By Hilary Offman (Canada) and María José Mezzera (Chile)

Hillary Offman

María José Mezzera

Many candidates have heard how wonderful it was to be mentored by Stephen Mitchell and how great a loss our community sustained upon his death. Margaret Black founded the IARPP Candidates’ Committee as a way of honoring and continuing Stephen’s contributions. Led by Margaret, our group consists of candidates from all over the world, who come together to create a place where the focus is specifically on and for candidates and early career psychoanalysts

Annually, the Candidates’ Committee hosts an online web seminar designed for participation only by candidates and early career psychoanalysts. Because it is smaller and just for us, it is hoped that this experience will provide a unique opportunity for everyone who participates to find his or her own voice. We place limits on length and frequency of posts so that candidates from all over the world can feel they are part of the conversation. We are fortunate to have access to some of the most well-known and respected psychoanalytic writers and practitioners to lead us on this journey. Paul Wachtel led our recent web seminar for candidates and early psychoanalysts, which took place in January. The discussion centered around two very interesting papers suggested by Paul. We had a full house, with candidates from 14 countries participating.

This June we have two important events at our International IARPP Conference. As a group, we will be hosting the Candidates’ Reception during the first day of the Conference. We invite all candidates and early career psychoanalysts, so that we can connect with one another right from the start. Many senior and well-known IARPP members, who are also looking to support and connect with candidates, will also be attending this reception. This reception will take place at 5:00 p.m. on the first evening of the conference, Thursday, June 25.

On Saturday, June 27, we will be hosting the Candidate´s Panel, which this year is entitled “The Candidate on the Wave of Enactment”. After a stiff competition, four candidates from four different countries were chosen to present clinical papers centered on this important and challenging issue. This is sure to be a lively and amazing event and we encourage everyone to come and see what the up and coming voices of IARPP have to say. Next conference it could be you! We are fortunate to have snagged Martin S. Frommer, who has an extensive interest in this topic, as a discussant. Mark it in your conference calendar now!

The Candidates’ Committee can’t wait to meet you at the conference in Toronto coming up soon. Feel free to contact us at any time to connect and introduce yourselves. Additionally, we would like to thank Alioscia Boschiroli for his leadership; he has recently stepped down as co-chair of this committee after years of invaluable contribution. We will miss his input a great deal

Candidates’ Committee:
Hilary Offman (Canada) Co-Chair
Maria José Mezzera (Chile), Co-chair
Margaret Black (USA), IARPP executive liaison
Kim Bernstein (USA)
Gadit Orian (Israel)
Sandra Toribio (Spain)
Fabia Banella (Italy)

Hilary Offman, MD FRCPC
121 Balmoral Avenue
Toronto Ontario
M4V 1J5 Canada
email Hilary Offman

María José Mezzera
Napoleón 3565, of. 910
Las Condes, Santiago
Chile
email María José Mezzera