Reports from the Training Programs Directors: September 2022

posted on Oct 6, 2022

APP program began on September 7. All classes went smoothly thanks to our great NCP team, especially Christian Bold, MS. Before beginning formal classes, both years of students met together via Zoom for Orientation. It was wonderful to see the brand new class all together for the 1st time! And it was great to see our returning students again, including one who moved to Connecticut over the summer.
APT welcomed three cohorts this year in addition to our post-seminar students, including eight first-year students, the largest class since 2001! All eight newcomers attended the orientation and the Welcome Back event held on 8/28 in time to welcome all cohorts back for the first day of class, 9/14.

CAPP has 3 students in the second-year class, all psychiatrists. The first-year class has 8 students: 5 psychiatrists…two of these are faculty from Charles Drew, 2 others are from UCLA and the fifth is in private practice. There are two students from WILA working towards a PhD and one MFT in private practice. It promises to be a very stimulating and engaged Fall Class. Most have been referred to us by graduates of the program. Of the 8 students the majority have indicated that they would like to attend classes in person. That option is being explored.

On August 14, the Child Study Group started back up with 14 in attendance. The theme for the year is Gender. The group discussed the varying definitions of gender. Drescher: The nonbinary disrupts the norms, both in gender (intersex, trans) and sexuality, and opens space to reconsider gender stability, gender beliefs, gender performance. Gozlan: Binary phantasies of a stabilized body are concrete, identarian terms that belie the chain of signifiers and displacements. Since we are describing ourselves, there is no “outside Position.” Silber: Gender as a bridge between internal and external with the body as primary or intermediary and a means of social recognition, also a bridge with and between ruptures, differences, splits. Wiggins: Gender as movement away from an unchosen starting place. Watson: Gender as personal unconscious identity vs. Sexual difference (social/cultural), where inchoate meets socialization (sexual aspect), often conflation.