Welcome to WSPP

Our Mission

The Washington Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology is a local chapter of the Division of Psychoanalysis (39) of the APA. We are an educational organization which offers workshops and short seminars on modern psychoanalytic ideas and approaches. We are open to all practicing psychotherapists. In our seminars and short courses, we emphasize and foster a collegial atmosphere in which members and attendees learn from experienced, psychoanalytically-oriented clinicians, and in which all feel free to discuss the way the presenter’s ideas and approaches pertain to their own clinical experience. Over many years, we have developed a seminar format that actively welcomes the participation of all. For many, it is a rich and rewarding opportunity for professional growth and networking.

Our History

The Washington Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology was formed in 1981, at a time when psychoanalytic education was almost exclusively the domain of the medical profession in Washington, DC. The only option for psychologists seeking education in the psychoanalytic tradition was to join medical institutes which were only open to psychologists in a very limited fashion. In 1988, WSPP became an official local chapter of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, the APA division interested in psychoanalysis. WSPP has always welcomed all practicing psychotherapists to its courses and seminars, and makes no distinction in membership between psychologists and psychotherapists with other credentials.

Five Fridays 2012 - 2013

Dancing with the "Other": Culture, Race and Psychoanalytic Therapy
Seminar on cultural diversity with Cherian Verghese, PhD
Friday, September 28, 2012
12:30pm - 3:30pm

Someone Like You
Therapist and patient fit with Rochelle Kainer, PhD
Friday, November 9, 2012
12:30pm - 3:30pm

Minding the Body, Mending the Mind
An integration of psychodynamic approaches, neuro-science, and mind-body principles with Stephen R. Stein, PhD
Friday, January 11, 2013  
12:30pm - 3:30pm

Savage Civility, Civilized Savages
A dramatic reading/discussion , by the Red Well Theater Group (John Dluhy, M.D., CGP, FAGPA, Mary Dluhy, M.S.W., CGP, FAGP,Molly Donovan, Ph.D., CGP,Rosemary Segalla, Ph.D., CGP, Barry Wepman, Ph.D., CGP. FAGPA, Rob Williams, M.S.W., CGP)
Friday, March 22, 2013
12:30pm - 3:30pm

Self States in Normality, in Pathology, and in Creativity
Richard Waugman, MD
Friday, April 26, 2013
9:30am - 12:30pm