News Release
April 7, 2010
Contact: Jake Lynn
(212) 752-0450 ext. 29
Cell (917) 854-9663
Jlynn@apsa.org
99th Annual Meeting to be held in Washington, D.C. June 9-13
Psychoanalysis of baseball and Library of Congress tour of Freud archives among the highlights
New York, NY - The 99th Annual Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) will be held at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel from June 9-13. Meeting and hotel registration is now open and can be completed online at: www.apsa.org/AnnualMeeting. A host of stimulating discussion groups, clinical panels and workshops will address contemporary psychoanalytic topics such as treating children with chronic physical illnesses, eating disorders and body image concerns, and the psychological ramifications from assisted reproductive technology. From a business perspective, several workshops will be dedicated to maintaining and growing a psychoanalytic practice. Click here for a complete list of sessions that are open to the media.
In addition, the program includes several sessions and events designed specifically with the nation’s capital in mind: a special exhibition at the Library of Congress on the Sigmund Freud Archives, a symposium on the impact that the recent health care reform legislation will have on mental health treatments, and a plenary address on culture, international relations and psychoanalysis delivered by Vamik D. Volkan, M.D., an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia. Dr. Volkan was born and raised in Cyprus, earned his medical degree in Turkey and moved to the United States in 1956. From growing up in an ethnically divided island, to his collaborative work with a Greek psychoanalyst, to moderating panels that analyze the ongoing rift between the Western world and the Islamic world – Prof. Volkan has used his psychoanalytic background to promote global peace and understanding.
The Annual Meeting will also have a session for those interested in the nexus of psychoanalysis and sports. A special discussion group will be led by APsaA President-Elect Robert Pyles, M.D. and Stan Kasten, President of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team. Dr. Pyles has long been a consultant to MLB and counsels a select number of rookies and promising minor league players at an annual off-the-field retreat prior to Spring Training. At the retreat Dr. Pyles helps players prepare for the pending fame and societal pressures that will result from their stardom and newfound wealth.
Holding to the spirit of this type of session, there will be ample opportunity to pose questions to Mr. Kasten and Dr. Pyles that pertain to the psychoanalytic elements behind optimizing player performance and the non-athletic factors that contribute to producing a winning baseball team. Following this session, Meeting attendees will have the opportunity to take an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Nationals Park and purchase discounted tickets to that evening game against the Pittsburgh Pirates that are situated behind home plate.
Finally, the Library of Congress Manuscript Division will organize a special one-day exhibit displaying historical artifacts from its Sigmund Freud collection on Friday, June 11 in honor of the Association’s Annual Meeting in Washington. Meeting registrants and the general public will be able to examine photos, documents and home movies of Freud, his family and his associates as part of the exhibit.
The American Psychoanalytic Association is a professional organization of mental health professionals who adhere to psychoanalytic therapy and is comprised of approximately 3,300 members. The oldest psychoanalytic organization in the nation, APsaA will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2011. Visit www.apsa.org for more information.
# # # |