Category: Controversial

The Torture Election: Fighting for the Soul of the American Psychological Association
By Categories: Announcements, Controversial

In a surprising turn of events, New York psychologist Steven Reisner won over 30% of the votes in the mail balloting for nominations for the presidency of the American Psychological Association (APA), as announced at the beginning of April. This represented more votes than any other candidate running.

Click Here to Read:   The Torture Election: Fighting for the Soul of the American Psychological Association, from the blog of Michael Otterman, originally posted on Alternet.  Mr. Otterman thanks AlterNet editor Liliana Segura for editorial help on this article. 

Antidepressants enhance neuronal plasticity in the visual system
By Categories: Announcements, Controversial

 Click Here to Read:  The article, “Antidepressants enhance neuronal plasticity in the visual system,” from the website Science Centric of the Journal Science.

This is an interesting study in the 18 April issue of Science, about the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs.

The authors write  ” However, to produce a functional effect, antidepressant treatment also seems to require environmental stimuli, such as rehabilitation or therapy.”

arnold richards

Arnold Richards and Stephen Mitchell Round Robin Exchange
By Categories: Controversial, NYPSI Centenary 1911-2011

mitchell1.jpgarnie-bw-3.jpg Click Here to Read: Arnold Richards’s Article: “Squeaky Chairs and Straw Persons: An Intervention in the Contemporary Psychoanalytic Debate” and also “A Reply To Richards” by Stephen Mitchell on page 6 on the document in the Winter 1999 Issue (Volume XIV, no. 1) of the Round Robin Newsletter of Division 39 of the American Psychological Assocation.

Click Here to Read: Responses to the Mitchell and Richards Debate from: Frank Summers, Arlene Kramer Richards, Sharon Zalusky, Sheldon Goodman, Mary Beth Cresci, Emmanuel Ghent, and replies from Arnold Richards and Stephen Mitchell in the Summer 1999 Issue (Volume XIV, no. 2) of the Round Robin Newsletter of Division 39 of the American Psychological Assocation.

Click here to Read: Responses from Arthur Lynch and Janet Bachant, Emmanuel Ghent, Frank Summers, David S. MacIssac, Spros D. Orfanos, and a last word from Arnold D. Richards Fall 1999 Issue (Volume XIV, no. e) of the Round Robin Newsletter of Division 39 of the American Psychological Assocation.

Sex Sells: Unpublished Letter to the Sun by Leon Hoffman
By Categories: Controversial, Letters To Editors

Unpublished Letter to the Sun by Leon Hoffman

Sex Sells

Why are we so the fascinated with the sexual lives of public figures
(“Albany starts to wonder at Patterson,” March 21-23, 2008)? We as a public
are both fascinated and outraged as we read story after story of sexual
misdemeanors.

Certainly many men in power and women too become involved in sexual
liaisons which too often lead them into severe difficulties. And, of
course, these sexual liaisons may lead to political corruption. However, as
Sigmund Freud noted over a century ago, a variety of sexual and aggressive
fantasies persist in everyone’s unconscious and conscious life.
Fortunately, most of us are able to limit our actions in order to live
cooperatively with our fellow humans. Continue reading Sex Sells: Unpublished Letter to the Sun by Leon Hoffman

Cultural History and Psychoanalysis by Peter Loewenberg
By Categories: Controversial

wilhelmdilthey.jpg        rjcollingwood.jpg             lilmarcbloch.jpg

Wilhelm Dilthey       R.G. Collingwood                    Marc Bloch

Click Here to Read: Cultural History and Psychoanalysis by Peter Loewenberg . Reprinted From “Cultural History and Psychoanalysis,”  Psychoanalysis and History, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2007), pp. 17-37. Reprinted with the author’s permission.  

 Here is the conclusion of Dr. Loewenberg’s article:

Conclusion
   There is a congruence of hermeneutic method between cultural history and psychoanalysis which includes a recognition of the subjectivity and self-reflexivity of interpretation; a quest for the latent meanings of manifest artifacts, symbols, and conduct; a recognition of the centrality of emotions in the structuring of motivation and action; the present condition, presenting complaint, pain, or symptom as a key to the past, if only one knows how to read or decode the message; an empathic method of understanding that includes the ability to engage with the cultural, social, and historical assumptions and background of the analysand or the subject; an attention to mini-narratives and the small telling detail that unfolds a larger level of meaning and interpretation.
Continue reading Cultural History and Psychoanalysis by Peter Loewenberg