Honoring Our Tradition

Building Our Future

"Having been part of our organization since 1966, I became aware over the years that our former headquarters building was increasingly inadequate to support our widely-evolving psychoanalytic programs.

We now have an opportunity to design a structure that matches our professional capacities and interests. I look forward to its completion with great enthusiasm."

Robert S. Wallerstein, M.D.
Honorary Chair, Capital Campaign Committee
Member of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

The Mission of SFCP

The mission of SFCP is to advance the vitality and enduring value of psychoanalysis in Northern California. We are committed to living this mission on a daily basis through educational and community service programs that include hands-on psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic training; clinical, public service and research programs; a low fee referral clinic; and community outreach activities in local schools, training settings and businesses.

Although it has been several years since we had a home we could call our own, we have been able to grow our membership and our programs in the context of temporary quarters. We will now once again have a permanent home and we are approaching you through these materials and also in person to ask you to support the development of 444 Natoma Street. In our new home we can have new and expanded opportunities to realize our mission and insure the vitality and enduring value of psychoanalysis not only in Northern California but in every area we succeed in touching through new technology and our Distance Learning Center.

"Never before have we had the capacity to provide events for over 100 people. The benefit of the new Center is that all of the educational conferences, symposiums and lectures that we offer will now be presented at our professional home in a comfortable, well-lit and acoustically-sound meeting space with state of the art A/V equipment. These events bring us in closer contact with our community and they bring the community into closer contact with our organization's mission and all that we can provide."

Gary Grossman, Ph.D.
Chair, Community Education and Service Division
Member of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

Our Defining Moment

Our building at 2420 Sutter Street was the dream of a small group of analytic leaders who understood the need for a permanent location in San Francisco. The organization we inherited is a testament to their vision and their hard work. For over forty years SFPI&S and then SFCP developed its mission and its programs at 2420 Sutter Street. The location was at first a marginal one that many members approached with trepidation, concerned about personal safety and financial risk. Through the financial support of members with a vision for the future, the structure at 2420 Sutter Street was completed. Over time the adjacent neighborhood developed and the value of our property grew significantly.

Thanks to the investment of that previous generation of analysts, our current membership has been able to sell the 2420 Sutter Street property and buy a new property outright. It is in downtown San Francisco at 444 Natoma Street. The new building will be a home for our work and our community in the 21st century.

Working with our architectural team, we have developed a plan to renovate, furnish and equip the building to meet our programmatic needs. We have set a capital campaign goal of $1.7 million. This amount would cover full renovation costs and provide a small endowment to cover the increased operating costs of the new building. It would provide a reserve for building upkeep and maintenance that would ensure that the building continues to meet the needs of our community for years to come.

While some members of our community may be able to contribute more than others towards the campaign goal, it will take the participation of our whole community, giving within their means, to reach our campaign goal and ensure that we can turn our vision into reality.

This is our defining moment, our chance to continue the tradition of building for the future, our chance to leave a legacy that will secure the vitality and enduring value of psychoanalysis in Northern California.

"The new building is a manifestation of the changes our long-range planning process brought for our organization. It will provide us with the opportunity to move into the 21st century in a vigorous and dynamic way."

David Glotzer
Former Chairman, Board of Trustees
The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

A New Neighborhood

SFCP's new home is in a rapidly expanding and vital part of San Francisco. It holds multiple opportunities for meaningful outreach to educational institutions, businesses and public service settings. It also offers an increasing number of attractive restaurants and clubs. We recommend you take a look at the "444 Natoma Street Members' Guide."

A major advantage of the location is its accessibility to our geographically diverse membership and to anyone interested in exploring our programs. It will be possible to access SFCP from the East Bay by BART with a short walk through Westfield Center and an easy walk from there to 444 Natoma Street. There is convenient access to expressways for those driving. Day and evening parking will be affordable and available nearby.

Several developments since our purchase of the building auger well for safe access to the building at all hours and the future of our investment. Specific recent news includes: the Hearst parking lots near our building are open for paid parking; a police station is planned for 6th Street; and a massive residential and commercial development has been proposed for the Hearst properties adjacent to us. While it will take years for that development to unfold, it is safe to say the value of our property has already increased.

"The floor plan is accented by comfortable contemporary furnishings and rich colors with natural wood and exposed brick to recall the Center's historic past. By placing the library on the mezzanine overlooking the meeting space, we strengthen the Center's image as an educational institution.

