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| APSaA Annual Meeting |
It's time, once again, for the annual meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APSaA), at the Waldorf Astoria. It runs next week, from January 14-18.
I'm taking off two days for the conference. These are a few of the classes I've signed up for:
Service Members and Veterans Initiative
The Role of the “Archaic Superego” in Individual and Cultural Pathology
Neuroscience Perspectives on Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytic Family Therapy
The Application of Psychoanalytic Thinking to Social Problems: Dehumanization, Guilt, and Large Group Dynamics with Reference to the West, Israel, and the Palestinians
Psychoanalytic Treatment of Patients with Psychosomatic Symptoms
Plenary Address and Presentation of Awards: Jonathan Lear, Ph.D. - "The Fundamental Rule and the Fundamental Value of Psychoanalysis”
Community Symposium: Gun Violence in the US: "The Active Shooter"-A Psychoanalyst and the FBI Discuss the Increasing Violence and Possible Models for Reduction
Special Symposium: Left to Our Devices: The Impact of Digital Conversations
There are maybe 5 or 6 other classes I'm registered for. I'm not going to make it to everything I signed up for. But there are some pretty interesting offerings.
I'm particularly curious about The Service Members and Veteran's Initiative, which is APSaA'a approach to adding:
a psychoanalytic voice to the public's response to a growing mental health crisis among service members, veterans and their families — a crisis that is widely recognized by policy and mental health experts... APsaA's SVC emphasizes two core contributions that psychoanalysts can make in the context of this crisis:
- A focus on the impact of war on families and children, including across generations.
- A focus on the need for long term treatment and/or long term access to treatment for war injuries.
This year's group is based on a WWII Navy training film, "Combat Fatigue Irritability", directed by and starring Gene Kelly, the father of the presenter, Kerry Kelly Novick, who will compare and contrast approaches to PTSD, then and now. It's a 35 minute film, quite interesting as a window into the military's approach to PTSD during WWII. It illustrates the use of psychoanalytic principles, together with medication.
Having recently written, Behind the Violence, a post about Adam Lanza, I'm also very curious about the gun violence symposium.
I'll try to take some notes and let you know how it goes.