Our Story
The following text was written for the November 2018 featured society page on the IPA's International New Group's website.
VPSG: Origins and Location
Vermont Psychoanalytic Study Group (VPSG*) is a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) under the auspices of the International New Groups Committee. Our purpose is to provide education and training opportunities for individuals interested in psychoanalysis in Vermont and adjoining areas.
VPSG is located in Burlington, Vermont. Vermont is a small, predominantly rural state located in the Northeast corner of the United States. Burlington is Vermont’s largest city with a population of 42,206 (2016). Vermont has a long history of political independence, artistic and intellectual freedom and strong family and rural traditions. Burlington’s location contains a paradox, however, despite its rural location, it is located within a 2-hour drive of Montreal, Quebec, Canada; a 3.5 hour drive from Boston, Massachusetts and a 6-hour drive to New York City. Burlington also houses three thriving universities. Nestled on the shores of Lake Champlain, surrounded by the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, it is truly a beautiful setting.
It is in this contextual landscape that a small group of IPA trained analysts (our founding members: William Butler, Sharon Dennett, Douglas Dennett and Mina Levinsky-Wohl) met for several years to consider, develop, and then to apply to the IPA to establish an IPA society in Vermont. There are no other IPA psychoanalytic training programs in Vermont, or adjancent in New Hampshire. There are, however, IPA societies in Montreal, Quebec (both the Quebec English and French (SPM) branches). Our four founding members were trained at the Quebec-English Institute of the Canadian Society of the IPA. As a border state, we have always valued our connections to an international community of learners and honored the multi-lingual and multi-cultural traditions that membership in the IPA provides.
As a result of the work of our founding members, in January, 2009, Vermont was formally approved by the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) as a Study Group, and, in that moment VPSG was born. We are most pleased that in 2019, we celebrated our 10th Anniversary as an approved IPA Study Group.
Sponsoring Committee
As a Study Group, we receive oversight from our IPA appointed Sponsoring Committee (SC). Our current SC is Phyllis Hopkins of Stratford Connecticut, chair, and Maureen Murphy of San Francisco California. Past SC members have been Lee Ascherman of Birmingham, Alabama; Andrew Brook, of Ottawa, Ontario; and Lyn Yonack of Great Barrington MA. The members of VPSG are most grateful to all who have served on our Sponsoring Committee and have given their time to guide our development.
One Year Psychoanalytic Seminar Series: Origins and Development
This seminar series first begun by founders William Butler and Sharon Dennett in 2005 was initiated in order to respond to interest among mental health clinicians for a deeper understanding of psychoanalysis. A small group reading seminar with some clinical discussion, developed into an annual offering. Two other of our founding members, Mina Levinsky-Wohl and Doug Dennett joined in the teaching. The idea of a local training program sprang from this interest which our founders had discovered and cultivated. VPSG has continued to this day to offer an annual seminar series focusing on psychoanalytic thought and practice. It is a popular program drawing clinicians from various disciplines (mental health counseling, social work, psychology and psychiatry from around the state and from various Vermont centers of learning: University of Vermont, St. Michael’s College, Champlain College and Johnson State College. This seminar series continues to meet twice per month from September through May and studies psychoanalytic writers from early Freud through contemporary psychoanalysts; often specializing for the year on specific concept or theoretical areas. Some of the clinicians who have participated in this series have gone on to do formal analytic training and most have been pleased with the way the series has broadened and deepened their work. This seminar series program has been so popular we are discussing the possibility of expanding it. Our grateful thanks to all faculty who have led and taught in this program and special thanks to Mika Barker-Hart who coordinated it for many of these years.
Analytic Training Program
In the past, interested clinicians who sought psychoanalytic training, had to either travel or relocate to accomplish this goal. Our founding members drove to Montreal weekly to seek their training at the Quebec English Branch of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society.
In 2011, the Vermont Psychoanalytic Study Group was given approval to create an IPA approved training program in psychoanalysis, a step in the process of becoming an independent IPA Component Society, allowing a training closer to home for residents of Vermont. The members of the training committee (William Butler, Sharon Dennett and Mina Levinsky-Wohl) joined the Sponsoring Committee (Andrew Brook and Lee Ascherman) and the members of VPSG developed and structured our program. Our training follows the Eitingon model.
