The Washington Society of Psychoanalytic Psychology is a local chapter of the Society of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (SPPP) – Division 39 of the American Psychological Association.
We are an educational organization which offers workshops and short seminars on modern psychoanalytic ideas and approaches. We are open to practicing psychotherapists from all disciplines. 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.
Upcoming Seminar – May 9th, 2025
To Have & To Hold: Till Sex Do Us Part
May 9th, 9:30am – 12:30pm at the BCC Service Center
Noa Ashman, LCSW-C
Five Fridays (September – May): 4 in-person and 1 via Zoom
We’re glad you’re here to learn more about our upcoming Five Friday seminars! Please peruse each program’s description. ** Please note that for 2024-2025, four of the Friday seminars will be in-person, at the BCC Service Center in Bethesda, MD. For zoom webinars, zoom links for seminars will be sent to all registrants on the Monday before the seminar.
Please note, registration for the Five Fridays regular seminars is free for WSPP members. Membership is only $175. Otherwise the fee is $90 per seminar registration.
Five Fridays 2024 – 2025
Finding My Way Home: Keys to Clinical Interventions from Attachment Informed Perspectives
September 27, 2024 from 11:30am-2:30pm at the BCC Service Center
Mauricio Cortina, M.D.
“So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Racism and Xenophobia in Contemporary U.S. Context
November 8, 2024 from 9:30am – 12:30pm at the BCC Service Center
Usha Tummala-Narra, PhD
Note: This seminar earns 3 CEs in cultural competence.
Borderline: The Biography of a Personality Disorder
January 10th, 2025 at 9:30am-12:30pm via Zoom
Alexander Kriss, PhD
A Passage Through the Faraway, Nearby
March 14, 2025 from 11:30am – 2:30pm at the BCC Service Center
Kerry Malawista, MSW, PhD
To Have & To Hold: Till Sex Do Us Part
May 9th, 2025, from 9:30am – 12:30pm at the BCC Service Center
Noa Ashman, LCSW-C
Our History
The Washington Society for 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 joihn medical institutes which were only open to psychologiest in a very limited fashion. In 1988, WSPP became an official location 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.