Take a peek at our new website (www.cppnj.org) to see upcoming and past events, social gatherings and celebrations. Explore the opportunities, learn, and network when you belong to our warm, stimulating community. Sign up to receive our newsletter posts, summaries, and photos of professional presentations

and social events.

Let's celebrate the New Year!  All of the champagne, confetti, fireworks, and wrapping paper are packed away from last year.  It's time to get back to work. And there is a lot of it! A focus on mental health is now prominent in the news, as the need for care is greater than ever.  Sadly, the impact of gun violence, politics, war, epidemics, inflation, individual rights, climate change and a host of other factors, has raised anxieties, dysregulated our nation and indeed, the entire world.  Yet, there is a lack of mental health clinicians to meet this need. Highly trained clinicians are even harder to find. Advanced educational opportunities are sorely needed. Clinicians of color, of all religions, gender identities and sexual orientations are underrepresented in the field.  Reduced access for already underserved populations, and challenges in finding culturally competent therapists contributes to disparities in the quality and availability of mental healthcare for all. 

There are significant obstacles that hinder access to continuing education. For one, cultural stigma surrounds the mental health field and its professions. Addressing this issue requires a wide array of efforts to promote the value of mental health care and the benefits of attendance at quality programs that teach theory and techniques of psychotherapy. Let's pay attention! Additionally, psychoanalytic training is very expensive. Efforts to encourage diversity in education must include financial support. Psychoanalytic institutes should better examine the recruitment and entry processes, and even theory, to understand how we contribute to these systemic hurdles.

We at CPPNJ are working to address this need.  There is A LOT brewing.  We anticipate considerable growth and enhancement in the years to come. With much to do, it’s an exciting time to get involved!  

I'm thrilled to share the latest developments at our own psychoanalytic training institute, CPPNJ: 

• Training in psychoanalytic theory and technique is at the core of our mission. We are excited that our Spring semester has begun. Introductory courses, the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy track and Certificate program in Psychoanalysis are filled with students and candidates.

• On March 17 we are hosting our own Dr. Monica Carsky, who will be presenting a conference entitled Transference Focused Psychotherapy: An Object Relations Theory Approach to Personality Problems. To learn more about it and to register, click on the title, or on the lick below, or go to our website www.cppnj.org to learn more about our organization.

• In October, along with ARMHA (Anti-Racist Mental Health Assn. of NJ), we co-sponsored the presentation of the prominent psychologist, Dr. Kenneth Hardy who shared his insights, personal experiences and guidance on how to address the impact of racial trauma in the therapeutic relationship.  Meeting at the Newark Campus of Rutgers University, we had a wonderful in person and virtual turnout. It was a resounding success.

• Our November conference on how to understand and treat the devastating effects of trauma and discord on couples who experience Domestic Violence, showcased our commitment to addressing crucial issues in psychodynamic psychotherapy. It was an insightful exploration that underscored the importance of considering the complex dynamics within these relationships.



• We are growing our Division of Continuing Education to offer culturally informed, clinically relevant courses and workshops to those clinicians working in mental health settings who are interested in adding psychodynamic understanding and techniques to their toolbox.

• We have incorporated a Social Justice Committee within our organization.   Tom Johnson, Rose Oosting and Christine Highland comprise the Steering Committee, leading a growing cohort of inspired members and candidates.  Representatives from the committee are working collaboratively with the Board of Directors and Training Committee to maintain a focus on addressing organizational issues and improving curricula for training and conference programming. 

The group will also host a series of Town Hall meetings to provide a forum for our community in which to dialog about current issues of importance. It promises to guide us toward directions that address the training needs of all our members - faculty and candidates alike, Keep an eye out and join us to make your own voice heard.

• We have an ongoing Diversity Media Group where members and candidates view topical and important films, documentaries and podcasts on issues of social justice. We come together to discuss, and learn from each other. We have watched several provocative and inspiring films that challenge the limits of what we know.

• In the ongoing efforts to enhance our organization, we've successfully reviewed and tweaked our bylaws to shift the vertical, hierarchical approach of traditional psychoanalytic institutes to reflect a more horizontal, inclusive, and egalitarian structure. The emphasis on working committees and sub-committees with faculty and candidate representation facilitates a collaborative approach, fostering diverse perspectives and expertise.

We also want to thank all who contributed to our 2023 End of Year Annual Donation Drive.  We raised funds that will help us move forward with our initiatives.  We especially want to express ongoing gratitude to the support of Lorraine Morrow, who continues the work of her late husband and our dear colleague, supporting the Bob Morrow Scholarship Fund through contribution and sustained effort. We are promoting a new campaign to grow our scholarship program for training, along with technology funds for outreach; to support and expand our base of instructors and presenters; and the means to fund the dreams of innovation. This initiative aligns with our mission to highlight the profoundly important theories and techniques of classical, contemporary, and innovative psychoanalytic thought within our curricula, and to make psychoanalytic training accessible to an expanding community of mental health clinicians. Your support is instrumental in realizing these goals.

