October 31, 2014

Hello Community:

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." (Laozi)

The biannual SFPRG Board Retreat was held Saturday October 18th in Harriette Grooh's lovely office in Building 10. The theme of the retreat was Next Steps. Each Board Member named something they were passionate about and wanted to devote their energy to over the next six months. Below is list of some of their projects and next steps we hope to see completed over the next six months.

• Build clinic revenue and capacity. Next Step: analyze capacity points.
• Increase support of SFPRG's research program. Next Step: expand space for clinic and research.
• Increase research and publishable writing. Next Step: writing new article on pathogenic beliefs.
• Develop comprehensive materials for marketing and fundraising. Next Step: Look at existing SFPRG materials and what materials other similar organizations have.
• Create a North Bay consultation group for former interns. Next Step: Contact former interns.
• Increase retention within SFPRG of former interns. Next Step: Plan more parties and network with former and current interns.
• Develop smaller courses. Increase outreach to psychology students through networking with local graduate schools. Next Steps: Get contact names from psychology schools.
• Raise $5,000 for Building 9 redecoration. Next Step: Send out fundraising letter.
• Develop programs and increase community contacts for the clinic. Next Step: Create a list of community contacts.

Watching the World Series this week has highlighted for me the importance of teamwork. Non-profit organizations thrive on the support and volunteerism of their members. I am so grateful to be a part of such a great enthusiastic team. Let me know if any others of you have thoughts/ideas and or time to contribute to any of the above projects.

Happy Halloween,
Susan Landes

If you have not yet registered for the November 15th conference with Dan Wile and George Silberschatz, on Effective Couple Therapy, now is the time to do it. This promises to be both informative and entertaining, and both men are excellent presenters. It is a great opportunity to gain some new perspectives on clinical work with couples.

SFPRG is working to broaden the scope of our education programs, and provide more programs in academic settings, and in community agencies that provide clinical training. While this has been a part of our ongoing activities, our hope is to make it an even larger part of our educational endeavors. If you are interested in being involved in this project, either as a speaker or as a resource for helping make connections with schools or agencies in your area, please contact me at maslowj@comcast.net. We are always looking to our members for new ideas for our courses and conferences, so feel free to offer any ideas and thoughts that you might have.

The Education Committee is developing the curriculum for our 28th Annual International Conference on CMT (aka March Workshop), which will take place from March 2nd thru the 6th of 2015. This event is the core of our educational program, and provides opportunities for new as well as experienced clinicians to explore the many clinical applications of CM as well as the ongoing research being conducted by members of SFPRG.

As you know we offer a concentrated program, which presents the basic theory, discusses the research, compare the theory with other theories, and goes into depth exploring the application of Control Mastery theory to a variety of clinical areas. The conference offers over 30 continuing education hours.

We are in the midst of our planning process with the hope that we can continue to improve on our success. We value input and ideas from our membership, and we would like to encourage as many of you as possible who haven't had the opportunity to participate in recent years, to offer some new classes in areas that are of particular clinical interest to you.

We need your help in two areas: encouraging participation from friends and colleagues, and creating and offering new dynamic classes. Below is a partial list of topics that were requested from last year's participants, and some that have not been presented in the past few years:

• Cultural biases in transference and counter-transference
• Sexuality in the room
• Treating personality disorders
• Psychotherapy integration
• Acute and chronic trauma/creating safety
• CMT with bi-polar patients
• Sociopathy/anti social behavior
• Difficult cases

Dear Colleagues,
The Research Committee has reconstituted with Marshall Bush, John Snyder and myself as chair. We will be meeting the third Thursday of every month in the 9 Funston conference room. You are welcome to attend to discuss your research or find out what else is going on in research at SFPRG. Many thanks to the previous chair, Ginger Rhodes, for all of your excellent work.

