Led by Margaret Black Mitchell (USA), 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.

Our last online webinar (January – February 2019) was led by Gianni Nebbiosi and Susanna Federici (Italy) on the topic, “Mimetic Understanding in Contemporary Relational Psychoanalysis.” For three weeks, we read and learned from the papers and contributions by Nebbiosi and Federici. We also had the chance to converse with candidates from all over the world, as candidates from Italy, USA, Australia, United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Israel, Sweden, Peru, Canada, Russia, Romania, Chile, Poland, Finland and South Africa participated in the webinar. Designed specifically and only for candidates and early career psychoanalysts and relationally trained psychotherapists, the webinars sponsored by the Candidates Committee provide opportunities to learn from some of the most accomplished members of our community, as well as a chance to interact with an international group of peers.

For the upcoming conference in Tel Aviv (June 20-23, 2019), we put out a call for papers for our candidates panel on the theme of “The Role of Imagination in Becoming a Therapist.” We sought papers offering a clinical perspective on the experience of candidates actively engaged in imagining their patient’s change and potential, while at the same time being immersed in the process of becoming and imagining themselves as therapists.

We received 10 proposals from candidates all over the world and had the difficult task of choosing three. Our panel will comprise the following papers:

• Angelica Tsikli (Greece): Dreaming with eyes open: Dreams as “moments of meeting” and as reflections of mutual change and recognition in the analytic dyad.
• Miriam deRiso (USA): The silent client: Dreaming the client and therapist Into being.
• Dafna Katzir-Goldenboum (Israel): The role of imagination and rêverie in the creation of the psychological space between an Israeli therapist and a Palestinian patient.

We will also be holding the Candidate’s Reception, taking place on the very first day of the conference, Thursday, June 20 (7:15pm-8:00pm), right after the first plenary. Candidate members will be able to meet some of IARPP’s best-known writers and speakers at this reception.

We hope to see you there!

Sandra Toribio Caballero (Spain) and Gadit Orian (Israel), Co-Chairs

Sandra Toribio, B.A. Psych (Spain)
Email Sandra Toribio Caballero

Gadit Orian, MA (Israel)
Email Gadit Orian