CIPS Initiates Teleconference Study Groups

The CIPS Intramural Education and Research Committee is planning two study groups open to all our members, including graduate analysts and candidates. The two groups, which will meet in teleconference starting in the fall, are focused on the work of Wilfrid Bion, and on the clinical phenomenon of "enactments."

The Bion group, which will meet monthly beginning in September for eight sessions, will be facilitated by Maxine K. Anderson and Marianne Robinson of the Northwest Psychoanalytic Society (NPS). The first four meetings will be conducted by Avedis Panajian, a well known Bion scholar. The first four meetings are currently scheduled to be held on Sept. 22, Oct. 13, Nov. 17, Dec. 15,10-11:30 AM, Pacific time. Beginning in January, 2008, Maxine and Marianne will continue to facilitate the group, taking direction from the interest of the group and from the enrichment provided by Avedis. The ensuing 4 monthly meetings are scheduled to be held on the third Saturday of every month from January to April, at 8-9:30 AM Pacific time.

The Enactments study group will be held on Sunday evenings from 8-9:30, Eastern time. The group will meet monthly, beginning on the first Sunday of each month starting in October (October 7, November 4, and December 2). Nancy Goodman, a Direct Member of CIPS, coming to us from the NY Freudian Society, will facilitate the group. Nancy is the author of "Developmental Regression as a Determinant of the 'Fixity' of Enactments", and "Transference and Enactment and Concrete Thought" (with Paula Ellman). Enactments are compelling due to their intimate relation to unconscious fantasy and the here and now of transference and countertransference. Nancy looks forward to learning with colleagues seeking to discover more about the stream of action and interaction that accompanies our verbal dialogue.

The study group program is the first of three planned programs designed to promote collegial study and research among our members. The other programs include research groups, formed by our members, to study issues of interest to them, as well as a distance-learning program that would permit our members to participate in the degree granting programs of other CIPS institutes.

The members of the Intramural Education and Research Committee are Maxine Anderson (NPS), Bonnie Engdahl (PCC), Phyllis Hopkins (IPTAR), Kristina MacGaffin (DMS), Howard Newman (LAISPS), Phyllis Sloate (IPTAR, chair), and Ferne Traeger (IPTAR).

For more information, contact Phyllis Sloate at plsloate@aol.com.