IPI SLC News

IPI SLC Appoints Colleen Sandor, PhD, new Co-Director

Dr. Colleen Sandor, who has been a member of IPI's local faculty and has recently been appointed national faculty by IPI in Washington DC, was recently named IPI SLC's new co-director. As co-director, she will help with managing IPI SLC's training activities, and charting its course for the future. Congratulations, Colleen!

IPI launches its new blog!

IPI's new blog, Tuning the Therapeutic Instrument, is now on the web! The blog, written by David Scharff, M.D. (with some future postings by other IPI members/faculty), will encourage discussion of topics pertaining to the variety of ways we hone our skills as therapists. The following is an excerpt from Dr. Scharff's first posting:

'When I think of the therapeutic instrument, and of tuning that instrument, I consider all the elements that go into our work: The personality of the therapist, her growth and development, her well-being; her theoretical education; her treatment; her knowledge of all sorts of things that her clients and patients encounter. The job we do is complex, pretty much as complex as humanity itself, from the sociological and anthropological differences that now people our country, to the complexity of individual personality, to the more complex patterns of interaction in couples and families.

Because of the ultimate complexity of our work and the demands it can make on us as therapists, a wide variety of topics is relevant to getting us in tune. As we explore the process of therapy, I want to discuss issues having to do with theory and with technique, even though the boundary between these often blurs. I want to draw from diverse theoretical and scientific universes that can be brought to bear on understanding our patients. This is all with an eye to fine-tuning ourselves as therapeutic instruments. ...'

To visit the blog, you can go to:

www.tuningthetherapeuticinstrument.com
(also www.tuningthetherapeuticinstrument.org www.therapeuticinstrument.com, or www.therapeuticinstrument.org)

When you visit, be sure to bookmark the page for future visits.

Two of IPI SLC's local faulty named to national faculty of IPI
At its last weekend conference in Bethesda, MD, IPI announced that two of IPI SLC's local faculty have been named to national faculty status of IPI. With these appointments, Colleen Sandor, Ph.D. and Janine Wanlass, Ph.D. were recognized for their tireless contributions to the goals of IPI - both internationally and in Salt Lake City. This is a great honor for both Dr. Sandor and Dr. Wanlass. Congratulations to both.

Paula Swaner, Ph.D. named to Emeritus Faculty status at IPI
In the same weekend conference, Dr. Paula Swaner, the founder and current co-director of IPI SLC, was named to Emeritus Faculty status of IPI's national faculty. This honor is just a small part of the recognition Dr. Swaner deserves for her devotion to bringing psychodynamic thinking to the Salt Lake community of psychotherapists. The honor also recognizes Dr. Swaner's contribution, as a founding faculty member of IPI, to the development of IPI's national educative programs. Congratulations to Dr. Swaner!

Westminster's Professional Counselor graduate program set to open
In the last several years, IPI SLC has developed a partnership with Westminster College in Salt Lake City. As a result of that partnership, IPI faculty have helped to design, and will be helping to teach, a new Masters Degree program in Counseling Psychology, due to start its first year in Fall, 2007. The program will have a psychodynamic track, in which students will be able to study and learn about object relations theory and therapy. For detailed information about the program, see Westminster's web pages.