We are the “place” where clinicians can go to expand their skills and develop a wonderfully rewarding career within the field of psychodynamic and psychoanalytic work.

Thank you for your dedication to the growth and evolution of our institute. Together, we are shaping the future of psychoanalysis. It is important work. Join us on this rewarding journey.

Monica Carsky, PhD Presents

Transference Focused Psychotherapy: An Object Relations Theory Approach to Personality Problems

Live Interactive via Zoom

Sunday, March 17, 2024

9:00am-1:00pm

Click Here for Details and Registration

Dr. Kenneth Hardy, PhD

Understanding and Addressing Racial Trauma in the Therapeutic Relationship

Honors Living-Learning Community,

Rutgers-Newark

October 13, 2023

By Marion Houghton, EdS, LMFT

It was important to me to attend Dr. Hardy’s talk in person, as a CPPNJ analyst, in the space on New Street where we were able to gather as a multi-racial community.  It was important to experience his words in Newark (a few blocks from where I worked at the Mt. Carmel Guild Outpatient Clinic from 1991 to 2008), where 90% of my patients were Black and Brown residents (POC) of Newark. I felt at home as a part of a multiracial community, if only for a morning. Dr. Hardy’s talk was an event – but more than that. It was an experience.

Dr. Hardy’s theme was that racial trauma is an inescapable by-product of persistent exposure to repressive circumstances that emotionally, psychologically, and physically devastates one’s sense of self while simultaneously depleting one’s strategies for coping. It is a life-altering and debilitating experience that affects countless numbers of people of color over multiple generations.

 I want to share a few of his thoughts in this article. He told us “to pay attention to the world around us this week (the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the war in Ukraine)… that hope is a liberating force… and to direct our attention to trauma and how we think about human suffering.” He urged us “to become obsessed with what has happened to people instead of what is wrong with them.” He described the necessity for therapists to view our treatment of POC as” trauma-informed care,” as trauma is in the foreground of Black life.

Dr. Hardy described a “paradigm shift” that has taken place in our understanding of work with POC. He called this “sociocultural trauma”—which he said is “connected with one’s marginalized identity.” POC share “a common experience: that of being marginalized by birth.”

He continued: “racial trauma is life-altering… a hyper-exposure to oppression.”   “Race has become an organizing principle… POC are living under occupation.” He stated that therapists, both Black and White, need to apply a racially sensitive, trauma-informed framework to uncover the hidden trauma wounds that often underpin the health disparities that stifle the lives of African American and other families of color. 

Dr. Hardy described racial trauma as “psychological homelessness.” POC have “no place to feel safe. Shame grows where the harm is unnamed.” “Acknowledgement and validation must be part of our analytic stance.” We need to deal with “opacity-limitations in our ability to know.” This shows itself in our lack of curiosity.

We as white therapists are faced with the question: “what is it in your experience that qualifies you to work with POC? We must confront the truth that we all are embedded in white privilege. We must overcome whiteness as an ideology—it’s in the air we breathe.” And we must remember that “Relational risk-taking is antithetical to whiteness ideology.”

Dr, Hardy made it clear that we have our work cut out for us if we intend to take on the challenge of healing the wounds of racial trauma. We can begin by being vulnerable and becoming “risk-takers”. One of the risks will be the possibility of seeming “patronizing” But authenticity will erase the appearance of being patronizing. Another strategy involves “taking a position vs. imposition” of our ideas.

We need to counteract “voicelessness and devaluation”. Sometimes we do this by letting the patient “know that we know” that they are dealing with experiences that have not been validated by the surrounding culture. We need to “work to verbalize” the rage that is communicated by their silence. Open rage can be difficult to sit with and yet we need to listen to and “honor their stories.”

Dr. Hardy comments: “White people get to live.” Black people are always “geared to survival.” POC are always “fighting” to exist, “to achieve belonging”, to escape “psychological homelessness”.

                                               *****************

Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy is a Clinical and Organizational Consultant at the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships in New York, NY where he also serves as Director. He provides Racially Focused Trauma Informed training, executive coaching, and consultation to a diverse network of individuals and organizations throughout the United States and abroad. He is the author of: Racial Trauma: Clinical Strategies and Techniques for Healing Invisible Wounds (2023).

Kenneth V. Hardy, Ph.D. drkvhardy@gmail.com

Elisabeth Brown & Alan Groveman

EFT and Domestic Violence:

An Attachment Based Treatment Framework

November 19, 2023

By John Caliso, PhD

Attendees at this workshop/conference on “Domestic Violence” and an EFT treatment approach were fortunate to see a stellar performance by Drs. Brown and Groveman. First and foremost, I would like to offer recognition to both for their dedication and commitment to the field of domestic violence. From the beginning of the workshop, you knew a craftsman and craftswoman were at work! Brown and Groveman helped attendees gain an understanding of the complexity of domestic violence and a treatment approach, EFT, that promotes tools to reduce domestic violence. A craftsman/woman has the capacity to demonstrate a genuine ear for dialogue, and more importantly, an understanding of those couples trapped in a cycle of domestic violence.

