Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis

Observational Studies

Film Discussion

Meditation, Creativity, and Psychoanalysis

CURED illuminates a pivotal yet largely unknown chapter in the struggle for LGBTQ+ equality: the campaign that led the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental illnesses. Before this momentous 1973 decision, the medical establishment viewed every gay and lesbian person as diseased and in need of a cure. Business and government used the mental-illness classification to justify discrimination and bigotry. As long as lesbians and gay men were “sick,” progress toward equality was nearly impossible.
Incorporating a trove of newly unearthed archival material, CURED takes audiences inside this riveting narrative to chronicle the strategy and tactics that led to a crucial turning point in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. Indeed, following the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, the battle that culminated in the APA’s decision to remove homosexuality from the DSM, marked the first major step on the path to first-class citizenship for LGBTQ+ Americans. CURED sheds new light on this victory, while situating the APA story within the larger context of the modern movement for LGBTQ+ equality.

This workshop includes reflections on the presenter’s experiences as the first openly lesbian candidate at an institute of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She will share lessons learned from her leadership role at the national and local level before and after the APsA's 1991 decision to allow for the training of gay and lesbian psychoanalysts. She […]

Jack Drescher, MD: The history of psychoanalytic theorizing about homosexuality is more than a century old and has undergone numerous revisions. Early on, psychoanalytic attitudes toward homosexuality could be reasonably characterized as hostile. The presentation begins with Freud’s early views on homosexuality within the cultural context of his times. It then reviews later pathologizing psychoanalytic […]

Discussion of the film:  The Invitation (2015) (104 min) Director: Karyn Kusama *** Film must be viewed prior to event.*** REGISTRATION DEADLINE: October 25, 2023 Discussant: Alex Smith, Psy.D. Film Description: When a man accepts an invitation to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife, the unsettling past reopens old wounds and creates new tensions. […]

Conflicts and Ethics in Psychoanalytic Consultation and SupervisionPresenter: Nancy McWilliams, PhD Discussant: Kit MacLean, PsyD Program Description: This ethics conference aims to be of practical value to supervisors and their supervisees. Utilizing vignettes from the presenter and participants, we will look at recurrent controversies in psychoanalytic supervision, the “vital signs” that supervisors monitor that go […]

Discussants: Oren Gozlan and Willa France.   Moderators: Margarita Cereijido and Anne Adelman The discussion will focus on issues pertaining to transgender people and society’s prejudices against them. We encourage audience participation. Participants should view the film beforehand. It is available on Netflix and Hulu.