To:
The BPSI Community and Guests
Fellows, ATP Student Members, Candidate Members, Affiliate Scholars, Psychotherapist Members, Adjunct Members, Academic Members, Board Members, Psychoanalyst Members, Partners and Guests
From:
BPSI Leadership Team
Daniel Mollod, MD, President
Catherine Kimble, MD, Executive Director
James Barron, PhD, Chair, Board of Trustees
Jack Foehl, PhD, President-Elect
Carole A. Nathan, MBA, Managing Director
Date:
September 21, 2020
Re:
BPSI READS:
Open Conversations on Race, Diversity, and Otherness
Monday, October 5th; 7:00 - 8:00pm
“BPSI READS” is an initiative to facilitate regular conversations within BPSI, the larger psychoanalytic community, and the public on issues of Race, Diversity, and Otherness. 
 
Thank you to everyone who participated in the first BPSI READS in August. Please join us for the next BPSI READS: 

Monday, October 5, 2020
7:00-8:00 pm
 
Facilitator: Bernard Edelstein
 
We will continue our dialogue by reading two psychoanalytic papers. Together, they demonstrate how race is both present and hidden, conscious and unconscious in our theory, and how our theory may reflect our own unconscious  struggles with racism, our reluctance to explore or give up long held narratives about race. Each paper considers the importance of being aware of the social and cultural realities of race as it is embedded in ourselves, in our theory and in our clinical work, and the way in which race is not a sole explanatory model, and exists alongside and intertwined with other aspects of psychoanalytic theory and technique. Both Forrest Hamer and Adrienne Harris were also speakers at BPSI’s 2018 Conference on Race, Racism and Emancipation.
 
Hamer, F. M. (2002). Guards at the gate: race, resistance, and psychic reality. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 50(4), 1219–1237. PEP Web Link. PDF linked here.
 
Harris, A. (2012). The house of difference, or White silence. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 13(3), 197–216. ​PEP Web Link. PDF linked here.
 
 
The October 5 BPSI READS Drop-in group is for members of the BPSI Community,
 and all interested guests.
 

Each BPSI READS will be organized as a drop-in group hosted by a BPSI member or guest, who will open and facilitate the discussion. We will have breakout groups to allow for more focused conversation, and then we will bring everyone back together for larger group discussion. Some will be offered for the BPSI Community and others will be open to the public.

As another initiative to fulfill BPSI’s Anti-Racism Commitment (Click here for Commitment Memo), the BPSI Resources Page intends to make readily available psychoanalytic and interdisciplinary scholarship resources on, Race, Diversity and Otherness, for colleagues and the public. It is a living document, updated regularly with contributions and suggestions from members and guests. Please take a look at the latest updates!

 
BPSI Resources:
On Race, Diversity, and Otherness
Psychoanalytic and Interdisciplinary Voices
 
Thank you to everyone who has shared experiences, questions, and ideas for how BPSI can fulfill our ongoing Anti-Racism commitment. We welcome suggestions for other BPSI READS you would like to see, and we welcome your ideas and your input for BPSI’s ongoing Anti-Racism initiatives. You may contribute ideas here.
 
We hope to see you for BPSI READS in October.
 
Jim, Catherine, Dan, Jack, and Carole