen, came to the lectures and joined our group for lunch afterward.

After the lectures, several new people I didn't recognize came up to us and asked if they could come to San Francisco to be interns at the Clinic. One student wanted to do his dissertation on Child Therapy with our research group, using a Control Mastery model. One woman from Oslo said she was very interested in having members of our group come to Oslo to lecture. Another woman from London said the same about wanting a Control Mastery presence in London.

George Silberschatz had lectured two weeks earlier at the University of Bergen and had also spoken at Oslo. Many of the attendees at our lecture indicated they had attended George's lecture. Jessica Broitman is planning to visit Bergen in September to speak on Control Mastery Theory and to meet and interview prospective Clinic interns.

I am very grateful for the important connection we have with our Norwegian colleagues. I met Hans Peter at a Society for Psychotherapy Research conference in Toronto in1989 along with George Silberschatz, John Curtis, John Gibbins, and Terri Meyer. We invited him to come to San Francisco for the Annual International Conference, which was then in its infancy. Hans Peter has come about 17 times over the following 25 years. He has brought his students, Per Einar Binder and Helge Holgersen, now major faculty at the University of Bergen. Per Einar and Helge have sent their students to attend the Annual International Conference and to take internship positions at the Clinic. There have been over eighty attendees to the Annual International Conferences from Norway over the past 10 years. They have been a wonderful asset to our clinic and our classes.

The Norwegians have done so much to promote Control Mastery Theory, not just in Norway but internationally. Hans Peter, Dag Oulie, and Tor Sletten have sponsored a conference in Spain for many years and have invited members of our group to lecture there. They have also invited us to present in Cuba. Kari Lossius, another colleague from Bergen, organizes a yearly conference in South Africa and has invited presentations on Control Mastery theory to an international audience. I have told Hans Peter, Kari, Dag, and Tor that I am grateful for the opportunities they have given me personally but also for what they have done for SFPRG and Control Mastery because of the wide dissemination of the theory that they have fostered. We have a rich and productive collaboration between San Francisco and Bergen that I hope continues for a very long time. We welcome all of our friends and colleagues there to come back to San Francisco next March. I wish Jessica a wonderful trip when she visits Bergen in September.

Steve Foreman

A great big Thank You to those of you who have renewed your membership with SFPRG. The support we get from annual membership dues is a very important part of our budget each year. This organization would not exist without our members providing the support that keeps us going. We are a non-profit with minimal staff. Membership dues, donations and volunteers are what makes this organization able to continue doing the important work that we do.

If you are not a member, please consider adding your support to those members who value Control Mastery Theory and our sliding-scale clinic. If you are a member, please renew as soon as you can so we don't incur any more cost in reminders.

You can join or renew online.

Thank you!!

This is the fourth year that we at SFPRG are honoring members who have made significant and meaningful contributions to our research group, whether it be through teaching, doing research, giving workshops, presenting at conferences, supervising, administering programs, or promoting Control Mastery Theory and the mission of SFPRG. This event is a yearly opportunity for old and new friends to socialize, to appreciate each other, and to recognize important work that many people have made to our group. In addition to being an honorary dinner, it is a fundraiser. We want to raise the profile of what our group is doing and what individuals have done for our group. We would like to see many of you attend with your friends and families to toast this year's honorees.

This year, 2014, we recognize Dennis J. Zeitlin, M.D. and Peter Schumacher for their outstanding contributions to SFPRG and Control Mastery Theory. We will be honoring Denny and Peter at a dinner at the very lovely restaurant, Piatti in Mill Valley, on Saturday, September 13, at 6:00 pm. The cost of the dinner will be $125 per person, proceeds going to SFPRG. Reservations and payment can be made through our website. (Students/interns should email the office for a reduced price: sfprg@sfprg.org)

Peter Schumacher

SFPRG is honoring Peter Schumacher for his contribution to SFPRG and to Control Mastery Theory. Peter has a long and varied career. Like Joe Weiss, he studied mathematics as an undergraduate. He worked at Esalen in the early 1970's and has led private psychotherapy groups in France and Switzerland. He has done individual and group therapy for criminal sex offenders and substance abusers. He has consulted to and supervised staff for a court mandated substance abuse treatment center. Peter has supervised interns and trainees at the California Institute for Integral Studies as well as at John F. Kennedy University. Peter has practiced as a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist since 1986.

He has been affiliated with SFPRG since 1990. He has made a major contribution to SFPRG through service and teaching. He has been on the Board of Directors since 1999. Peter served as Treasurer from 1999 until 2012. He continues to serve on the Fundraising Committee and is a major contributor to the yearly SFPRG Art Show and Fundraiser as an organizer and as an artist.