We started looking at a packet of dissertations that were published between 1986 and 2012 on Control Mastery Theory. Thanks to Patsy Wood, a previous chair of the Research Committee for compiling these abstracts on CMT research that will be posted on our website. One of the important functions of the Research Committee is to be a repository for the CMT research that has already been done and a source of information and inspiration for new research on Control Mastery Theory. Prospective dissertation students and senior researchers are often asking what projects can they join to further research in CMT. I believe the committee should be a resource where people can come and find out what is being done, what ideas people have for next steps in research and defining important issues in CMT.

The committee outlined other important functions it should serve.

1) Help set up a list of people interested in doing research not just as investigators but also as raters who can participate in research studies.

2) Make recommendations to the SFPRG Budget Committee for appropriate funding to promote research.

3) Define guidelines for a Human Subjects Committee or an Institutional Review Board to assure that all research under the auspices of SFPRG be done following the highest ethical standards.

4) Clarify research questions we may want to investigate.

5) Strategize to collect data that we can use to conduct research on CMT.

6) Find ways to involve the membership in research studies.

7) Serve as a resource to researchers doing current studies who want a place to talk about their research projects, brainstorm design problems, find raters, etc.

8) Discuss and develop our own research ideas and projects.

There are currently two or three studies being developed to test hypotheses about how psychotherapy works using the data from SFPRG's Clinic. Please see this column next month for a review of some of the research projects currently underway and being considered in the future at SFPRG. See you then.
Steve Foreman

It's hard to believe, but I am in my 5th year at the SFPRG clinic! I started my pre-doctoral internship in July of 2010, under the supervision of Carol Drucker and Steve Foreman. I came to know of control mastery theory and the SFPRG Clinic through classes I took with Carol during my graduate work at CSPP. As we all say, the theory just made sense to me, and I eagerly began my internship by taking advantage of all the clinic had to offer. During this time I also joined the Board of Directors as the Intern Representative, a position I still fill and enjoy.

I took a leave of absence from the clinic in April of 2012 to have my daughter, Emily, and then in the subsequent year completed my dissertation on the topic of posttraumatic growth in children of divorce. I interviewed several Control Mastery therapists for that project, and although the final product did not include CMT research, I am interested in combining my knowledge of posttraumatic growth with CMT in the future. Last January I began my post-doctoral hours at SFPRG, supervised by Carol Drucker and Jamie Edmund. I have been working with a full caseload of patients since then, half of whom have been with me for 4+ years. What a treat! My focus at the clinic is with children, adolescents, and families, and working with identity and transition issues commonly experienced in the 20s and 30s. I have also worked with adoption, coparenting, addiction, health issues, and depression/anxiety among others.

I will be completing my post-doctoral hours in June, and plan to transition into private practice at that time. I also hope to continue my involvement with SFPRG and the Clinic, as this group has been so wonderful and formative in my training! In September I started a small private practice, separate from the Clinic, under the license and supervision of Steve Foreman. I am looking to add to my private practice caseload, so please think of me if you have any referrals. I can be reached at DrJodiEngstrom@gmail.com.

Warmly,
Jodi Engstrom

Daniel Wile, PhD & George Silberschatz, PhD

Saturday, November 15, 2014, 9 am - 4:30 pm. 6 hours CE
JCCSF, 3200 California St. (at Presidio Ave), San Francisco

This workshop focuses on similarities and differences between Dan Wile's Collaborative Couple therapy and Control Mastery Couple therapy. The presenters will briefly discuss their respective theories and show how they work clinically through case examples and couple role plays. Dan Wile will highlight the principle of doubling, which is the signature method of his approach and George Silberschatz will illustrate how understanding pathogenic schemas can facilitate more effective communication among partners. Plenty of practical clinical application.

Daniel B. Wile, PhD, is in private practice in Oakland, California. He is a clinical psychologist with thirty-five years experience as a couple therapist. 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 couples 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. www.danwile.com

George Silberschatz, PhD, is a Psychologist and Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and past president of the international Society for Psychotherapy Research. He has published extensively in professional journals and books and is a sought after presenter at professional meetings and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He currently divides his time between a private practice in San Francisco, teaching and supervising psychotherapy, and writing clinical and research papers. His book, Transformative Relationships, has been widely acclaimed for the clarity of its theoretical foundations, the rigor of the research presented and its clinical relevance.