To augment our small size of available faculty we added a category of adjunct supervisors. Including in this group were IPA analysts from Boston: Fred Busch, Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau and Judith Kantrowitz; from Montreal: Brian Robertson, Ron Brown, Dominique Scarfone. In addition to our training committee, teaching faculty also included: Douglas Betts, Douglas Dennett, Bert Francke and Mika Barker-Hart. We began our training program in 2012 and have since graduated 6 candidates to full IPA member status. We are most proud of this accomplishment and are currently accepting applications for a class beginning in January 2025.
Keeping the International Aspect of the IPA Alive
We enriched our training program and our society offerings with visiting seminars and presentations from notable contemporary analysts: Judith Kantrowitz, Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau, Lewis Kirschner and Fred Busch of the Boston Psychoanalytic; Brian Roberston and the late Ronald Brown from Quebec English Society; Dominque Scarfone and Gabriela Legoretta form the SPM, Montreal. Canada and Mitchell Wilson from San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, California. These analysts traveled to present original papers, chair clinical case presentations and share in the growing IPA tradition of cross-cultural exchange.
VPSG hosted its first Sunday soiree in June of 2014 when then IPA president, Stefano Bolignini from Bologna Italy graciously accepted our invitation to visit us and conduct seminars with our membership and candidates. We were enabled to do this through the IPA CAPSA program that supports and encourages cross- cultural exchanges. The soirée original paper presentation by Dr. Bolognini was well received by our society and the larger community, many of whom joined us for the evening presentation. It was a very special moment for our fledging group to be so honored by the IPA president.
VPSG Future
Our society is young, however, in our 15 years as an IPA Study Group, VPSG has developed our own dedication to the concepts and traditions of psychoanalytic thought and practice. We have spent our first fifteen years putting roots down in our community and we hope to deepen and expand these as we once again offer psychoanalytic training in January 2025.
*VPSG is a non-profit with 501(c)3 status.
VPSG: Origins and Location
Vermont Psychoanalytic Study Group (VPSG*) is a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) under the auspices of the International New Groups Committee. Our purpose is to provide education and training opportunities for individuals interested in psychoanalysis in Vermont and adjoining areas.
VPSG is located in Burlington, Vermont. Vermont is a small, predominantly rural state located in the Northeast corner of the United States. Burlington is Vermont’s largest city with a population of 42,206 (2016). Vermont has a long history of political independence, artistic and intellectual freedom and strong family and rural traditions. Burlington’s location contains a paradox, however, despite its rural location, it is located within a 2-hour drive of Montreal, Quebec, Canada; a 3.5 hour drive from Boston, Massachusetts and a 6-hour drive to New York City. Burlington also houses three thriving universities. Nestled on the shores of Lake Champlain, surrounded by the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, it is truly a beautiful setting.
It is in this contextual landscape that a small group of IPA trained analysts (our founding members: William Butler, Sharon Dennett, Douglas Dennett and Mina Levinsky-Wohl) met for several years to consider, develop, and then to apply to the IPA to establish an IPA society in Vermont. There are no other IPA psychoanalytic training programs in Vermont, or adjancent in New Hampshire. There are, however, IPA societies in Montreal, Quebec (both the Quebec English and French (SPM) branches). Our four founding members were trained at the Quebec-English Institute of the Canadian Society of the IPA. As a border state, we have always valued our connections to an international community of learners and honored the multi-lingual and multi-cultural traditions that membership in the IPA provides.
As a result of the work of our founding members, in January, 2009, Vermont was formally approved by the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) as a Study Group, and, in that moment VPSG was born. We are most pleased that in 2019, we celebrated our 10th Anniversary as an approved IPA Study Group.
