“Being involved in the CPT both as a candidate in training and as a participant in the groups has been one of the most meaningful and integrative aspects of my training. I have learned so much and have found a place to integrate my political activist self, my deep commitment to Community Mental Health and my evolving understanding of Psychoanalysis and the changes necessary to ethically go forward in a mental health model for all. This work is thoughtful in every sense of the word.”

“Having a chance to work in the CPT as a candidate in psychoanalysis at PINC has offered me the opportunity to join my commitment to community mental health with my interest in psychoanalysis. The Track has realized an aspiration of mine to enhance each field of work through contact with the other. My work feels immediately relevant and my sense of psychoanalytic training and practice has been usefully broadened.”

“It has been helpful to think about our work in a clinical framework and to discuss topics such as client boundaries, vicarious trauma, and work burnout. I felt that the group brought more of a sense of cohesion across the different departments. Hearing people present about their cases has deepened the way I think about my own work.”

“I feel refreshed after participating in the group, so that aside from the time we spend in the actual meeting, the feeling of renewed purpose I get from it can only improve my sense of purpose and productivity.”

“All in all, I had a GREAT EXPERIENCE participating weekly with the group. I was able to connect with co-workers that I wouldn’t normally connect with. It was good to hear other peoples’ perspectives on dealing with issues that come up, what resources were effective and how they navigated through the system. Participating made me feel like I had a support group that would always be there for me.”

“I found it helpful simply to have space to reflect and gain insight into the challenges we all face personally and professionally in our roles. Just being able to identify feelings and name them was really powerful. It is easy to feel alone and hold everything we hold for our clients, but it helps to know others are working through some of the same struggles.”

“My time with the Community Psychoanalysis Project has been exciting, stimulating, intense and fabulous. Being able to participate as a candidate, a member of the Core Seminar, faculty member and now as a Supervisor has allowed me to see the growth of this project. I wholeheartedly believe that the future of psychoanalysis is using our tools to dialog with and support community mental health projects addressing a diverse range of people. I have been inspired by my collaboration with community projects and heartened by the enthusiasm other analysts have for the Track. To a bright, complicated, collaborative future!“

“Participating in the CPC and CPT as a community mental health liaison and consultant has been such a supportive, connecting and enlivening experience. Engaging with deeply inspiring and committed colleagues working and thinking at the crossroads of social justice, community mental health and psychoanalysis has been a gift and an honor. This unique space provides a collective holding and recognition which sustains us in our efforts to bear witness, and offer containment for the unbearable social and personal suffering we encounter in our work. I am so grateful for this caring and thoughtful community.”

“Medi-Cal funded community mental health is my day-to-day work, which means engaging with dispossessed people around their daily struggles, injuries, furies, passions, fears, fantasies, and afflictions toward resource-securing, healing, connection, self-understanding, and self determination. I say “dispossessed” because – as Medi-Cal recipients – the one thing all clients have in common is economic poverty (though they represent wildly diverse cultures of poverty). These are groups of people whose lands have been stolen, whose labors have been coerced and exploited, whose relationships have been disregarded, whose cultural resources have been plundered, whose humanity has not been honored – in most instances for generations. What we other Californians own, eat, drink, drive, trade in and amass has come at their expense. Instead of reparations, meager services are meted out. To my mind, psychoanalytically-informed engagement offers a possible path toward self-possession. Yet in the current age of behaviorism, psychoanalytic work must be cloaked, an effort that is laborious, lonely and disheartening. The CPC and CPT have provided me with a vital community of kindred spirits; awareness of my political and theoretical roots; insight into the operations of diverse community psychoanalysis projects; and an exhilarating sense of common purpose in declaring that psychoanalysis is not private property.”