Register for this class here.
Check with your licensure board for rules pertaining to claiming CE hours.
PSYCHOLOGISTS: SFPRG is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. SFPRG maintains responsibility for these programs and their contents.
SFPRG does not report your attendance to the MCEPAA.
L.C.S.W.s/M.F.C.C.s: SFPRG is a provider approved by the Board of Behavioral Sciences, Provider Number PCE104, for CE credit on an hour-for-hour basis.

Continuing our effort to give a historical context to the development of Control Mastery Theory, we are serializing a talk given by Joe Weiss in 1988. - editor

Part 1 can be found in the newsletter archives in September's newsletter.

Mental Functioning

My next topic is mental functioning. Here I assume that a person's unconscious mind functions much as does his conscious mind. He is able unconsciously to use his higher mental functions. He can unconsciously think, decide and he can carry out plans. He can also exert control over certain unconscious mental processes in accordance with his thought and plans. For example, he is able to exert control over his repressions. He keeps certain impulses, affects, or ideas warded off as long as he assumes it would be dangerous for him to experience them. Then when he decides he may safely do so, he lifts his repressions and bring the repressed impulses, affects, and ideas forth. For example, a mother who has been separated from her child may repress her sadness at the separation until she is reunited with the child. Then she can safely experience how sad she has been and may lift the repressions and permit herself to weep.

Here, too, my concepts about mental functioning are compatible with Freud's late ideas but incompatible with those which he developed in his early writings.

In his early theory Freud minimized a person's capacity to exert control over his unconscious mental life. He pictured the unconscious mind as consisting of powerful impulses, including sexual impulses, various kinds of sadistic impulses, and destructive impulses, which are always attempting to find satisfaction. These impulses are opposed by powerful defenses.

The impulses and defenses are, in Freud's view, impersonal, like forces of nature. They interact blindly, beyond the person's control. They may clash and nullify each other, they may find some pathway which satisfies both. (That is, they may enter into a compromise formation.)

From their various interactions the impulses and defenses determine all mental phenomena.

From Freud's early theory, which I pointed out is still highly influential, we obtain the name "dynamic psychology." This name refers to the idea that mental forces by interacting dynamically determine behavior.

Freud's early theory is based on what may be called "the hypothesis of unconscious automatic functioning." In contrast, those parts of Freud's ego psychology from which my theory is derived are based on what may be called "the hypothesis of unconscious higher mental functioning."

Most analysts today assume both kinds of unconscious functioning. However, they rely more heavily on concepts which assume automatic functioning.

to be continued in the next newsletter

We have an office available in our building at The Presidio. It's a large downstairs office with lots of windows available now. High ceiling, decorative (nonfunctional) fireplace. Shared large kitchen, waiting room, bathroom. Easy cheap parking. Bus line 2 blocks away. Utilities & janitorial split with other therapists in addition to base rent. Prefer 4 year lease.

Contact Rob in the SFPRG office: rob@sfprg.org

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!

Seeking Psychodynamically Oriented Supervisors Interested in the future of Psychodynamic Supervision.

I am currently a student at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Francisco Bay Campus. I am conducting dissertation research on psychodynamically oriented clinical supervisors' perception of the use of clinical outcome measures in therapy and supervision. Increasingly, agencies and graduate schools require the use of clinical outcome measures for psychotherapy for students in their training. This research is geared towards understanding how experienced psychodynamic supervisors think about the use of these measures in their students' therapy and supervision.

For my study, psychologists must work at agencies that use clinical outcome measures, and must be supervising interns who are currently doctoral level; these internship programs must be accredited by APA, APPIC or CAPIC. Participation in this study would include providing basic demographic information and participating in one 45 minute to one hour semi-structured interview. If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please feel free to contact Steven Moore at smoore@alliant.edu or call 707-299-0001.

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!

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