Sponsoring Committee
As a Study Group, we receive oversight from our IPA appointed Sponsoring Committee (SC). Our current SC is Phyllis Hopkins of Stratford Connecticut, chair, and Maureen Murphy of San Francisco California. Past SC members have been Lee Ascherman of Birmingham, Alabama; Andrew Brook, of Ottawa, Ontario; and Lyn Yonack of Great Barrington MA. The members of VPSG are most grateful to all who have served on our Sponsoring Committee and have given their time to guide our development.
One Year Psychoanalytic Seminar Series: Origins and Development
This seminar series first begun by founders William Butler and Sharon Dennett in 2005 was initiated in order to respond to interest among mental health clinicians for a deeper understanding of psychoanalysis. A small group reading seminar with some clinical discussion, developed into an annual offering. Two other of our founding members, Mina Levinsky-Wohl and Doug Dennett joined in the teaching. The idea of a local training program sprang from this interest which our founders had discovered and cultivated. VPSG has continued to this day to offer an annual seminar series focusing on psychoanalytic thought and practice. It is a popular program drawing clinicians from various disciplines (mental health counseling, social work, psychology and psychiatry from around the state and from various Vermont centers of learning: University of Vermont, St. Michael’s College, Champlain College and Johnson State College. This seminar series continues to meet twice per month from September through May and studies psychoanalytic writers from early Freud through contemporary psychoanalysts; often specializing for the year on specific concept or theoretical areas. Some of the clinicians who have participated in this series have gone on to do formal analytic training and most have been pleased with the way the series has broadened and deepened their work. This seminar series program has been so popular we are discussing the possibility of expanding it. Our grateful thanks to all faculty who have led and taught in this program and special thanks to Mika Barker-Hart who coordinated it for many of these years.
Analytic Training Program
In the past, interested clinicians who sought psychoanalytic training, had to either travel or relocate to accomplish this goal. Our founding members drove to Montreal weekly to seek their training at the Quebec English Branch of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society.
In 2011, the Vermont Psychoanalytic Study Group was given approval to create an IPA approved training program in psychoanalysis, a step in the process of becoming an independent IPA Component Society, allowing a training closer to home for residents of Vermont. The members of the training committee (William Butler, Sharon Dennett and Mina Levinsky-Wohl) joined the Sponsoring Committee (Andrew Brook and Lee Ascherman) and the members of VPSG developed and structured our program. Our training follows the Eitingon model.
To augment our small size of available faculty we added a category of adjunct supervisors. Including in this group were IPA analysts from Boston: Fred Busch, Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau and Judith Kantrowitz; from Montreal: Brian Robertson, Ron Brown, Dominique Scarfone. In addition to our training committee, teaching faculty also included: Douglas Betts, Douglas Dennett, Bert Francke and Mika Barker-Hart. We began our training program in 2012 and have since graduated 6 candidates to full IPA member status. We are most proud of this accomplishment and are currently accepting applications for a class beginning in January 2025.
Keeping the International Aspect of the IPA Alive
We enriched our training program and our society offerings with visiting seminars and presentations from notable contemporary analysts: Judith Kantrowitz, Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau, Lewis Kirschner and Fred Busch of the Boston Psychoanalytic; Brian Roberston and the late Ronald Brown from Quebec English Society; Dominque Scarfone and Gabriela Legoretta form the SPM, Montreal. Canada and Mitchell Wilson from San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, California. These analysts traveled to present original papers, chair clinical case presentations and share in the growing IPA tradition of cross-cultural exchange.
VPSG hosted its first Sunday soiree in June of 2014 when then IPA president, Stefano Bolignini from Bologna Italy graciously accepted our invitation to visit us and conduct seminars with our membership and candidates. We were enabled to do this through the IPA CAPSA program that supports and encourages cross- cultural exchanges. The soirée original paper presentation by Dr. Bolognini was well received by our society and the larger community, many of whom joined us for the evening presentation. It was a very special moment for our fledging group to be so honored by the IPA president.
VPSG Future
Our society is young, however, in our 15 years as an IPA Study Group, VPSG has developed our own dedication to the concepts and traditions of psychoanalytic thought and practice. We have spent our first fifteen years putting roots down in our community and we hope to deepen and expand these as we once again offer psychoanalytic training in January 2025.
*VPSG is a non-profit with 501(c)3 status.
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