Students, alums, and faculty from the New England PsyD in Clinical Psychology program gathered in Washington, DC, for the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology’s annual Spring Meeting. SPPP, more commonly known as Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, is one of 54 divisions of APA available for membership to students, early career professionals, and established voices within psychology. Each spring, psychoanalytically inclined individuals and organizations meet for a variety of presentations, symposiums, workshops, and teaching demonstrations over the meeting’s three-day timeframe.
Among thousands of attendees from across the country, New England’s PsyD department was well-represented both in presence and breadth of topics. PsyD faculty included core faculty, Ted Ellenhorn, PhD, ABPP, and Monique Bowen, PhD, as well as Chair of the program, Vince Pignatiello, PsyD; Affiliate Faculty, Alicia MacDougall, PsyD, ABPP; Alumni Rebecca Moussa, PsyD; Chad Lazzari, PsyD; Alicia Wein Senghas, PsyD; Michael Goddard, PsyD; and Dur-e-smeen Burki, a doctoral candidate.
Photo above: Gathered after the keynote presentation are panelists Monique Bowen, PhD; David Zirin; Joseph Reynoso, PhD; and Lara Sheehi, PsyD.
For Antioch’s attendees, the Spring Meeting was more than just a professional conference. While opportunities for networking, exchange of ideas, and career development are all notable components of the Spring Meeting, MacDougall explains how it is also about community. “Not only have I developed wonderful friendships, but I have also developed very supportive working relationships that have turned into exciting career opportunities. Each year at the conference, it is like a giant reunion,” she says. “The conference is a really nice way to connect every year and see one another and also learn and grow from one another.”
Perhaps this sense of friendship and connection is what allows for the expansive ways to present and be involved within Division 39. MacDougall and Moussa, former advisees of Ellenhorn and clinical supervisees of Pignatiello, as well as Pignatiello himself, presented at a workshop that explored the transition between supervisee, a pre-licensed clinician in training, to supervisor in clinical spaces. All three shared their own insights on professional transitions and development, allowing for a collaborative and intellectually stimulating conversation with workshop attendees. For Pignatiello, such collaborative work with recent graduates is, “one of my favorite parts of this job.” He says, “to be able to be able to work with former students of mine and to see how far they’ve come in the field is really enjoyable.”
Antioch faculty involvement also came in the form of leadership positions across Division 39. Bowen serves as chair of the SPPP Awards Committee. She has been a member of the committee since 2021, with her work as chair beginning in early 2024. Bowen was a member of a keynote panel which, she explains, “represented the first time our Spring Meeting had a keynote panel devoted to the cultural, political, psychological and social significance of sports using the lens of psychoanalysis.” This year’s Spring Meeting happens to coincide with her completion of a chapter on ethical fandom in a book on sports and psychoanalysis, now available through Rowman & Littlefield’s imprint Lexington Books. The publication was co-edited by Bowen’s fellow panelist and longtime colleague, Joseph Reynoso, PhD and she says, “it was monumental to dialogue with panelists in the field and those critical voices at the border of psychoanalysis and our body politic, that included The Nation journalist, David Zirin.. The panel explored psychoanalytic themes familiar to many while also inviting attendees to welcome what they might not have previously considered: The relevance of sports to their own individual psychologies and to those of their patients/clients and family or community members. With over 150 attendees, it was good to be reminded of the relevance and resonance that come from engaging with the seemingly mundane. We hadn’t anticipated such a ready audience. What a great experience!”
Ellenhorn also represents a number of leadership roles. He currently serves as the President of the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology (ABAPPP) of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), Chair of the Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology and Psychoanalysis Specialty Council of the Council of Specialties in Professional Psychology, and on the Division 39 Education and Training Committee. Ellenhorn was the leader in the creation of the APA and ABPP specialty in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology and the subspecialty in Psychoanalysis. MacDougall, a former advisee of Ellenhorn’s, was one of the first three psychologists to earn a board certification at the Spring Meeting. Over the past five years, Ellenhorn has worked on a national level with Antioch students in the creation of the new specialty and subspecialty. This Spring Meeting marked the first official year individuals could sit for their board certifications in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology.
After decades of national involvement, practice, and leadership, Ellenhorn was also honored with a Lifetime Professional Service Award from the Local Chapters Section IV of Division 39. The award was presented to him by Bhupin Butaney, PhD, ABPP, and former student Alicia Wein-Senghas, PsyD. For Pignatiello, also a former advisee of Ellenhorn’s, there is both pride and excitement: “I’m really proud of Ted. It’s exciting to see how he has done a lot of work in making dynamic and analytically informed work more accessible to graduates.” As current chair of New England’s PsyD, Pignatiello also remarked, “The new specialty board certification aligns with our curriculum in a number of ways.”
While there are plenty of opportunities for current students to get involved with Division 39 and psychoanalytic psychology, faculty encourage their students to find a professional home, whether in psychoanalytic practice or in one of the other APA divisions. Ellenhorn says, “Over my 34 years at Antioch, we’ve had just dozens and dozens of students that have presented at conferences [across APA], and it has really enriched their experience of learning.”
Pignatiello offered similar thoughts, saying, “I would hope students are able to find a home, whether it’s a group of students, faculty, or finding a dynamic supervisor to really be able to experience it.” He says, “To me, dynamic and analytic theory isn’t something that’s learned and regurgitated, it’s something that’s actually experienced.”
