Dear Colleagues,

Our Colloquium Co-Chairs, Shlomit Gadot (Israel) and Cathy Hicks (Australia), are stepping down from their positions after five years of tremendous service. I know you join me in expressing gratitude and appreciation to Shlomit and Cathy for the amazing work they have consistently undertaken on behalf of our organization. They have demonstrated time and again a keen feel for what topics would offer the depth and breadth to sustain clinical, theoretical, personal, and sociopolitical exploration, more than a few times pivoting with both sensitivity and decisiveness in response to unpredictable world events. As a member of the Colloquium Committee, I have had a front-seat view of their tireless and ever-tactful behind-the-scenes efforts, year after year, to hold and maintain a safe, responsive, and respectful online forum for us to inhabit each May and November. Thank you, Shlomit and Cathy. I would say, ‘enjoy your rest,’ but I have some sense of what rich, full, active lives you both lead. I have little doubt you will continue to enrich IARPP through other avenues as you make way for new leadership in these important roles. (The Executive Committee will announce the succeeding co-chairs in the coming months.)

A little over a year ago, when Berta Loret de Mola (Mexico) and I discussed the idea of her contributing author interviews to the newsletter, I initially envisioned her pieces as brief ones, along the lines of those short, easily digestible interviews we often encounter in general-interest magazines, the ones with snappy headlines like “Five Questions for …” or “Quick Takes with …” I hadn’t anticipated that Berta’s interviews would make for such compelling reading that limiting them to a bite-size format would rob the newsletter of a rich reading experience. For what Berta does each time she speaks with an IARPP author is both a Q&A and an engaging record of two analysts talking shop, each bringing decades of clinical wisdom and theoretical erudition to the mix and engaging in a mutual and very thoughtful discussion. This issue’s interview with Sandra Buechler (USA) is a fine example. I hope that reading these two marvelous analysts’ conversation, you will find yourself equally absorbed in Berta and Sandra’s rich discussion of Erich Fromm, clinical values, and one (revered) analyst/writer’s professional development. Enjoy.

This issue also contains reports from a few IARPP committees and messages from two of our newest chapters, Romania and Ukraine.

Best wishes to you all as the end-of-year holidays approach.

* * *

If you would like me to include news of your recent publications and/or presentations in the next IARPP Bookshelf, please send the following materials to me at MattAibel@gmail.com by Sunday, January 25, 2026:

• Title of your recent or upcoming publication(s)/presentation(s) (“Recent” means within the prior year)
• An abstract or brief description of the content, around 150 words
• 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 (city/town in which you practice or work and your email address)
• Book authors, please provide a brief bio of up to 90 words
• Presenters, please spell out organizational acronyms and include the location, if in-person

Best wishes,

Matt Aibel
Editor, The IARPP Bulletin

Matt Aibel, LCSW
New York, NY, USA
Email Matt Aibel