Whether delivering their message as a duet or solo, Drs. Brown and Groveman weaved a sense of empathy for the victims of domestic violence, wisdom in their understanding of case dynamics, and humor to provide relief from the topic at hand. The pathway to understanding domestic violence emerged from the descriptions of the perpetrators, cobras and pit-bulls, and the powerful implications to generate fear in the victim as she/he begins to consider moving away or takes the steps to do so. It is critical to assess the attachment history of the individuals. Brown and Groveman illustrated that indeed the brewing anger and rage masks the perpetrators terrifying fears of abandonment. Such unconscious fears of abandonment may lead to stalking and eventually physical harm or murder.

With the attachment history in mind and the relevance of abandonment fears, Brown and Groveman explained that it is of the utmost importance to help the couple unpack the emotions beneath the content material, identifying the underlying feelings and assisting the partners to articulate them more thoughtfully to each other. This fosters more “vulnerable” moments-- a key factor in the EFT model of treatment. The deeper appreciation for the underlying emotions helps the couple move away from the looping patterns of domestic violent behavior. The more genuine and real the conversations, the more prevalent will be de-escalation and empowered communication. The greater frequency of integrated and cohesive exchanges creates the basis for a new emotional experience between the partners and stronger bonds. The mutuality of care and respect lessens, and hopefully replaces over time, the re-occurrences of verbal and/or physical patterns of abuse.

Chronicity of behavior is required to make a careful assessment of the safety of the couple’s environment. The presenters emphasized the evaluation of alcohol and/or drug abuse within a couple’s system. The use of one or the other during a time of crisis escalates domestic violence. Dr. Groveman emphasized that the chronicity of behavior can be a telling sign that some individuals are unreachable therapeutically, therefore, are not treatable and may require incarceration. This is a hard pill to swallow given our hope and optimism about caring for others. Dr. Groveman brought to our attention to not being blinded by our clinician’s desire to heal or bring about change. As clinicians, we must recognize the fact that some individual’s unpredictable and dangerous behavior may be triggered no matter what interventions we try. A history of chronic violence needs to be assessed to ensure the safety of the partner. The victim of domestic violence is ultimately the clinician’s primary concern. Chronicity of violent behavior also assists the clinician in determining whether the couple is appropriate to be seen apart from a comprehensive treatment program for domestic violence. Dr. Brown presented a clinical case to illustrate the decision-making process.

As the workshop progressed, Drs. Brown and Groveman choreographed a presentation filled with data, observations and clinical examples. They provided attendees with a wide breath of knowledge and expertise into the complex maze of domestic violence. The spotlight was turned on to the critical importance of affect regulation. It is an essential data point in the EFT treatment model. Accordingly, marital conflict may be intensified when a partner or the couple is unable to regulate distress and anger. They usually cope by attacking each other or withdrawing. Brown and Groveman presented a graphic illustration that described affective regulation (low-high avoidance) and attachment types (secure to dismissive). Interventions for affect regulation were illustrated during the presentation. Examples included breathing exercises, couple eye gaze, and signaling systems.

This workshop highlighted the work of Drs. Brown and Groveman. I think their embrace at the end of the workshop conveyed a message of strong collaboration, but also the care and respect they have for each other during their journey to understand domestic violence and to transmit their findings to help other clinicians. This is a very complex and challenging area-- the way certain couples organize their relational experiences with each other.

The following represents some brief takeaways from the workshop:

(1) Domestic violence is illustrative of a complex relational system.

(2) Evaluation of the chronicity of violence historically in the couple’s relationship is required.

(3) The definition of domestic violence as being both physical and verbal abuse.

(4) Assessment of behavior and occurrences on a continuum is necessary to determine whether you can take the case on.

(5) Evaluation of the use of alcohol/drugs.

(6) Identification of triggers/patterns for the looping of behaviors that lead to violence; Interventions to improve affect regulation to reduce looping behavior. (7) Priority given to the victim’s safety whenever domestic violence is the presenting problem.

Join Your Friends

and Meet New Colleagues

Sunday, February 4, 2024

12:00pm-4:00pm

Giorgio's Restaurant

South Orange, NJ 07079

Click Here for Details and Registration

The Other's Trauma:

How it is Communicated and

How it is Received

Presented by Irwin Badin, PhD

Moderated by Deborah Liner, PhD

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Live Interactive via Zoom

Click Here to Register

Graduation and End of Year Celebration

Sunday, June 9, 2024

12:00pm-4:00pm

Lenfell Hall, The Mansion

FDU Florham Park Campus

Madison, NJ 07940

Stanley Teitelbaum, PhD

"Smart Money: A Psychologist's Guide to Overcoming Self-Defeating Patterns in Stock Market Investing" received a book review in Journal of Financial Therapy, volume 14, Issue 2 (2023), written by a member of the William Alanson White Institute.

Wendy Winograd, DSW, LCSW, BDC-P

Received the AAPCSW Selma Fraiberg Award at their national conference in Chicago on Saturday, November 11th. The award recognizes her many years of bringing psychoanalytic thinking to work with children in both school and clinical settings.