Steven Kuchuck (USA)
Dear IARPP Members,
As I write this, we are in the final weeks of preparation leading up to our annual international conference, “Hope and Dread: Therapists and Patients in an Uncertain World.” It will take place in New York City at the Roosevelt Hotel from June 14th to 17th. Although we are still several weeks out, there are already over 600 people who have pre-registered for this event. Because we are closer to maximum capacity than we thought we would be at this point, I would strongly suggest that you consider registering sooner rather than later if you’re thinking of joining us, as it’s looking like we might not be able to accommodate walk-in registrants.
As always at our conferences, there will be a very packed and stimulating program of plenary and paper sessions; an exciting Saturday night dinner and dance party with entertainment by “our” (I like to claim them but alas, they are only on loan to IARPP) very own psychoanalytic band Sig; and breaks and lunchtime openings to discuss and debate IARPP, political, and psychoanalytic matters (not to mention the absolute best places to get a famous New York City bagel or slice of pizza). Please also note that we will be holding a memorial for our late board member and President Jeremy Safran, on Saturday June 16th from 12:30pm to 1:30pm in the Grand Ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel. It is open to all conference attendees who wish to attend.
In other news, we have just finished another successful on-line colloquium, “The Problem of thinking in Black and White: Race in the South African Clinical Dyad,” moderated by Adrienne Harris (USA) and Rina Lazar (Israel), the current co-chairs of our Colloquium Committee, with assistance from Mitchel Becker (Israel). IARPP is likely unique in its ability to provide an international forum to study such crucial themes. As always with our colloquia, but perhaps especially so this time, our chairs were challenged to hold and contain particularly complex and affect-laden material. Related, they and everyone who participated were able to create a tremendous amount of space for learning, discussion, feeling, perhaps some beginning healing, and all that is needed to encourage a fuller, more informed presence with our patients (and of course ourselves) when race, Otherness, and related issues are present or otherwise resonate. As was noted during the colloquium, this was just the very beginning of a dialogue that might be continued in the new Psychoanalysis and the Collective listserv (see below) and at our upcoming NYC conference and future events. As always, if you were not able to follow along in real time, all content is available in an online archive.
We are also preparing for our 2019 conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, taking place from June 20th to 23rd. More details—including a save the date flyer and call for papers—will soon be available about that exciting meeting. Although there is great enthusiasm about going to Israel next year, some of our colleagues are opposed to this location for political reasons. We respect the different voices expressed and realize that there are strong emotions on both sides of this debate. For those interested in learning more about our position, please click here: http://iarpp.net/iarpp-board-letter-to-members/
In addition to our upcoming conference, online colloquium and webinars, and ongoing membership listserv, we have two new initiatives that I hope many of you will find worth considering. The first I will mention is our above-referenced committee, “Psychoanalysis and the Collective,” co-chaired by Eyal Rozmarin (USA) and Victor Doñas (Chile). If you have an interest in the sociocultural, environmental, and/or political world in which we and our patients live and work and would like to join this listserv, please contact the IARPP office for instructions on how to enroll. And likewise, for those with an interest in the history of IARPP, relational psychoanalysis, and the current state of relational psychoanalytic affairs, you might want to check out “Relational Voices,” our archive of video interviews with leading figures in the relational movement that IARPP board member and former president Susi Federici-Nebbiosi (Italy) has initiated and oversees for us.
There is much more happening in our organization and new as well as ongoing items that I will be turning my attention to during the course of my new tenure as president. I look forward to discussing all of this with you during future letters and as our paths hopefully cross, both online and in-person. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with any concerns, questions, or interests you would like to pursue if I might be of any help.
Best regards,
Steven Kuchuck, DSW
