The Education Committee invites you to join us for an online Journal Club discussion focused on: Heather MacIntosh’s PhD paper: Empathy, Humility, Vulnerability: Donna Orange, a Model for Intersubjective Self-Psychological Supervision.
This event will take place via the IAPSP General Membership Discussion Board from January 23 - February 1, 2026.
There is no need to register. All IAPSP Members will be included.
Beneath the Surface: Configurations and Treatment of Narcissism, A Somatic Intersubjective Self Psychological Approach
A weekend conference (in person or live-streamed) for those who work with survivors of developmental trauma (often diagnosed with a personality disorder).
Integrating a psychodynamic approach with somatic, affective and developmental-relationship yearning.
Clients presenting with archaic narcissistic needs are often experienced as “difficult”, and branded as BPD, personality disorder or some other DSM label.
They are the ones who drain us, bore us, humiliate us, idolise us, infuriate us, regularly disappear, and eventually make us feel useless.
A nuanced understanding of their healthy developmental strivings and hopes for relational repair can help us sidestep the otherwise inevitable relational re-traumatisation.
The 2026 CRSPC conference will present an understanding of difficult, narcissistic presentations, offering six innovative configurations of narcissistic dynamics emerging from analysis of childhood developmental trauma. Combining self-psychological perspectives with somatic, affective and developmental understanding of relational dynamics, these ‘difficult’ clients are treatable.
Presentations will explore clinical case material to illustrate the challenges of treatment, as well as the complex interplay between developmental history, selfobject functions, affective expression, bodily experience, and relational contexts to offer new pathways for clinical intervention.
A tribute to Dr. Ron Lee one of Australia’s key practitioners and teachers of Self Psychology will also be held during the conference.
Conference Keynote Speaker: Daniel Perlitz MD, Psychoanalyst, Canada
Board of directors and faculty of IASP, IAPSP
Adjunct Lecturer Uni Toronto Supervisor, Psychiatry Dept, St Joseph’s Hospital
Conference Organiser: Sandra Lauffenburger MSc. Psychotherapist, Australia
Council Member IAPSP Co-director, SISP, Canberra Clinical Supervisor PACFA
Michael Perlman, NYC
Florence Faizi, Northern California
Vardit Rudolfson, Israel
Cornelia Köndgen, Vienna
Danny Rochefort, Montreal
11:30am -1:30pm Eastern time / 10:30am-12:30pm Central time / 8:30am-10:30am Pacific time / 5:30pm -7:30pm Western Europe / 6:30pm - 8:30pm Tel Aviv & Cape Town / 7:30pm - 9:30pm Turkey
The Child and Adolescent Interest Group will have their first event of 2026:
A panel discussion on the topic of when to consult with parents when treating their children.
There are 3 upcoming events. Save the date for all three:
March 14, 2026
May 23, 2026
September 12, 2026
The overarching theme for the year is race and its intersecting variables. We will share the specific topics for each session on the community board closer to the time.
Time:
3:00pm South Africa time (9:00am New York / 8:00am Chicago / 6:00am Los Angeles / 2:00pm Western Europe / 3:00pm Tel Aviv / 4:00pm Ankara / 9:00pm Shanghai / 10:00pm Tokyo / 12:00am+1 Sydney) more info...
Management vs. Collaborative Dialogue:
Helping Adult Partners from “Airless Worlds” Navigate Relations with Their Traumatizing Parents and/or Their Adult Children
The Couples Therapy Interest Group is pleased to announce an upcoming online discussion with Steven Stern entitled Management Vs. Collaborative Dialogue: Helping Adult Partners From "Airless Worlds" Navigate Relations with Their Traumatizing Parents and/or Their Adult Children. Conflicts between adult children and their parents can pose difficult problems for couples to face. These problems are especially challenging when one or both partners grew up in what Stern calls an "Airless World"; a family environment in which their very thoughts and feelings were ignored or negated. Helping couples negotiate these parent-child conflicts, especially with disturbed (and disturbing) family members, is an area of our work that is largely under-theorized. Here is an opportunity to think together about these issues as we join with Steve to look at his application of Airless World Theory to struggles with adult parents.
Presenter: Steven Stern, Psy.D.
Discussants: Mohammad Dehganpour, M.A, C. Psych & Mark Winitsky, Psy.D., LMFT
Moderator: David Shaddock, Ph.D.
This will be our first planned event of the year, beyond our informal dialogue and regular check-ins, and we hope you will be able to join us. Additional details will be shared as we move closer to March, and a copy of Steve's chapter will be circulated in advance to invite reflection and dialogue.
