AAPDP Annual Meeting Offers a Rich and Exciting Program

Philadelphia will host this year’s annual 56th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry (AAPDP), which will take place from May 3 to 5, 2012. The chosen location will be at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel at 1200 Market Street, with easy access to many of the city’s main attractions.

In what now has become a tradition and a statement about our strong ties with the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the Opening Speaker will be APA President John Oldham, MD, who will inform us about “Personality Disorders and DSM-5.” Thanks to the efforts of co-chairs Eugene Della Badia, DO, and Kimberly Best, MD, the meeting will highlight a Plenary Session with Henri Parens, MD, a child survivor of the holocaust and Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College, who will present autobiographical material and discuss the topic of “Resiliency.” The Keynote Address will be delivered by Salman Akhtar, MD, also a Professor at Jefferson, who will present on “Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Human Goodness: Theory and Technique.”

The Friday program will begin with two concurrent panels: the first will be chaired by Andres Pumariega, MD, Chairman of Psychiatry at the Cooper Medical School in Camden, New Jersey, and will focus on “Psychotherapy Approaches with Children and Families of Underprivileged and Culturally Diverse Backgrounds.” The concurrent panel “New Frontiers in Psychodynamic Psychiatry,” will be chaired by Gail Berry, MD, with Gerald P. Perman, MD, as discussant. This will be a rich and diverse collection of presentations covering applied psychodynamics, politics and neuroscience.

Friday’s noon workshops will consist of Cesar Alfonso, MD, and Silvia Olarte, MD’s “The Psychiatrist as Internist of the Mind,” concurrently with Crittenden Brookes, MD, PhD, and Clay Whitehead, MD’s ongoing and exciting discussion group, “Theoretical Models of Psychotherapy.” The afternoon will offer a series of very exciting consecutive presentations, all in the same room, in order to allow the members to interact as a group and be able to attend all the presentations without having to make difficult choices. The session will start out with Erminia Scarcella, MD’s “The Red Book of C.J. Jun,” and Sheila Hafter-Gray, MD, as discussant, followed by Samuel Slipp, MD, who will present on “How Freud’s Fight Against Anti-semitism Split the Psychoanalytic Movement.” Later, Buddy Glucksman, MD, and Milton Kramer, MD, will present on “Initial and Manifest Dream Reports of Patients in Psychodynamically-Oriented Psychotherapy,” ending with Greg Mahr, MD, of Michigan, who will present on “The Overdiagnosis of Bipolar Disorder: Countertransference Aspects.”

The Saturday morning program will begin with two concurrent panels. One will focus on the “The Interface between Psychodynamics and Biologic Psychiatry,” including topics such as evidence-based findings on adherence to medication, splitting treatment with psychologists and social workers, and the use of MRI’s and genetic testing in psychodynamic psychiatry. The other panel will focus on “Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,” and it will cover such topics as psychodynamic reactions to foster care; psychotherapy with persons who are adopted; childhood precursors to personality disorders; and an international perspective on attachment. The noon program will present attendees with two consecutive and very difficult choices. The first two workshops will focus on “Neurodynamics and Psychodynamics of Narrative,” by Richard Brockman, MD, and “Transcultural and Psychodynamic Psychiatry in the Era of Globalization” chaired by Cesar Alfonso, MD, and Antonio Bullon, MD. These are followed by another very difficult choice for the attendees: “Narratives and Brain Processing” with Andrei Novac, MD, and Barton Blinder, MD, of Newport Beach, California, concurrently with a workshop titled: “Interfacing with the Academy Journal: Psychodynamic Psychiatry,” which will introduce members to the new Academy Journal, including instructions and coaching on how to publish articles in the journal. This workshop will be chaired by Richard Friedman, MD; Jennifer Downey, MD; Cesar Alfonso, MD; and Joseph Silvio, MD. In the meantime, that same day at noon, Kim Best will be chairing the “Residents Luncheon” in which psychiatry resident Heather Forouhar-Graff, MD, will present “The Nocebo Effect: Reviewing the Literature from a Medical Student’s Perspective.”

Saturday afternoon will consist of a three-hour panel, concurrently with three successive paper sessions on education, taking place in the adjacent room. The panel, “Update in HIV and AIDS Psychiatry,” will be chaired by Mary Ann Cohen, MD, and will encompass 5 distinguished presenters who will provide a comprehensive and up-to-date focus on these conditions. In the other room, Joseph Silvio, MD, and Peter Collori, MD, will present on “Rediscovering Psychodynamics in Modern Residency Programs: Experiential Training for PGY-I and Beyond,” followed another presentation focusing on psychiatric education titled, “Experientally Engaging Psychiatric Trainees in Reflection, Psychotherapy and Organizational Dynamics Using Balint Style Group Facilitation: The Dudley Model,” by Faisal Shafi Shaikh, MRCPsych, of the United Kingdom. The Faculty of the Psychoanalytic Institute of New York Medical College will sponsor the 3rd and final presentation of the afternoon titled, “Dilemmas in Clinical Practice,” and consisting of work with patients done by residents and with contributions by Scott Schwartz, MD. A rich discussion by Doug Ingram, MD; Joe Silvio, MD; Sherry Katz-Bearnot, MD; Buddy Glucksman, MD; and Silvia Olarte, MD, will follow.

The closing of the meeting will take place with the Presidential Address. Academy President Cesar Alfonso, MD, has chosen Debra Katz, MD, of the University of Kentucky, to deliver the presentation titled, “Inspiring Interest in Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis: National Survey Data and Implications for the Future.”

There is a term in Latin that is used in judicial circles to define a situation that is so clear and of such common agreement, that it requires no argument. It’s “Res Ipsa Loquitur,”meaning: “the thing speaks for itself.” This is the most fitting description of the level of quality of our upcoming annual meeting. We hope to see you all in Philadelphia. Registration and contact information at www.AAPDP.org.