Dear IARPP colleagues,
Is anyone besides me exhausted?
I’ll leave it to others to debate whether the coronavirus pandemic represents a definitive collapse of the neoliberal project (with a nod to Andrew Samuels, Lynne Layton, Orna Guralnik, Eyal Rozmarin, Philip Cushman and others who’ve educated me on the subject). What I feel keenly is how difficult it is to maintain robustness, let alone peace of mind, when two working parents must simultaneously mind their children around the clock. Sans sitter, sans school, sans nap, sans everything.
A new compassion arises not only towards those whose labors leave them little if any downtime in the normal course of things, but also for those without ability to shelter safely, procure food, weather unemployment and poverty and social unrest much starker than the inconveniences my own family is currently enduring. A radical sense of perspective mitigates my frustrations. So too does my appreciation for social and emotional safety nets and ties to communities that sustain my spirit. As this one does.
The heartbeat of our international collection of analysts and the analytically curious kept my pulse steady throughout our recently concluded Open Forum. It was indeed a balm as well as a stimulus furthering my ability to think and feel in the first weeks of the pandemic.
I initially wondered whether it made any sense to put together and send out an association newsletter in the midst of such radical upheaval, fear and dread, and grievous loss (business as usual – really?).
But the Forum, in a number of ways, highlighted for me the enormous value of continuity and community in the midst of traumatic dislocation and isolation. So the “carry on” spirit of this issue occurs neither in a register of denial nor of grim determination, but rather with full appreciation of the intensity and weirdness of this moment, experienced by each of us in ways both similar and idiosyncratic.
Whether reading news of our various committees and international chapters will amount to an antidote of sorts to your own state of mind at this time, I don’t know. But, to borrow a phrase used in the Forum by Orit Badouk Epstein of London, “as I struggle to see beyond my own nose at the moment,” I find it reassuring to reassert my place in this international community dedicated to the essential work of be(com)ing more and more human.
Please submit news of recent or upcoming publications and presentations for the next IARPP Bookshelf issue, to be published in June 2020. The deadline for submission is Thursday, May 28, 2020.
Please include the following materials with your submission:
- Title of your recent or upcoming publication or presentation
- Brief description of its content (such as an abstract)
- Link to a publisher (if applicable) so that members might access or purchase a copy
- Book cover photo or artwork (if applicable)
- Digital photograph of yourself (jpeg format)
- Professional contact information as you would like it to appear publicly for our readers (email and mailing address)
- For books authors, please provide a brief bio of 50-75 words.
- For presenters, please include location and spell out any acronyms.
Submissions should be emailed to Matt.Aibel [@] gmail.com.
Wishing you all well,
Matt Aibel, LCSW
New York City & Long Island, NY
