President's Message

by Robin Deutsch, Ph.D.

After an active fall term, I hope that everyone had an enjoyable and restful holiday season. In thinking about the last six months, it seems to me that the single biggest event for SFCP was the final sale of Sutter Street and our purchase of 444 Natoma. This is a generational event, enabling us to give to future analysts that which we enjoyed at Sutter Street: a home for our future, and a Center where psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thinking can thrive. However, the purchase of our new home was not the only event in 2011. Sadly, after 11 years providing services to children through a grant administered by the City of San Francisco, we lost our grant for SFCP's Early Childhood Mental Health Program and closed our program. We had our APsaA site visit by COI with a co-occurring initial site visit by ACPE, Inc. Our Visiting Professor Week with Michael Feldman was exciting and productive. The San Francisco Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program was launched with great success. Our new Faculty co-chairs held their first faculty meeting, which was available to remote viewers. Israel Katz became the first SFCP candidate to participate in IPSO's Visiting Candidate program. Israel visited the Asociación Psicoanalítica Argentina (APA) in Buenos Aires. In addition to attending classes, he presented a paper entitled Desafío en tiempo líquido, and was hosted by local candidates. As we move into 2012, SFCP will receive our first IPSO visiting candidate, Ursula Worsch, a 4th year candidate from Giessen, Germany. Ursula will be attending classes, receiving supervision, and will be hosted by our candidates. We will have a Capital Campaign to benefit our new building and endow it for the future. And, if the build out goes smoothly, we will move into our new building in June 2012.

While I'm certain that I have neglected to mention other significant SFCP events, I hope that my omissions do not detract from the amount of creative energy and enthusiasm that our members bring to the Center.

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy 2012.