The Australian Chapter of IARPP concluded its 2018 professional development calendar with a powerful half-day seminar led by Eyal Rozmarin (USA), who discussed socio-political perspectives in psychoanalysis by drawing from two of his scholarly papers, “Fathers Don’t Cry” and “Immigration, Belonging, and the Tension between Center and Margin in Psychoanalysis.” Eyal’s presentation was both learned and touching. His warmth and curiosity created an open space for group reflection. IARPP-Australia is indebted to Eyal for his generous contribution.

Our Annual General Meeting was held in November. This meeting marked the completion of Margie Chodos’ terms as a member the IARPP-Australia Committee. Margie has served the association in multiple ways over the years, and she has recently been especially helpful as an experienced member of a committee largely comprising new members. Margie and our Treasurer, Lyn Abery, have greatly assisted the new team in building the capacity to perform the multiple tasks required to keep our small organization going. We are very pleased that Margie will remain on the committee as an ex officio member in an advisory capacity for the next twelve months as our team and chapter continue to strengthen.

IARPP-Australia has its greatest number of members in Sydney, but interest in relational psychoanalysis is growing in Melbourne. We are very pleased that Debra Meese accepted her nomination to join the committee, which now has two members from Melbourne, the other being Tammy Ben-Shaul. Sadly, Kris Rao, who has been most helpful in developing the committee’s vision for future marketing, has stepped down from the committee. Dr. Leena Chaugule, a senior candidate at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles, has kindly agreed to take Kris’ place.

We have exciting plans for 2019. We begin with an introductory seminar for those curious about relational psychoanalysis, and we are hosting our first Community Conversation in Sydney where more experienced members will explore topics of interest. International senior relational psychoanalysts will present later in the year, including Daniel Shaw, Jill Salberg, Darlene Ehrenberg and Jessica Benjamin. We also plan to offer our first symposium later in the year.

Gerard Webster
President, IARPP-Australia

Gerard Webster
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