DECEMBER 2020
This has been an extraordinary and challenging year and the TICP Board and community has demonstrated a dedicated energy and initiative that has contributed to extraordinary growth and commitment. The real and surreal presence and impact of COVID-19 , navigating a unique and unpredictable pathway in all our lives, encompasses both tragic loss and potential growth. I am eternally grateful to all those who have contributed to our on-going endeavours and challenges.
On May 18, 2020, we lost a beloved and revered giant in our field, Philip Bromberg who will be profoundly missed and deeply remembered. We had the privilege and good fortune to host Philip on several occasions, who impacted and enlarged our clinical lens and work immeasurably.
In June, the TICP undertook two stimulating videoconferences on Zoom: COVID in the Time of Climate Crisis with Elizabeth Allured and Wendy Greenspan of New York in collaboration with the Climate Psychology Alliance North America; and the documentary film Sisters of the Wilderness was viewed with discussion from Sharon Dembo, and the producer Ronit Shapiro of London,UK, co-sponsored by the Canadian Association of Psychoanalytic Child Therapists. TICP had unique opportunities to collaborate far and wide.
This October, Todd Essig and Gillian Isaacs Russell were invited to present The Long Haul of Teletherapy in a Pandemic: Making it Work regarding the conversion to pandemic-based screen-mediated treatment and the ongoing challenge of enduring this change in the face of uncertainty and loss.
In November, TICP launched our first workshop on Zoom and we were privileged to welcome Donnel Stern. His seminal and innovative contributions to interpersonal and relational psychoanalysis propelled us forward into the complex landscape of experience and meaning in the interpersonal field … in thinking and rethinking; finding words where there were none before; ravelling and unravelling feelings; thawing what had been frozen and unreachable; courting surprise and expanding the infinite possibilities and freedom to explore.
December brought us a musical interlude with Marilyn Lerner’s lyrical paper Spontaneous Music – Learning to improvise with our Patients, “approaching the analytic encounter with the ear and sensibility of a creative musical improviser” … a talented psychoanalyst and musician.
Suzanne has steered our Zoom encounters, with the recent assistance from Brent Hethrington, which enabled the continuing of our programs, meetings, and connecting with one another. TICP welcomed for the fall, 9 new candidates to the 4-Year Psychoanalysis Program, 30 students to the new 3-Year Psychotherapy Program and 25 participants to the Essentials Program … an incredible proliferation of our presence and contributions to the psychoanalytic community. This year, Kadri-Ann Laar officially retired and is appreciated for her longstanding and important involvement on the Board and Candidate Progress Committee.
On December 5, 2020 we lost a revered and beloved colleague, Elliott Markson who was an integral and honoured life member for many years from the beginnings of the TICP. His inspiration as an analyst, teacher, supervisor, colleague and friend will not be lost but remembered and held deeply.
I want to express my continuing gratitude and appreciation to the TICP community who have been openly engaged and responsive to being there for others in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and through the challenges and struggles that have been deeply personal and collective and unprecedented. We continue to navigate a challenging landscape and sensibility.
Looking forward to the possibility of a future that embraces health, well-being and engagement.
Judi B. Kobrick, President TICP
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