As you have perhaps already read in our brief history, PINE originated and was designed to be a small psychoanalytic organization with workshop-like classes, to facilitate collegial exchange between students and faculty and to operate with a minimum of hierarchy and administration. Although at one point we were a much larger group, we have now become, once again, a small group of analysts interested in learning from one another and in fostering the education of clinicians interested in psychoanalytic theory and technique.
Over time the cost and length of education of a psychoanalyst-in-training has become prohibitive for many. For this reason and due to our limited resources we have focused our time and energy on maintaining a psychodynamic psychotherapy fellowship. Another recent development in the field is the emergence of the intersectional perspective which takes into account the impact of the sociocultural environment on individual development. We are educating ourselves and including in our curricula literature that highlights these external factors. We hope to attract faculty who are knowledgeable and familiar with this important new development as well as to attract new members and fellows who represent these new voices. This is a work in progress in every psychoanalytic organization, and we are glad to join in this expansion of the field. (See a more detailed description of the fellowship program in Education and Training.)
Over the past decade we have also offered presentations on a variety of topics in our “Open Scientific Meetings” to the community. Nationally- and internationally-recognized psychoanalysts have spoken about the history of psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic research, the interface between psychoanalytic and Buddhist practices, neuropsychoanalysis, the challenge of translating a new edition of Freud’s collected works, the nature and meaning of “terrorism,” the psychological dilemmas experienced by minority groups within the larger culture, and the theory and clinical process involved in working with adults and children in the foster care system. We encourage our members and clinicians within the community to propose workshops and study groups in their areas of interest to enhance their professional lives.
The PINE Psychoanalytic Society does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital or parental status, or socio-economic/class in the administration of its programs and activities. We seek to achieve diversity among members and in carrying out programs and educational activities.