Peter attended Joe Weiss' Monday seminar, "How Psychotherapy Works", since 1990 and took over co-leadership of that group with Marshall Bush at Joe's request in 2004. He has led the Monday group alone since 2006. He has supervised interns and trainees at the Clinic since 2004.

Peter has taught the core seminar On Technique for several years at the Annual International Conference on Control Mastery Theory every March. He has also lectured on "Guilt, Blame, and Shame" and "Plan Formulation" at the Conference. He just returned from presenting his paper, "The Beauty Behind Control Mastery Theory" at a conference titled "New Directions In Control Mastery Theory" in Bergen, Norway in July, 2014.

Dr. Dennis J. Zeitlin

Denny Zeitlin is a psychiatrist in private practice in Marin and a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.

After completing medical school at Johns Hopkins Medical School, Denny came to California in 1965 to complete his residency at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute at the University of California in San Francisco. It was at Langley Porter that Denny met Joseph Weiss, M.D., the founder of Control-Mastery Theory. In 1975 Denny began a mentorship that was uninterrupted for almost 30 years, Denny met individually for one hour a week with Dr. Weiss for an extended mentorship in the theory and practice of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and empirical research. In addition to this weekly consultation, for many years he attended Weiss' weekly continuous case seminar, research seminar, and presentations by members of the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group.

Since completing his residency in 1968, he has remained active on the teaching faculty at UCSF, where he is an award winning Clinical Professor of Psychiatry; taught courses for other institutions; presented at regional and national conferences; and he has taught at least one Control-Mastery course or workshop a year under the aegis of SFPRG.

Denny's other career was born at the piano at age 2. He studied classical music throughout his elementary school years, and fell in love with jazz in high school - a made-to-order medium for his primary interest in improvisation and composition. He has recorded over thirty-five critically acclaimed albums and has composed for both television and cinema. He has concertized throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Europe, at colleges, jazz clubs, and major festivals.

Denny is important to Control Mastery theory for his contribution to our understanding of how to work with couples and groups. He has presented his original application of Control-Mastery theory on Couple Therapy to hundreds of therapists. His years of teaching and research on couple therapy and group therapy have added greatly to our understanding of how pathogenic beliefs are intertwined in adult relationships.

Amazon.com has a new program called AmazonSmile which will give a small donation from your purchase to the nonprofit of your choice. Please bookmark AmazonSmile and designate the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group as your charity of choice! Link to AmazonSmile here

New group coming in mid-September for young adults (18-25) with Chronic Pain!

Interns Jodi Engstrom, PsyD and David Becker, MD, MA, MFTi will be co-facilitating a psychoeducation and support group for young adults suffering from chronic pain. The group will begin mid-September and run for 12 weeks on Thursdays from 6 - 7:30pm at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, in San Francisco. Topics are aimed at helping participants effectively handle the social and emotional difficulties associated with pain, and will also include useful applications such as mindfulness, guided imagery, biofeedback, and discussions on posttraumatic growth and making meaning of pain. Please contact David at beckerdk@gmail.com, or Jodi at (415) 677-7946 x4 for more information or to schedule an intake.

If you live outside of the Bay Area, SFPRG needs your help!

We want to present conferences on CMT outside of the Bay Area. Do you have connections with an organization that could either sponsor us or allow us use of a mailing list? We are APA approved so we can give CE hours anywhere in the U.S. If you know of an organization that would sponsor us, we can provide a lecturer; if you can get us a mailing list and leads on venues, we can do the rest.

Please contact Rob in our office (rob@sfprg.org) if you can help!

Save the dates!
August 17: Summer Samba
September 13: SFPRG Honorary Dinner Fundraiser
November 15: Conference with Dan Wile (title TBD)
December 6: Annual Art Show Reception and Auction

On December 6th we will hold our annual Art Show Reception and Auction. We are looking for donations for the auction. At last year's auction we had many great bottles of wine which folks had fun bidding on! If you can procure an item for auction, please let the office know. We are hoping for donations of wine, dinner certificates (ask your favorite restaurant if they donate to non-profits), vacation homes, tickets to shows (theater, concerts, sports), and of course, art. Anything you think would be a good auction item for our fundraiser, please donate it!

We would be happy to provide a receipt for tax records.

Note to artists - please think about what art you might like to show in December!

Office available full-time in north Berkeley on upper Solano Ave.

Beautiful psychotherapy office in an all therapist building is available full-time. Location is ideal, near shops & transportation.

The office is charming, cozy and bright. It has state of the art soundproofing & therapist call system, wheelchair access. Utilities, cleaning, common supplies are included.

Call Frieda at (510) 526-0908. Please leave your name & contact information, phone &/or email.