Upon entering the lobby, visitors are immediately aware of a curving wall drawing them in to experience a vibrant, active organization, inviting them to join us in the library, classrooms and meeting space."

Bob Baum
Architect
GouldEvans Baum Thornley

A New Space

Our renovated brick and timber building at 444 Natoma Street offers SFCP a home that combines the best of the past in San Francisco and the promise of the future. The exposed brick perimeter and the steel beam and skylight-lit interior present us with a stunning design opportunity. We will have a modern space in a historic building.

The total square footage is about 9000 feet. The majority of the interior space surrounds a thirty-foot high open area, broken by a mezzanine that will house our library. Under the mezzanine will be our classrooms. In the center of the open space we will hold community and scientific events that can seat over 120 people and will be equipped for distance learning. Close to the entrance is a boardroom/additional classroom; adjacent to the open area are bathrooms and a break room that will allow provision of refreshments when needed.

A major structural feature includes a second story section at the front of the building that will provide an accessible and comfortable open office space for our staff. A small roof garden off this area is a pleasant feature for both staff and visitors.

The entire building will be a welcoming space, a soothing space and a serviceable space.

"I applaud our re-organization as a Center which supports our commitment to the application of psychoanalytic theories of the mind to community service. Moving ahead to building our new professional home is tremendously exciting, as I feel the new building will help us establish ourselves as more welcoming to the community."

L. Eileen Keller, Ph.D.
Former Chair of the Child Development Program
Member of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

Outreach Opportunities

Surrounding educational institutions (San Francisco State University, Heald College, UOP Dugoni School of Dentistry), businesses (the Chronicle, Twitter), public service settings (churches, preschools), and think tanks (The Hub, Microsoft, The Tech Shop) offer us rich opportunities for meaningful outreach.

The comments of two of our members who have been intensively involved in educational and public service outreach address this aspect of our new home well.

"SFCP's collection has been developed and maintained by many outstanding, devoted librarians. To support this superb collection, we intend to create a strong technological foundation in the new space, facilitating archival digitization and improved access to the library's resources. We are excited for the great potential 444 Natoma holds in terms of the SFCP Library's growth and modernization."

Alyson Barrett
Librarian
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

Educational and Academic Opportunities

The classrooms and library at 444 Natoma Street will provide a foundation for current and future educational programs and academic/research pursuits. Classrooms will be quiet, soundproof, and climate controlled. Modern technology will permit distance learning, opening our educational programs to others and offering our members at home an expanded and diverse intellectual community.

Our already famous library will enjoy new potential for growth. The space at 444 Natoma gives SFCP's library room to grow both physically and technologically. The mezzanine level will provide a beautiful study space for researchers. There will be a private archive annexed to the open collection that houses SFCP's extensive magnetic tapes collection, the SFPI&S Institutional Archives, and the Center's other unique treasures. Extra storage space on the basement level will give the library climate-controlled storage space and potential room to expand.

"This is the kind of environment we've all looked forward to for a very long time. It will make a good learning experience even better. It's very exciting that this dreamed-for building is coming to fruition."

Katherine MacVicar, M.D.
Former Chair, Education Committee
Member of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

A Cohesive Analytic Community in an Urban Setting

Both SFPI&S and our more recent structure of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis have provided our members with a community that has significant professional and personal value. Many have spent their most important professional years together - training in psychoanalysis, teaching psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and sharing knowledge and experience about the use of our psychoanalytic identities in the greater community.

This is our defining moment—our time to build on the legacy of 2420 Sutter and to establish the foundation for the future of our psychoanalytic community, a new home that promotes the dialogue, collegiality, and community involvement that will ensure the vitality of psychoanalysis in our community for generations to come.

It will take each of us committing to this new vision to raise the $1.7 million for this project. Your gift to our campaign can be tailored to meet your needs. Contributions can be made by check or credit card or you may transfer assets, such as shares of stock or real property. We also welcome pledges, to be fulfilled over a period of three to five years. A gift of $10,000 over five years amounts to $166/month, the cost of one analytic session in many clinical practices. Please consider whether this or more might be possible.

To discuss making a donation or the tax benefits of various kinds of gifts, please contact either of the Capital Campaign Co-Chairs or the Chief Operating Officer:

Harriet Wolfe at 415-921-1046 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sandee Blechman at 415-276-2948 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jeff Miller at 415-563-6065 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.