Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society

Slideshow Images Courtesy of John House, PhD

The Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society (APS) is a local chapter of Division 39 (Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology) of the American Psychological Association with a primary mission to serve the educational and collegial needs of psychoanalytic psychotherapists in East Tennessee and western North Carolina. In addition, our mission is to promote, inform, and educate members of our community concerning psychoanalytic ideas and values.

Who may join?

Any licensed mental health professional who subscribes to the mission and values of APS is eligible to be a full member. Graduate students in clinical or counseling psychology, or social work, may join as student members. Others interested in psychoanalysis may join as scholar members upon approval of the APS Board.

JOIN US AT OUR UPCOMING EVENTS

October 2024  

I am writing to remind members of our upcoming Fall Conference with Françoise Davoine on November 23rd titled "Psychoanalysis Under Conditions of War." Many members may remember when Françoise and her late husband Jean-Max Gaudillière spoke here on two occasions several years ago. Françoise was also a keynote speaker at the Division 39 Spring Meeting in Atlanta in 2016. 

For those of us who have not had the experience of hearing Françoise in person, I want to give a brief introduction, although the paper I will attach to this letter give a full exposition of her husband’s and her “journey” from Lacanian analysis, to object relations and the interpersonal psychotherapy of Sullivan and Fromm-Reichmann, to the healing practices of the Lakota Sioux.  

Recently, Françoise has turned her attention to addressing psychosis as a consequence of trauma, especially war trauma. Along with Jerry Fromm, she consults with Ukrainian psychotherapists on the front line of war and death in a video program sponsored by the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna. In her approach to patients, as well as her approach to those attending her lectures, she embodies the Thomas Salman principles of proximity, immediacy, expectancy, and simplicity (a full explanation is on the APS website), but also keep in mind she is a scholar steeped in literature so be prepared to listen carefully. She is just as likely to cite Cervantes’ Don Quixote or Toni Morrison’s Beloved, or Richardson’s Tristram Shandy as to cite Lacan, Winnicott, or Klein. 

On a personal note, Dr. Davoine has always credited me for a contribution to their approach to psychosis, while all I did was recommend Pat Barker’s Regeneration, a fictionalized presentation of the work of Dr. William Rivers at Craiglockart Hospital during World War I and his novel approach to treating what was then called “shell shock.” I commend that novel to you as well as an excellent introduction to her thinking. 

Reference 
Davoine, F. (2012) The psychotherapy of psychosis and trauma: A relentless battle against objectificationPsychoanalysis Culture and Society 17:339-34

Bill MacGillivray, PhD, ABPP
APS President

Interesting Links

Division 39 of the American Psychological Association 

Represents the full diversity of contemporary psychoanalytic theory, research, and clinical practice.  The website includes membership forms and information on current activities and opportunities for members of Division 39 and Sections of Division 39. Sections are subgroups of the Division that address issues important to particular constituencies of the Division.



The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 122,500 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members.


Tennessee Psychological Association


The purpose of the Tennessee Psychological Association shall be to advance Psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.


Knoxville Area Psychological Association


The Knoxville Area Psychological Association (KAPA) is a regional affiliate of the Tennessee Psychological Association (TPA). As an organization, its mission is to advance psychology as a profession and a science, to promote the mental health of the community, and to further the education of its members by offering continuing education.


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